Ultimate Spider-Man - GameCube (GC), PC, Playstation 2 (PS2), Xbox (XB) Previews


Be sure to check our Preview of Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions	Platform GC, PC, PS2, XB Genre Action Publisher Activision Developer Treyarch (GC, PS2, XB), Beenox (PC) ETA Fall 2005
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Ultimate Spider-Man

As big a Spider-Man fan as I am, I haven’t kept up with the comics the same way I used to. In fact, the first time I discovered the “Ultimate” continuum was at this year’s E3 at Activision’s booth, where Ultimate Spider-Man made its debut. Right away I was impressed with the art direction – you can be forgiven if you think

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“Viewtiful Spider-Man” – but what had me very intrigued was that Ultimate Spider-Man is aiming for the same wide-open environments featured in Spider-Man 2 without being restricted by a movie tie-in.

There’s nothing worse than a licensed game that could have been “great!” but comes in at mediocre because the project is shackled by a written-in-stone release

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date and the necessity of remaining pretty close to the source material. As far as I can tell, Ultimate Spider-Man will stick to its source material – featuring a plethora of Marvel characters along with Spidey and arch-nemesis, Venom – and the storyline is the work of writers Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley, who also work on the Ultimate Spider-Man comic book. While I’m sure that there will be some recap of events in the Ultimate Spider-Man timeline from the comics, I’m hoping the main thrust of the game will be to create an extension of the comic book, which I’ve discovered is actually pretty good.

Here’s the official line from Activision:

Take on the role of the world’s most famous Super Hero, Marvel’s Spider-Man, and one of his most menacing nemeses, Venom, in an original storyline written and illustrated by the creative team behind the best-selling “Ultimate Spider-Man” comic books. Set in a massive free-roaming New York City environment, including the new borough of Queens, the game delivers the most in-depth Spider-Man adventure to date with a variety of demanding missions, diverse gameplay and a new combat system that allows players to face off against the largest number of interactive characters from the Marvel universe ever assembled in a Spider-Man game. With gameplay that unfolds through interactive comic book panels and 3D Comic Inking Technology™, players are seamlessly integrated into a virtual comic book experience via simultaneous multiple visual perspectives.

Features:

Play As Spider-Man Or His Arch-Nemesis Venom – Gamers get to triumph over evil as the young Spider-Man and assume the role of his arch nemesis Venom to destroy everything in their path with Ultimate Spider-Man’s two diverse types of gameplay. The combat systems allow players to defeat enemies differently, using Spider-Man’s fluid, acrobatic moves or Venom’s brute force.

Experience A Living Comic Book – With innovative 3D Comic Inking Technology™, gamers experience unique animated comic book panels that move the story along through comprehensive environments and make it possible to sense danger from multiple perspectives.

Most Immersive Spider-Man Game Ever – The new combat system lets players use their surroundings to pull off acrobatic moves in the expanded free-roaming New York City environment, including the borough of Queens. Ultimate Spider-Man also features more characters from the Marvel universe than any other previous Spider-Man game.

The 3D Comic Inking Technology heightens the comic book feel that Ultimate Spider-Man is shooting for. The cuts and pop-ups of the panels don’t seem to detract or distract from the action and they help push the story elements. (Check the trailers on ifilm.)

Spider-Man fans that loved the open-ended web slinging of Spider-Man 2 but weren’t so hot about the mish-mashed story to maintain continuity with the film, should get their wallets ready, because Ultimate Spider-Man is looking like it will live up to its name.

- Omni

(August 22, 2005)

This game has now been reviewed!