by:	April 10, 2004

The Spider-Man movie hits the silver screen on May 3rd. Until then, we gamers have something to tide us over - the game based on the movie. Keep in mind that I am writing this review on my little laptop next to my talking Spider-Man 12" figure, next to my Spider-Man figures, next to my Metallic Spider-Man card collection, next to my complete Spider-Man card collection inside a Spider-Man binder, Spider-Man posters, Spider-Man painting hanging up, and on the far side of the room, two boxes filled with nothing but Spider-Man comic books, 2011 in all. Yes, I am a hardcore Spider-Man fan. With that in mind, I will try to review this as fairly as I can, because I have seen this great character be misused, and this game is not one of those instances.

The game starts out simply enough; you are a young Peter Parker with newly found powers who must avenge his Uncle's death. One of the first things you may notice in the game is the great detail in Spider-Man. The game is moving at a smooth 60 frames per second. This pays off when you are in those intense battles with an array of enemies. The main character models are also quite good. Spider-Man is most noticeably the best. Every line of web on the red of his suit, and every 'cell' on the blue of his suit are there, and are quite impressive. The Green Goblin and Vulture's models are equally impressive. The cities are vast, and the streets below are quite impressive as you look down. However, due to technical restrictions, don't expect to be able to go down there. Overall, there is just the right amount of detail in the game.

There are a few shortcomings in the graphics, though. Many of the thugs, Mary Jane, and even Peter Parker aren't as well-modeled as they could be (there was no actual motion capturing - the character models were made from scratch) and are even blocky. These characters' mouths move as though they were puppets, and show little detail. The environments are highly detailed, but when you get near textures, they often become blurry, something that could have been taken care of with bump-mapping. Also, when swinging about the city, many details that you need to see can't be seen from a distance. For example, you must avoid search lights, but sometimes when you approach an area which looks clear, a light will suddenly appear, and you're dead.