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Review: Spider-ManReviewed By: Kirk Hiner Review Date: February 20, 2002
I've never really be a fan of comic books. I could probably dig up some "Son of Ambush Bug" comics if I search hard enough, and I know I still have "The Tick: The Naked City" on my bookshelf. Otherwise, my comic stash extends no further than a decent collection of Flash Gordon reprints and Battle Angel Alita digests. That's not to say I have anything against comic books. I like to catch up on Batman and the Green Arrow when I visit my brothers, and I still feel that Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns could be studied in college classes alongside A Tale of Two Cities and The Canterbury Tales. Despite this, I subscribed to Spider-Man when I was in grade school. I have no idea why, since Superman and Iron Man were always my favorites, but it was Spider-Man who actually found his way to my friendly neighborhood mailbox each month. Perhaps it was because of his brief appearances on The Electric Company. Or maybe it was those horrible made-for-TV movies in which he appeared during the late 70s. More likely, perhaps, it was the theme song from the cartoon...arguably one of the catchiest cartoon theme songs ever written. Be that as it may, I remain apathetic towards the web-slinger. Sure, I'm looking forward to the movie, but that's only because it's directed by Sam Raimi. Sam could direct an entertaining, two hour movie about an apple core turning brown. He had nothing to do with Aspyr's Spider-Man, however, so we're left with two elements to make this work...the character and the action.
Is he funny in this game? Kind of. I got the feeling that perhaps the authors were trying too hard to make Peter Parker try too hard. There are jokes where there don't need to be, and quite often they were too redundant. Every now and again, however, one would make me laugh just enough to lose my concentration and promptly get killed. I may remember Peter Parker's character, but I don't remember his story, his friends, his enemies, or the writing style that embodies them. Actually, it's not that I don't remember, but rather that I haven't read a Spider-Man comic book in right about twenty years. This wouldn't be a problem, except that most of the rewards in this game would be interesting only to people who know what's going on in Spider-Man's universe. You can collect comic books and costumes from Spidey's past, but who cares? Well, fans would care. To everyone else, however, this may be the most pointless reward system in computer gaming history. The story's not that much a stretch from the Spider-Man comics I remember, or from comics in general. Spidey is framed for the theft of some new technology developed by Dr. Otto Octavius (or Doctor Octopus, who's not played by former New York Jets/Cincinnati Bengals/Whoever Else head coach Bruce Coslett, much to my chagrin). Anyone who's ever read even one panel of Spider-Man knows he's not well perceived by the NYPD, and this just makes matters worse. So, by the end of the day, Spider-Man will have to clear his name, nab the bad guy(s) and save the girl. Stop me if you've heard this one.
Unfortunately, the complexity of these levels is unnecessarily compounded by a perplexing control system. When I first started to work my way through this, I thought, "Okay, I got the hang of Oni, I can get the hang of this." Not so. It's almost as if Spidey has three completely different control systems-- one for floors, one for walls, and one for ceilings--each of which varies further depending upon where the camera is positioned. You'd think that learning to swing from building to building would be the hard part, but no. The real trouble comes when you have to get Spidey up and out of an air vent. The keyboard is completely useless with this game, and even a good game pad will initially lead to plenty of frustration. If this is the way all console game characters are controlled, it's a wonder they all didn't go the way of the 3DO. Don't bother with the tutorials in Spider-Man, but do go through the first few levels on easy mode (there's even a kid mode for the young'ns).
Outside, I just felt cheated. The open-air environment was surprisingly closed, usually giving you only a couple options to get from point A to point B, if that many. Also, in one of the very first cut scenes, the Isle of Manhattan is flooded with some kind of toxic steam. The purpose? So the game wouldn't have to waste time rendering streets and such. Fair enough, but the result is that this city feels about as real as Superman's on the Atari 2600. [Editor's Note: Gross exaggeration for comic effect.] Quite honestly, zipping around with a Meccaryn jet pack in Giants: Citizen Kabuto was more fun than web slinging across New York. Oh, but this was a nice touch; like in the old cartoon, Spider-Man's web is capable of attaching to nothing as he swings from building to building. We're also treated to the cartoon theme song at the beginning of the game, albeit predictably pumped-up for today's over-abundance of angry, white youth. Heaven forbid we should get a computer game these days with a rock soundtrack that doesn't sound like a Mountain Dew commercial. If the developers wanted to be really cool, they would've used the Ramones' interpretation of the Spider-Man theme song from Saturday Morning Cartoons' Greatest Hits.
I can't help but compare Spider-Man to Oni, a game I liked slightly more. They share that mixture of hand-to-hand and weapons combat, sparse graphics, a compass system, and more. In each of these, however, Oni does the better job. They're also both surprisingly non-violent for combat-based games...well, non-violent in that they don't show blood. I guess it's okay to punch, kick and throw people to certain death off skyscrapers just as long as you don't see any blood or leave bodies lying around. Someone explain that to me. However, Konoko can't climb walls, and she can't wrap people up in webbing and yank them into a wall. In short, she can't be Spider-Man. Even if this game suffers in some areas, Spider-Man himself may be enough to carry it through. So, if Spider-Man's your guy, this is your game. If the game play is more important to you than the character you're controlling, however, you're better off looking elsewhere. Perhaps over to Ambush Bug. They have to make a game based on him sooner, or later, right? At least maybe an Unreal Tournament mode or a skin for The Sims, perhaps...  [an error occurred while processing this directive]
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The character is exactly as I remember him...dorky. That may have been another reason I subscribed to his comic book, now that I think about it. Peter Parker is a dork. Take away his super powers and he's just one of those goofs in the office who's always trying to be clever. Sometimes he hits, sometimes he misses, and nobody ever asks him to join them for drinks after work. Put a mask on him, though, and suddenly his jokes are much funnier because super heroes aren't supposed to be funny.
Luckily, the action rises above the material. As you'd expect and hope, the game play in Spider-Man changes up quite often. Within the first few levels, you'll have swing across New York, sneak around in office buildings, fight goons and cops on the rooftops, scale walls under constant helicopter fire, and take on both Scorpion and Rhino (not the professional wrestler in either case). Aside from the numerous cut-scenes, Spider-Man rarely lets you catch your breath...but that's as it should be.
The graphics are a mixed bag. The characters themselves look great during the game play, but the cut scenes seem dated. Indoors, the game looks fine, albeit sparse. The textures are simple and solid, creating a nice, comic book feel. However, they're also dingier than you'd get in a comic book. I've never criticized a game for not being vibrant, but you have to start somewhere. I was also disappointed in the simplicity of the objects scattered about. Potted plants, chairs and such shatter into four, maybe five pieces, then disappear. I wouldn't have minded this three years ago, but coming off 
The biggest bonus of all, though, is that Spider-Man's creator, Stan Lee, appears as the narrator, guiding us along as if reading a comic book to us. His joy for the story is infectious, but I guess it should be. Spider-Man has made him a rich, rich man after all.
