New Review Posted: Ultimate Spider Man

Daniel Weissenberger · 12-07-2005, 12:15 AM

Brad Gallaway reviews Ultimate Spider-Man, and isn't too pleased with what he finds:

"I would say that I'm a fan of Spider-Man, but I am usually not a fan of Spider-Mangames. I have fond memories of web-slinging on the Genesis and Neversoft's entry on the PS1 is still the best adventure to be had with Peter Parker's alter ego, if you ask me. Besides those two outings, old Spidey has been stuck starring in a long string of unsatisfying, unhappy titles. Ultimate Spider-Man marks Treyarch's fourth attempt at one of the most valuable comic book franchises out there, and they're still not getting it right."

The rest of the review is right here.

Hypatia93 · 12-07-2005, 10:54 AM

Wow. And here I was hoping. I mean.. it just looks so beautiful. I guess this is a classic example of "graphics don't always cut the mustard."

Thanks, Brad, for giving me the heads up on this one. (Even though I'm kinda bummed.

I mean, I was only going to buy it long down the road, used, at a huge discount, but still.. *sigh*)

Brad Gallaway · 12-07-2005, 05:48 PM

even at a discount, i'd say to not waste your time or money. it's that bad, really. ; )

Zanbatou · 12-09-2005, 11:40 AM

You just can't have a good spider-man game without good, realistic web/rope physics. When will ropes in games finaly start getting some attention? any attention at all?

Jerm · 12-09-2005, 01:06 PM

Well, if it's worth anything Hypatia, I actually had quite a bit of stupid fun with the game. If you enjoyed Spiderman 2 (I did), than this one isn't too much of a stretch from that one. They dumbed down the web swinging and overhauled the graphics, but it's pretty much the same. And forcing the side-missions is lame, but they're relatively quick and painless, and if you're willing to experiment with all the different combos that you get, you can pull off some interesting moves.

Plus, web-swinging is so damn cool. I still prefer the system in Spider-Man 2 over Ultimate, but it's still pretty exhilirating.

Don't get me wrong, though. The game isn't 'great' by any stretch of the imagination--the god-awful chase sequences destroy the fun almost immediately. I'd say it's worth a rental, though, if you're curious.

And I was surprised to read that Brad enjoyed the first Spider-Man game, but not this one...huh? You mean that ultra-restricted, no ground, lame on-foot sequences one that they made for the first movie? Wow, I could hardly get through a few hours of that game. I guess we have totally different tastes when it comes to web-slinging games

Quote:

You just can't have a good spider-man game without good, realistic web/rope physics.

Whaaaaaat???? No, please, for the love of jeebus, don't hamper a spider-man game with 'realistic' physics. I play these games to be thrust into the shoes of a super hero, and I expect all the crazy, over-the-top exaggeration that goes along with it. "Realistic physics", pshh, are you mad?!

Brad Gallaway · 12-09-2005, 01:49 PM

And I was surprised to read that Brad enjoyed the first Spider-Man game, but not this one...huh? You mean that ultra-restricted, no ground, lame on-foot sequences one that they made for the first movie?

Noooooooooooo... i said i liked the first PS1 spider-man game, made by neversoft. that first Spider-Man movie game was total crap.

if you haven't played it, i still think it's one of the best. the graphics are rough and such, but still.. funny how neversoft got the franchise "right-er" the firs time than treyarch has over the last four times they tried.

Hypatia93 · 12-09-2005, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GC_Brad

even at a discount, i'd say to not waste your time or money. it's that bad, really. ; )

*sigh*

EDIT:

Sorry Jerm, I hadn't scrolled down far enough to see your post at first.

Anyway, yeah.. I /may/ at some point give it a rental. Meh. Or I may wait until it's like 10 bucks and pick it up. Who knows what lurks in the hearts of.. well, in my heart.. no, up here in my old k'noggin'.

Right now, after a /really/ horrible week (both at the office and at home), I'm looking forward to going home and (hopefully) getting in some DQ8.

Jerm · 12-09-2005, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GC_Brad

Noooooooooooo... i said i liked the first PS1 spider-man game, made by neversoft. that first Spider-Man movie game was total crap.

D'oh! Sorry about the misunderstanding.

I'll just be chewing on my foot over here...

EnduroGamer · 12-11-2005, 02:43 AM

I played the three Treyarch games and I'd have to say that Spider-Man 2 was the best of them in terms of web physics and also in terms of the trick races, but Ultimate Spider-Man definitely had the best cutscenes and boss fights.

I would disagree with Brad and say that, if you can find it really cheaply, then you ought to go ahead and buy it. I'm talking $25 or less. Keep in mind, this is coming from someone who doesn't ever rent games. If you're a renter, go that route.

Also, I'd disagree with Brad's comment about being kept from advancing the story because of the city event requirements. While it's true that after each chapter mission you have to meet a set number of requirements to access the next chapter (and this is unabashed filler, no doubt) but it's very, very easy to simply take a little while early in the game while you're famliarizing yourself with the city to collect all the tokens and complete all of the brawls, races, and city events that you'll ever need for the entire game. There's something like 18 chapters in the game and you can very casually knock off all of the requirements by the time you're done with the 8th or 9th mission and never have to worry about them the rest of the game.

Brad Gallaway · 12-11-2005, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EnduroGamer

Also, I'd disagree with Brad's comment about being kept from advancing the story because of the city event requirements. While it's true that after each chapter mission you have to meet a set number of requirements to access the next chapter (and this is unabashed filler, no doubt) but it's very, very easy to simply take a little while early in the game while you're famliarizing yourself with the city to collect all the tokens and complete all of the brawls, races, and city events that you'll ever need for the entire game. There's something like 18 chapters in the game and you can very casually knock off all of the requirements by the time you're done with the 8th or 9th mission and never have to worry about them the rest of the game.

very true, but as a game player, why should i even have to do this? like you said, the missions are obviously filler (and highly UN-entertaining filler, to boot), so the fact that i need to do a bunch of filler to make sure that i can keep going through the story mode seems like a fundamental flaw in the game design. IMO, if there's not enough content to make a game, then don't give me half a game and a load of filler.

EnduroGamer · 12-12-2005, 12:38 PM

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, I just think that the "filler" parts were easily completed while travelling from one mission to the next one's start without a lot of additional time or energy being used.

While they were no doubt unnecessary to the story -- and unlike Spider-Man 2 didn't help you earn unlockable attacks and power-ups -- I didn't see them as being too big of a hurdle to get over. Annoying? Sometimes. But easily accomplished.