G4TV

Ultimate Spider-Man takes the basic architecture of the Spider-Man 2 game and runs with it. You’ve got a familiar, wisecracking superhero, an open game world to explore, random events, and an over-arching plot to wrap it all around. In this case, the game isn’t a retelling of a movie, but of the Ultimate Spider-Man comic book, which isn’t (for non-comic fans) quite the same as the traditional Spider-Man character that fans have known and loved since the '60s.

A Tale of Two Wall Crawlers…

Marvel’s Ultimate line has taken traditional Marvel characters and re-told their origins as if they had started in the late '90s, instead of the groovy '60s or '70s (or '80s for that matter). In this world, Peter Parker is still a high school student trying to deal with the rigors of passing his classes, and dealing with his girlfriend and Aunt May, all while constantly trying to save New York City and his hometown of Queens from all manner of menacing criminals. He’s a young, inexperienced hero meant to appeal to younger readers who can’t relate to a Spidey who started way before they were born and is now in his 30’s.

Ultimate Spider-Man the game, ironically, focuses on what is probably the weakest plot of the entire comic book series--Venom. In the comic, Venom was a hastily re-created villain full of teenage angst, and that origin is re-told almost exactly in the game. Ultimate Venom is quite a bit different than his main Marvel counterpart, and you’ll get to experience those differences first hand, since you can occasionally control him. With his incredible leaping ability, writhing tentacles, and cannibalistic tendencies to eat people when he needs health, the Venom levels add a darkly interesting sub-plot to the overall game.

Venomous Gameplay

The Venom segments are secondary to the main game, however, and controlling Spider-Man has never been better. One of the first changes gamers will notice is the lack of mystery web slinging far above the skyline. Spidey must have a building, or something to latch onto in order to swing, and this actually makes the gameplay more interesting, and (odd to say) more realistic. Other than that, the controls should prove instantly familiar to anyone who has played any of the previous Spider-Man games.

Spidey can do all the things a spider can--spin webs, climb walls, and perform a variety of punches, kicks, and web attacks. The controls are intuitive, although the camera often remains a problem and has to be manually re-adjusted frequently. The main story line focuses on Peter’s battles with Venom, but you’ll get to battle plenty of other villains as well. Rhino, Shocker, Electro, the Green Goblin, and plenty of other low-grade thugs make appearances in Ultimate Spider-Man, and the parts of the game that let you interact with the familiar, well-written plots of the comic book are the highlights.

Racing through a Comic Book

It’s the filler stuff that is the real problem here. In order to progress through the main story, you have to fulfill other obligations. These range from a series of thug battles through the city, to, more often than not, races. The first race is with Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four, but after that, you are just moving from floating checkpoint to checkpoint as fast as possible to win medals. While these segments would be fine occasionally, races are used far too frequently and it gets boring.

Worse is that considering that the main story line isn’t that long, it really seems as if these segments were merely used as a cheap means to lengthen the game. Even with lots of racing, most gamers will scoot through Ultimate Spider-Man in less than 10 hours. Other events get it right, such as Spider-Man coming across random muggings, or stopping runaway cars. Had the game focused more on truly random, life-like city events for Spider-Man to interact with, it would have been more appealing.

Just the same, the game is a lot of fun, and a big part of the entertainment value comes from the topnotch look and feel. USM truly looks like the comic book come to life. Swinging back and forth from the city, where Peter works at the Daily Bugle, to Queens where he lives and goes to school, the huge open environment feels like a living city. People and cars go about their business constantly, and while the comic book art is actually rather simplistic, the overall effect is a beautifully colorful, well-animated landscape. The music, sound effects, and voice work are all great as well. Although the game doesn’t use brand name voice actors, all the characters sound spot on.

Mostly Ultimate

For fans of the comic book and the character, Ultimate Spider-Man is sure to be appealing. The short length and repetitive sequences make it more of a rental for non-believers, but overall, excellent gameplay, a great presentation, and familiar characters make this the best superhero-based game since, well, Spider-Man 2.