Incredible movie... decent game

OVERVIEW

In Spiderman: The Movie, you play as Peter Parker and follow several of the events of the blockbuster movie. For those of you familiar with the preceding Spiderman games on PS One, Spiderman: The Movie isn't really all that much different, mechanically. The controls are basically the same, as are the elements within the game. In fact, this version of the Spiderman saga seems more like a remake of the previous games, patching up many of the flaws from which its predicessors suffered.

As you play, you will find gold icons along the way that will unlock fighting combos. There are so many, however, that this soon gets very old. Much of the game feels like a key-hunt... finding the fuse to open the elevator, finding the lever to power down the electrified floor, etc.

The story isn't all that well driven. The elements that came from the movie follow the movie's storyline pretty well, but the rest of the villains and levels feel more like an afterthought... something thrown in to introduce the characters and create an excuse for various environments in which Spidey can fight.

Visually, and technically, I think this game has it where it counts. The overall experience seems to be lacking, however. You'll find yourself easily mopping up bad guys one minute, and the next, you'll be swarmed by enemies toting firearms, with very little health or webbing powerups readily available. Following that, the next couple of scenes will be easy again.

The difficulty doesn't seem to get progressively more challenging, as one would expect in a video game of this nature. It seems more that the game was perhaps too easy when it was first developed, and so they threw in a few variables later to spice things up... again, feeling like an afterthought.

There is one level where you are forced to disarm bombs while being attacked by flying robots carrying miniguns. You have a time-limit in which to disarm all the bombs. The frustrating part is that even once you've discovered where all the bombs are, there's a fine line between fighting off and avoiding the robots to stay alive, getting to all the bombs in the allotted time, and keeping your web fluid up. It's more like a level based on managing resources, which is nothing like any of the other levels in the game. Eventually, a pattern can be figured out and the level can be completed, but it's terribly difficult. The next 2 or 3 levels are cake. Even fighting the Green Goblin at the end doesn't seem nearly as difficult.

CONTROLS

Though there are several controls and combos to master, there are adequate training missions to get the user familiar with the controls.

Besides the myrriad of attacks that spidey can execute, there are nice little extra features like mid-air acrobatics that add to the flavor of the game. It's in the details.

The camera is fairly well done. You won't find that it will give you an odd angle at a crucial moment very often, and even if it does, you have full control over it in most areas of the game. Like the older Spiderman games, you have a first-person view, similar to that of Metal Gear Solid 2, that help you to aim your webbing accurately for either webbing up baddies or attaching your web to a spire so you can swing to safety.

SCORE

6.5/10