February 01, 2006 @ 11:35 pm

Ultimate Spider-Man

by: Quibian Salazar-Moreno

Ultimate Spider-Man focuses on the young high-schooler Spider-Man, a superhero who hasn't fully realized his complete potential. But what pushes this game to the top is the ability to play Spidey's arch enemy, Venom. The story, which seems to come straight from the comic book world, follows both Spidey and Venom, often crossing paths with each other, until they come to a final resolution. But does this live up to the Spider-Man games of the past? Audio/Visual: The graphics are what stands out the most with this game. It has a kind of cel-shading look to it plus a comic book theme, meaning that the cut scenes look like actual pages from a comic book and the characters jump off the page and into action. The animations are cartoony, but it works for what the developers were trying to do. The voice talent is well-done, but the score of the game is pretty much forgettable. The game has great effects on the explosions, gunfire and just the sound effects of normal life to move the story along. left Controls: The controls are a lot different from the previous Spider-Man games. You still control web-slinging with the triggers but the zip-line is different (holding both triggers down), the swinging is much faster, and Spidey is finally able to use the spring in his step to jump from roof to roof with ease. The same goes with Venom, you use the triggers to use super jump atop buildings, then the buttons are used to stretch and slap cats, feed on innocent bystanders, claw foes across their body and throws cars and trucks down the street. Just too much fun! Hotness: Controlling Venom has to be the highlight of the game, plus the story is excellent and gets you involved trying to find out what’s going to happen next. Wackness: Since this is the Spider-Man of the early days (still in high school), he doesn't have all the powers and web specialties he's had in previous games. Still, it doesn't hurt the fun game play, you just wish you could use some of those powers that he’s known for. Read more vibe.com game reviews