Doesn't always do what a spider can...

There are 2 reasons why I bought this game. First, I’ve always been huge fan of Spiderman. From the comic books to the new movie. So, naturally I was curious about this game.

Second, I have the Sega Dreamcast version of Spiderman and that game quickly became one of my favourites. Naturally, I was curious about this game.

I was hoping this game would replace my Dreamcast version, but unfortunately it didn’t even come close. I will say this though... these have got to be some of the best graphics I have seen on the xbox. Amazing! The buildings look so real it’s phenomenal! I love web-swinging in this game! Excellent job there! No doubt about that...

I also loved the training program in this game. I felt like I was actually in the hologram room in “Star Trek: The Next Generation”. The instructional voice is helpful and very comical.

Speaking of which, the voice-acting is wonderful also. I don’t know if Activision had the actors from the movie do the voices in this game, but it sounds real enough! If it’s not the real voices, I can’t tell. The only downside (as was the case with the Dreamcast version) was Spidey’s jokes and comments becoming too repetitive, but this is a negligible point.

The real downsides are not many, but they are important. First off, I have yet to be impressed with the camera movements and angles in ANY third-person type game, but the Spiderman game for the xbox has the worst in any game platform. It is difficult to see around you and especially in front of you. This is especially frustrating when you are running and exploring the different environments. There is a way to keep the camera in front of you manually, but is it really necessary for the player to manually do this???

I also have a problem with the controls. Or lack thereof. It’s not the worst I’ve seen, but it is somewhat difficult to get Spidey to do what you want, when you want. This is particularly true in the fighting sequences. It’s not impossible, but it does need improvement.

The levels are somewhat easy and sometimes too quick. It felt like beat up a few bad guys ”wham!”, “bam!” and the level was over! On to the next one! This hurts the replay value quite a bit which is why I would definitely recommend renting this game first, if possible, before buying it. Keep in mind that if or when you complete this game, you will probably not play it anymore.

I was really hoping this game would be every bit as good (and better) as the Sega Dreamcast version of Spiderman. And this is true if you compare graphics between the 2 games, but that’s where the xbox version loses it’s edge. Lack of controls, awful camera angles just hurt the “Spidey” experience too much. The Dreamcast version may not have had the best graphics, but the gameplay value was very high. It’s too bad that I was so disappointed with this xbox version because this game had a lot of potential...