Savior Gaming

Since I’ve been on a kick lately talking about movie tie games such as Fantastic 4 (2005) the game and Superman returns: the game and well, they pretty much in a nutshell sucked. But, here’s a prime of a Spider-man movie tie game that’s pretty cool, based off of Spider-man from Sam Rami with the voice talents of Tobey Mcquire, Willem Dafoe, and Bruce Campbell returning for the game. As for the story, we begin hunting down Uncle Ben’s killer and becoming Spider-man facing off against villains like Shocker, Vulture, Scorpion, Kraven ( X Box only), and of course the Green Goblin. The villians are actually pretty well done, each given multiple chapters to flush them out and while some are easier than others, none of them ever feel weak and they have an epic mystique to them; I really like how Goblin goes out of his way to do more, and none of it feels like filler and I admit I wish they included some of his parts in the movie.

The game, a decade and a half after release, holds up pretty well. The combat is pretty fun with web moves and combos you unlock after finding golden spiders throughout the chapters. Web swinging is automatic which comes off kinda lazy but is passable; web zipping is pretty awesome and pretty damn acute- master it well before Shocker’s final chapter. The graphics are pretty good for early PS2 era. I really liked the music, which gives a darker tone for certain parts and is cool. After the story, there are fun challenges in training, including swing bowling which is fun as hell. In the end, this an example of a good movie tie in game and it’s worth looking into. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Damn, thinking back on it I played a lot of movie tie in games. This particular game is meant to be a sequel to Hulk from 2003; the Hulk movie with Eric Bana that no one liked. So how does it hold up? Well the plot is simple, Bruce Banner is on the run once again from the military and searching for a cure. He trusts a rival, disabled scientist named  Crawford who betrays you , becomes a Hulk-like creature named Ravage who allies  Himself with the Leader, a gamma being with a enlarged brain that wants to take over the world using Hulk’s DNA, after creating his own band of freaks to attack the brute…

The game is divided into two completely different gameplay styles: smashing through guys as the Hulk and stealth as Banner. First and foremost, the Banner parts suck. It’s really easy to get caught and you die really quick. The Hulk parts are way better but simple. You wreak stuff; there are cool super moves like thunder clap as well as being able to pick up stuff as weapons. It’s standard beat em up but it’s fun enough. I seriously recommend getting the cheat codes so you can be invulnerable, have unlimited energy and unlock all levels and skip the Banner shit. The graphics are bright and mediocre and the voice acting is blah. If you want an alright beat,em up game, it’s worth a shot but make sure to get the cheat codes for a pretty sweet Hulk experience. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

I don’t really talk about Ultimate Marvel that much. I enjoyed Ultimate Fantastic 4: Fantastic / Doom and the The Ultimates but that’s where most of my fuzzy feelings end on the matter. This game opened my eyes…

So it begins with a really quick run through of Ultimate Spider-man lore and immediately a boss fight, Venom chasing down Parker at a rained out football game. Through the game we switch perspectives as Spider-man and Venom as S.H.I.E.L.D, OsCorp hunt you down but it all comes down to the grudge match between the two.

Some of Ultimate’s general story choices always bothered the shit out of me like the Black Suit not being a alien, Green Goblin being lime green HellBoy that throws fireballs, and Peter Parker being Carnage. How Venom is portrayed as more of a mindless brute that just hungers is enough to piss off any true old school Spidey fan. That being said the story isn’t great but passable.

The game’s graphics go for a bright comic book aesthetic which fits. Playing as Spider-man is a serious down grade from the awesome Spider-man 2 game. There’s no real combat combos, the web swinging feels clunky by comparison, and instead of the previous game’s cool dodge mechanics, you  just jump out of the way. As for Venom, you brawl with your fists and tentacles as well as a hell of a super jump. The problem is your health bar dwindles and you have to feed- a lot. Venom’s chase sections are a pain in the ass compared to Spidey’s. The villain roster is nice with the likes of Shocker, Electro, Goblin, Beetle, Rhino, Silver Sable and Carnage. Would I recommend it- not unless you are a fan of the Ultimate comics honestly. Before this game and after, there are better Spider-man games out there. May the gaming gods bring you glory.