Ultimate Spider-man – PS2 – Review

It is astonishing that
only a few years ago that when a comic to videogame was being made that it was
guaranteed to be crap, Superman 64 anyone? Yet thanks to the developers at
Neversoft, the mold was broken and we have fine comic book based videogames.
Unlike the previous Spider-Man games that have been released, this latest game
is based off of the Ultimate Spider-man comic books series.

Several years ago, the
Venom suite was created by Dr Richard Parker and Edward Brock, and their goal
was to cure cancer. Recently their sons, who were best friends, Peter Parker and
Eddie Brook Jr. found the remains of the suit and unleashed it upon the world.
Peter first took it and he saw that it was dangerous so he put it back. Eddie
next took the suit and it consumed him, shortly there after he and Peter fought
a nasty battle, but then he vanished in a spark of electricity. Now it is up to
Peter Parker, who is the amazing Spider-Man, to continue crime fighting, while
Eddie Brook goes on a terror spree in New York.

One of the best things
about this game is that you can play both as Spider-Man and Venom, and they each
control very differently. Spider-Man plays just like all of the other games that
carry the same name. One of the biggest differences between this game and the
others ones is that Peter is a lot younger, so he will have less moves available
to him, in comparison to the other games. Other then that players will be able
to move freely throughout the city, swinging on web lines and enjoying the city
view.

Venom plays a whole lot
differently then Spider-Man. The first thing that players will realize is that
Venom is a whole lot stronger then Spider-Man. He can lift and throw cars at
people, uses claws and tentacles to attack people. Also Venom has no form of
webbing so he will run around the streets and jumps a lot higher. One of the
biggest drawbacks to being Venom is that he must constantly feed upon other
humans because his health is always draining.

The game itself plays a
lot like the previous Spider-Man 2 game. Players will have the opportunity to
swing (or jump) around the city. As you are doing this you will come upon
different missions, missions that will progress the story or just side missions
that players will get to do for fun. This is a good thing though because players
will get to play the game at their leisure and enjoy just goofing off with the
different characters.

One of the things that I
liked about this game is all of the different characters from many different
comic books that players will get to interact with. In the beginning of the game
players will get to race against the Human Torch (from Fantastic Four). Later on
players will meet such characters as Wolverine, Rhino, Electro, Silver Sable,
and many others. Not only that but most of the super villains that players will
fight against have been completely redone with the Ultimate Spider-Man universe.
For instance the Green Goblin is now an actual monster, in-comparison to the
other games where he flies on a glider and throws bombs at you. These changes
will make players want to keep playing to see what all the new character
makeovers are.

When I first saw that this
game was using some cel-shading properties I just was disheartened, especially
since we are all brunt out on it. Now that I have gotten to spend some quality
time with the game I have to say that this game looks really good, and the cel-shading
fits really well with the entire game. Unlike the last game, the city of New
York is scaled down a lot, which is not a bad thing since it will not take you a
long time to get from one end of the city to the other. The character models in
this game are something to be seen. Each of the main characters are highly
detailed and look like they just popped out of the comic book.

With the good there is
usually the bad. There are a few things that plagued this graphics in this game.
First up is the limited draw-in distance, which means that you will see the
occasional popup. While this is not a bad thing, it is still an annoyance. Just
like all games of this nature form time to time the camera will become an
annoyance and get in your way and could cause you to lose some of your precious
life. Last but not least, this game also features some slowdown, even though it
is not to the point where you are crawling it is still noticeable and a real
distraction while you are playing this game.

The voiceovers for
Ultimate Spider-Man really fit this game. Since Peter Parker is still a teenager
his voice is now a bit younger, but he still has his classic smart-alek quips
that he speaks while he is fighting a boss or when he is just swinging around
the city. It is something that players have come to expect in a game with him,
and the developers do not disappoint in this area. The only down part of the
sound is that the music is really generic. Also the sound effects are also just
as generic, but it is not really a problem in the game I just wish it was done a
little better.

What is really
disappointing in this game is the lack of extras. Unlike the other games in the
series the extras that players will have the chance to get are pretty tame.
There are only a handful of costumes that players will get to change between as
well as a few different comic book covers. This is a real disappointment because
the lack of extras really makes the replay value go down. A game of this nature
really relies on extras because it keeps the players coming back trying to get
the best score on everything.

Ultimate Spider-Man is
rated T for Teen and contains language and violence. It will take up to 85 KB on
your memory card for game saves.

Gameplay:
8.5
I really like the diverse gameplay between Venom and Spider-Man. This
makes the game a whole lot more interesting because they each have their own
style of play, which helps break up any repetition that might form.

Graphics: 8.1
The game looks really good. The cel-shading for this game really fits
in with the entire atmosphere. The only bad thing is the occasional slow down
that plagues the game, it is not bad where it ruins the game experience but it
will get on your nerves.

Sound: 8.6
The voiceovers in this game are really strong and helps convey the
characters really well. It is too bad that the music is very generic as are the
sound effects.

Difficulty: Medium
The game has its hard moments as well as some easier ones, just like
any game of this nature.

Concept: 8.5
I really liked that I got to play as both Spider-Man and Venom; this
really mixed up the gameplay and helped prevent any repetition.

Overall 8.4
Ultimate Spider-Man is a really good game for the PlayStation 2.
While there are a few things that prevent this game from becoming phenomenal, I
highly suggest that you pick this game up and try it out for yourself.