Spawn,
like most superheroes, hasn’t quite gotten a proper treatment in the medium of
video games. His titles root back to the 16-bit era, but not one game
released with his likeness has really
been
worth his salt.. However, Namco and Point of View are looking to change all of
that with the release of Spawn: Armageddon. The latest game featuring the
former Al Simmons has him hacking up demons in a noted homage to Capcom’s hit
action game, Devil May Cry. However, whereas Devil May Cry’s main character
hacked away at demons with a sense of style and finesse, Spawn’s latest
adventure feels cumbersome and boring thanks to camera problems, overall
bugginess and repetition.
Spawn:
Armageddon’s plot follows the beginning of Todd McFarlane’s comic series pretty
closely. Issues 1 through 99 were the inspiration for the game, and as such,
Spawn fights a variety of his foes like Violator, Jason Wynn and the Angels
through a bunch of different settings, like New York City, Hell and the Angel
Space Station.
As I
said earlier, Spawn: Armageddon’s gameplay borrows quite liberally from Devil
May Cry. Spawn can use both melee attacks and guns, similar to Dante in Devil
May Cry. Spawn performs combos with his axe Agony, double jump, float with his
cape and use his chains to pull himself to higher areas. Also like Devil May
Cry, you can purchase new items, weapon upgrades and other things in-between
each level. Aside from a few key differences (aside from your chains, all long
distance ammo is limited for one), the gameplay in Spawn: Armageddon follows
Devil May Cry extremely closely.
Spawn
falls prey to quite a few problems. For one, the game is very short and very
easy. Granted, in order to get 100 percent in the game, you have to complete
the game with every difficulty mode, so it makes sense for the game to be so
short. However, the weapons and Necroplasm powers are very unbalanced for the
gameplay, and cause the game to be far too easy. The chains are probably the
best weapon in the game, meaning that the chain-gun, rocket launcher and others
are practically unnecessary. Plus, the chains are unlimited, adding to their
advantage over other weapons.
The
camera also poses a big problem, constantly getting stuck up on objects and
making high intensity combat sequences frustratingly difficult to see. Plus,
this version of the game falls prey to a host of bugs, as more than once the
game locked up and showed only a black screen. However, the most glaring problem
with the gameplay is repetitive enemies and linear progression. You run from
point A to point B fighting hordes of the exact same enemies over and over
again, and the whole experience just feels boring and repetitive.
The
graphics in Spawn: Armageddon are a mixed bag. Spawn looks great, better than
ever and a lot like his on-page
counterpart. However, the animations are very stiff and robotic, the
environments are muddy and the enemy models look like they were pulled off of a
Dreamcast game. The framerates do manage to stay pretty constant throughout.
The
sound effects are pretty good. The voice acting is very well done, giving each
character an appropriate sense of personality and mood. The music is also
pretty nice, although the heavy metal grinds that occur whenever Spawn engages
an enemy can grow pretty repetitive after a while.
Is this
the best Spawn game ever? Well, yes, but the point is pretty moot. Spawn:
Armageddon succeeds in being Spawn’s best console adventure, but it’s certainly
a far cry from being a great game. This one’s for hardcore Spawn fans, as
anyone else might not enjoy the extreme repetition and overall lack of polish.
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Gameplay: 7.0
Spawn: Armageddon draws heavily from Devil May Cry, but fails to offer much more
than a rehash with very repetitive and linear design. The camera angles are
pretty annoying, and the overall feel of the gameplay is very unbalanced and
unpolished.
Graphics: 7.5
Spawn looks very good, but is animated very robotically. The environments are
muddy and the enemies look like they were pulled from a Dreamcast game. The
framerates are pretty constant, however.
Sound: 7.5
The
voice acting is very well done, bringing to life the characters in the comic
very well. The music sounds pretty good, although the heavy metal loops
whenever Spawn engages an enemy can get pretty repetitive.
Difficulty: Easy
Concept: 6.5
Since so much of the game is pulled from Devil May Cry, I can’t really give them
high marks for concept. The game does do a good job of representing the comic
through the cutscenes and storyline, however.
Overall: 7.0
Spawn: Armageddon starts out pretty good, but ultimately falls prey to
repetition and nasty camera problems. Hardcore Spawn fans should at least give
it a rental, but everyone else could probably do without.
