Spider-Man 3

If the following review were a movie trailer, it’d sound something like:

When an unforeseen darkness begins to consume our hero, the world shutters as new supervillains emerge. Gangs have overthrown the city, leaving our family and friends – and a dozen fruit pies – in the hands of evil. Spider-Man must overcome his inner and outer demons to save the world… But can he do it in time?

Critics are calling Spider-Man 3 for Wii “EXCITING!” “INTENSE!” Slinging webs is “the best way to travel through a city,” writes Louis Bedigian.

Spider-Man 3. Rated T for Teen. In stores everywhere.

The hype is easily justified with the series’ trademark web slinging and swinging, bridged with mechanics that are as surreal as they are thoughtful. While other superheroes are butchered in video games, Spider-Man is treated with dignity.

However, bear in mind that this is Spidey’s first Wii outing. Every word of the aforementioned trailer is true – but like any good promo piece, it does not talk about the parts of the game that are anything less.

Swing It. Swing It!

By now most you have likely played the previous Spider-Man games. That being the case, you won’t be surprised by the open-ended city, the free-roaming gameplay, or the frequent run-ins with tangential enemies.

As a Wii action game, the developers had to think before moving – and before swinging their remotes. How do you merge the Wii’s motion technology with a sequel that follows the same path as its predecessors? Wherever that thought took them is anyone’s guess. But they ended up with shake-heavy combat, remote-flick swinging, on-screen pattern mimicking, and other familiar Wii actions.

To swing from building to building, hold down the Z or B button and swing that button’s respective controller. The remote ejects webbing from Spider-Man’s right arm; the nunchuck sends a shot through his left. The swing-based combat moves are not as intuitive as Twilight Princess, meaning you’ll have to swing a little harder – and a little more diligently – to get Parker to carry out each move. Execute a punch combo by swinging the remote two or three times. Finish it off with the A button, which causes Spider-Man to perform his strong attack.

At first it seems like every move requires a lot of vigorous shaking. By the end of the first mission you’ll realize that you’re just wasting time. Attacks aside, most moves need nothing more than a light flick of the remote or nunchuck. Don’t go crazy waving your arms as you swing from building to building. Lightly (but quickly) swing the remote forward and Spider-Man will take care of the rest. Use the thumbstick to steer him through the air. For a burst of speed, hold the A button while swinging and release before the next web is slung.

The feelings developed while swinging – falling from a skyscraper, evading a wayward rocket, narrowly missing the front of an SUV as you pull up at the last second – are more surreal than any of the previous Spider-Man games. Climb the tallest building and jump back down. Release your webbing just before hitting the pavement and ask yourself: did I forget to breathe? Or did the game just open my mouth and take it away?

We Hate You. We Love You. Save Us!

The world can’t seem to make up its mind about Spider-Man. If they’re bashing him today they’ll be calling for his help tomorrow. That’s the way of the world for a superhero.

In addition to the main quest – which is said to mirror the movie and should remain a secret given that this is the film’s opening weekend – Spider-Man 3 offers several gang scenarios and randomly incurred City Alerts. City Alerts are triggered whenever a nearby citizen or police officer is in danger. They’re quick, single-task missions that don’t advance the story but do extend the life of the game.

There are four gangs in the city: Apocalypse, Dragon Tails, H-Bombers, and Waste Tribe. Each gang wants control. As Spider-Man, you’ll have the chance to visit informants within each gang to learn of their members’ whereabouts. Complete three to five missions within a particular area and that gang’s territory will be given back to the police.

Help Spider-Man! They Took My Pie!

In an unofficial, unintentional, and likely unplanned homage to American Pie, Spider-Man 3 requires you to save a bunch of fruit pies. I don’t know where this idea came from. Honestly, I don’t think I want to know. Spider-Man 2 had an interesting pizza delivery scene, but that related to the story. When a City Alert comes in to tell me that police officers are in trouble, I’m willing to take a detour from my current mission. But when they tell me to rescue a few stolen pies, it makes me wonder how the game achieved a T rating. Lara Croft (star of another popular T-rated action game) has done a lot of things, but she’s never risked her life for pastry.

The Dark Side of the Web

Spider-Man 3’s most tantalizing addition is the ability to control what the game refers to as “Black-Suited Spider-Man.” In other words, he is imbued with the powers and strength of the suit that created Venom. He’s faster, heavier, and lands harder, leaving cracks in the pavement. His punches – more potent. His combos – more enduring. Spider-Man (or as I like to call him in this form, Venom Man) is an unstoppable force. Boss battles are made easy by the increase in health and attack power, while other missions turn to mush.

However, the game wasn’t that difficult to begin with. Spider-Man 3 is as mainstream as properties come. They could have pieced together a hardcore adventure that would meet the needs of everyday game players. Then again, Sony could have done the same thing with the movie trilogy and created a tighter, more specific franchise. But they – like the developers of this game – wanted something that anyone could get into. Sacrifices had to be made, but it’s hard to complain about this when there are no alternatives. Other comic book games suck. Until our industry is ambitious enough to release something better, Spider-Man’s mainstream difficulty will remain the benchmark of the genre.

The Dark Side of the Game

At times Spider-Man 3 feels like the glitchy little brother of the game it should have been. The lighting and body textures oddly unstable, fluttering around each characters’ body as if they were not firmly attached. Building details are not always visible from afar. There are times when the detail develops as you approach, which is not very common for a next-gen game – even on Wii, which is the least graphically intense of the three new consoles. When multiple enemies come together for a brawl, the frame rate’s consistency is lost. You won’t experience massive slowdown. But there are some weird changes that take you out of the comic book setting.

Character models are a tad blocky. Facial expressions are nowhere in sight, and the grass, tree, and water effects are horrendously bland and static. The camera is fairly stable for a game that needs you to rely on automatic view changes. Re-center the view at any time by pressing the C button. The only other camera option is to hold the C button and tilt the nunchuck. It works but it’s not overly intuitive.

Also, while the combat executions have changed from buttons to remote shaking, the ideals are the same. Spider-Man 3’s basics aren’t any different from its predecessors. This game is more exciting and less repetitive. But if you wanted a new combat engine you’re going to be disappointed.

There is a new upgrade system that lets you unlock moves by earning points. It’s a nice, but not innovative, addition to a game that was already a bit of a copycat. (The mission setup mimics Grand Theft Auto, the point system is borrowed from Devil May Cry, etc.)

Once again, flaws keep a Spider-Man game from achieving perfection. However, that shouldn’t keep anyone from playing what is still an exhilarating and memorable thrill-ride set a comic book fantasy. Spider-Man 3 is not likely to disappoint the casual gamers who loved Spider-Man 2. Hardcore gamers are a pickier bunch, but it’s doubtful that even they will walk away feeling sorry they took the trip.

Gameplay: 8
The best way to travel through a city (and the best way to stop a mutated villain), Spider-Man 3 is speedy, jaw-dropping fun for every Spidey-wannabe. Slinging webs is an accelerated, exhilaration-pushing experience that offsets the return of an old and repetitive combat engine. Wii players have the benefit of using their remotes to attack, which sharply cuts the repetition tied to pressing one button thirty million times.

Graphics: 7.7
Shiny and glitchy. Spider-Man 3 needs more than a new coat of paint to be beautiful – it needs a reworked engine.

Sound: 7.9
There’s a certain level of peacefulness that comes with each swing. The ripping sounds of the wind, the light screech of web shooting through Spider-Man’s wrists – when mixed with a 24-hour night/day cycle (not in real-time), the experience is quite soothing.

The music is good but doesn’t stand out as much as you’d think for a comic book game. Actors from the film, including Tobey Maguire, and Topher Grace, lent their voices to the game. The results aren’t spectacular. Spider-Man loves to dish out the one-liners – most of which shouldn’t have been said more than once. But it still beats the defiled voice work present in the Star Wars, X-Men, and Batman games, whose publishers didn’t involve the same actors as their respective films.

Difficulty: Easy
You might want to advance the difficulty setting on this one.

Concept: 7
Solid motion-sensitive controls mixed with the last game’s mechanics. Terrific, but no longer innovative.

Overall: 8
The glitches are noteworthy but are not so great that you should pass on Spider-Man’s latest adventure. Whether you enjoy the movie franchise or prefer to stick with the comics, Spider-Man 3 for Wii is a worthwhile experience that was made to – if nothing else – excite and enamor players, and pull us into the Spider-Man mold. That goal was superbly accomplished.