Spiderman 3 Review

I think there is a curse on the Spiderman video game franchise. Either that or no one has so far figured out a control scheme that works on the keyboard mouse combo. Console users may be used to pushing buttons like crazy but the PC control scheme requires less danger of wrist injury through video game control. If you are a PC only player then you will know that console ports have two big problems. The first of course is the control scheme that is difficult to master and the second is the camera that follows its own rules. (I am reminded of the Prince being chased by the Dahaka in Warrior Within, you push the forward button, the camera would suddenly swing 180 degrees and the Prince would be running as if you had pressed the back button, towards the Dahaka - reload).

New York City in Spiderman 3 is 250% bigger than Spiderman 2. For some reason best known to the game developers they decided that you would control the web with your keyboard and the camera with your mouse. Why does the camera need user control? Especially in a game like Spiderman? So with your left hand you will be busy webbing and your right hand is supposedly meant to steer the camera behind Spiderman. I mention this at the very beginning of this review because as a PC user you will be completely baffled the moment this game actually begins. It has been ported to the PC but no one seems to care whether it is playable on it or not.

The story of the game runs parallel to the movie and you will fight Venom, Sandman, and Harry Osborne as the new goblin. In addition there are other comic book villains like Kraven, Kingpin, and so on.

In the movie, if you have seen it, Peter Parker’s attitude goes from bad to worse the longer he wears the dark symbiote infected suit. In the game, the longer you play it the worse is the game play experience.

The game starts with the familiar voice of Bruce Campbell as the narrator. There is a tutorial where you learn the various tricks that Spiderman can do. You can now web using a single key press, the Spider Sense will make the world black and white with red enemies, green allies, and yellow objective markers. The Spider Reflexes slow down time and give Spiderman an edge in battles. This comes in handy during boss fights. You get to know all this in the first level where you have to save some people from a fire.

At this point you are cut loose on the roof tops of New York. You may judge this game’s PC friendliness by the fact that Bruce Campbell returns and his voiceover tells you to use the left stick for directing your Spiderman’s web. No mention of what you are supposed to do if you have just a mouse and keyboard. Anyway, you will fiddle and get to know what to do and just when you think you are about to experience the thrill of webbing it across New York with nothing to stop you two things will happen. First of course you will be sorely pressed to keep the camera under control and second the frame rate will drop like a rock under full gravity and no resistance from air or water. Even if you set all graphic options on low and play at a resolution of 800 x 600 you will not be happy with the frame rate.

The game claims to have great many things you can do. 42 missions, random events, gang fights, and many other events will take place while you are swinging across New York. There are the web races, tokens, skydiving, and other console traditions (I think Mario Bros. collected enough coins and the Spiderman games should just give up on this concept).

If you liked what you did in Spiderman 2 and you want some more then go ahead and get Spiderman 3. Activision claims there is thrice the amount of things to do in this one. For the rest of us, this game is repetitive not only in itself but repetitive from its predecessors as well. One major difference is that the crimes happening now count towards Spiderman’s Crime Fighting Index. New York City is divided into zones (shown on the map) controlled by gangs. You have to patrol the zones and make sure they stay green in color; otherwise you are not doing your job as Spiderman. Keeping things in the green will also get you upgrades for more reflexes and health.

The graphics have been polished up and Spiderman 3 looks better but there are too many visual glitches to enjoy New York while swinging over it. The textures flicker while the frame rate is dismal while web swinging. Night scenes have a weird sheen to them. The collision model is also strange in this game. Spiderman will go through objects that should block and sometimes he will stand on objects with only one foot, the other foot is suspended in the air.

There are many combo moves that may be used in Spiderman 3 but in the end it is just another button crazy console release. The right and left mouse buttons will work for the PC but do not be surprised if you end up with an erratic mouse after finishing this game. You will have to click and click and click just as those console gamepads require. This might be acceptable if the combat itself was fun but it is not. You cannot manually pick who you will fight with. The game seems to go into auto-target mode and while you are beating up one bad guy the rest of them are busy using Spiderman for target practice.

The mission and over all story are also disappointing and only serve to take the player from one frustrating fight sequence to another until you reach some terrible boss character.

The bosses in Spiderman 3 are again a strange anomaly. The rest of the baddies you can dispense with a few kicks and punches but the bosses all require the same strategy and it is boring. If you have played Sam and Max Season One Episode 5: Reality 2.0 then you know the “fights” that Sam has to go through. Transport them into Spiderman 3 and you will not be far off except that there is nothing funny about it. You just stand and wait for the boss to come to you, wait for their attack, go into slow motion, dodge, attack, rinse, and repeat. It can take as much as 15-20 minutes to take down one boss because this is the only strategy that works. You wait for the boss to attack and go into slow motion then dodge and attack or reverse their attack. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Spiderman 3 go hand in hand.

Conclusion

Spiderman 3 game is only for die-hard Spidey fans. It is so full of flaws and nonsensical gameplay elements and clearly no one bothered with playability on the PC port. It is Spiderman, it sells, compile it, and ship it. Console owners might be satisfied because web slinging is better but for PC gamers this is the ultimate nightmare. Until they release the next Spiderman video game I guess.