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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 “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 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
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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.