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Spider-Man 3 Preview April 05, 2007 Jakub Wojnarowicz |
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Summary: The biggest movie of the summer is almost here - and so are its games! We take a look at PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii versions - and even glimpse the NDS variant!
 Introduction | Page:: ( 1 / 2 ) |
The Spider-Man 3 game is actually not one but three different games. There is the next-generation version for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, the Wii version, and the Nintendo DS iteration. Each offers something unique.
Xbox 360 and PS3
By far the best-looking variants, with very little to distinguish between them. Try as we might, we didn't any significant difference in graphics quality between the Xbox and PlayStation machines. Both offered incredible texture and model detail, superb animations, and all kinds of nifty shader effects. What stood out most, however, was the immense view afford to Spidey. Standing on top of a building, you could see to the edges of Manhattan and though the detail was obviously not crystal-clear, the LOD balancing was good enough to make it believable. The typical haze that obscures objects in the distance seems out of place in many games, but not in New York. Believability in the view is helped tremendously by the impressive lighting model. The sun moves across the sky and not only do shadows move and the world grows brighter and dimmer, but the light changes appropriately in color. Dusk and dawn are different from noon, with a redder tinge than the searing white of the high sun.
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The next-generation variant was oddly enough the one with the most in common with Spider-Man 2. There are no wildly radical gameplay changes or improvements, just steady, solid progress. Continuing with what we saw in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, the boss fights are not just about mashing the buttons and surviving. Rather, the player engages in interactive cut-scenes where he has to hit the right key or direction on the d-pad at the appropriate time to execute the correct move. Failure doesn't mean the end of a mission or death, fortunately, you just have to re-start the sequence again. Some of these interactive sequences are brilliant and by Activision's own admission, at least the Sandman fight was lifted straight from the movie.
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One change common to all games, but handled differently in the next-gen platforms, is that of the Venom suit. On the next-gen platforms, it is mission-specific and there are no penalties for losing it. It makes Spider-Man much stronger and he builds up a rage effect which he can unleash when it's time to open up an extra large can of whoop-ass. The combat animations are different for black suit Spidey as well, he is clearly doing the Rocky blunt force trauma gig as opposed to being cute and fast like Ali. Combat has been spiced up with a few other tricks as well, with our favorite being the ability to hang a thug from four lamp-posts at the same time. It's difficult to execute, but very rewarding.
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| Nintendo | Page:: ( 2 / 2 ) |
Swinging is where the nunchucks make the real difference though and it's much more engaging than the gamepad style of swinging, but rather more difficult. In the brief time I tried swinging, there were several moments where I managed to get a good rhythm going, but there was no shortage of mis-steps as well. Trying to alternate swings involves alternating controllers and buttons, which, for a Wii neophyte like myself, was not the simplest of tasks. However, if pulled off, a swinging sequence is very satisfactory.
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The Wii version has several cool features not related to the Wii controller either. For starters, the black suit can be worn at any time – as opposed to specific periods as in the next-generation games. However, there's a penalty for wearing it. The more you use it, the harder it is to get off. Also, while it gets more powerful as Spider-Man gains rage, it's possible to hit a rage limit, at which point Spidey blacks out and the game resets. The advantages to a high rage are fairly significant, as Spider-Man hits much harder near rage peak than he does when he just put on the Venom suit, but the balancing act is tricky.
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One especially promising feature of the Wii is the idea of gang control of the city. Gangs and the police compete for areas of the city, and their influence is visible on the map with a number of markers. Spider-Man can head to these markers and do missions or beat up gang members to restore control to the police. The system is at least semi-dynamic, with fights among gangs, and between gangs and police determining who controls what area.
Finally, Spider-Man's skill upgrades are in a skill “web”, where one skill leads to another and they branch out. Whether this is all that different from the next-generation system is debatable, but the presentation is pretty slick and there's at least the promise of something new.
DS
Spider-Man 3 on the DS is a slick little side-scroller with a pseudo-3D world. Spidey can swing quite high and jump down towards his enemies, and attacks are controlled with the touch-pad. It's not particularly complex, but surprisingly rewarding. Webbing a foe and using the touch-pad to swing them around is surprisingly fun. The game should rock with younger audiences while providing leisurely entertainment for older gamers.
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