• Explore the powers of Peter Parker after he is bitten a radioactive spider and gains amazing new powers

• You'll get to swing around the skyscrapers of a massive 3D recreation of New York City

• Use your spider-like abilities to do the impossible -- stick to walls, shoot webs and more

• Battle criminals as you go beyond the storyline presented in the hit movie - threats like Kraven and The Vulture

• New combos and webbing types, plus new puzzles and challenges are waiting for you

You play the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man, the hyphen is there because this game is based on the upcomming May 3 theatrical release of Spider-Man. Being as how the movie is in the future and I don't want to pretend that I can see that far, I don't know how close the game sticks to the movie plot. However, from what I can tell the voice actors are the same as the movie. ie William DeFoe portrays Harry Osborne aka the Green Goblin, Kirsten Dunst portrays Mary Jane, Peter/Spidey's love interest, (although it's hard to tell if it's actually her because her voice is not all that distinctive, no offence Kirsten.) And what sounds like Tobey MacGuire playing the webhead himself.

One of the cool aspects of this game is that if you played the previous Playstation 1 version of the game, you can opt to use the same control style. Or you can used the advanced control style which I'd recommend. (but why should you listen to me? It's your world- Bob Ross) The controls take some time to get used to mainly due to the frustrating camera. You have control of the camera using the right analog stick but sometimes it's frustrating if you need to turn around and all you see is Spidey's face, not what's actually behind you until you tap the stick down to recenter the camera behind you.

I'm going to take this time to delve into something that I thought was the games best selling point and made it the most fun. Aerial combat. While it was possible to swing around and attack in the air in the first game, this game takes it to an all new level. There are a few levels based solely on attacking spider hunters that fly through the air high above the city and you must flip and twist and swing through the air to defeat them. In one level, you are battling with the green goblin through the air as he zips along hurling pumpkin bombs at you. At one point, and I don't know how I did it but it was the coolest thing I've ever seen, I landed on Goblins air rider thing and started hamering him with my fists in the head until he got upset and took a sharp turn while flinging me off. Now, during these aerial battles, you can land on any one of the numerous buildings if you need a break and there are helth icons all over the place. But these environments definitely upped the replay value of this game for me.

There are tons of secrets throughout this game and I refuse to use any cheats until I've at least beaten the game once. However, I did come accross something and I don't know if it's true or not that once you beat the game on hero, you can play through as the goblin. Don't quote me but it might be pretty cool.

The nitty gritty-

Graphics: 4.5 The graphics were a little overplayed by those people who hype things up and say that there will be nothing better but they are nonetheless pretty cool. You can see the cars moving around down on the streets from 70 stories up. Spideys new outfit based on the movie has metalic web outlines which shine in certain lighting. The FMV (full motion video ie Final Fantasy) looks very good and the characters look like the actors who portray them in the movie. Nice touch.

Sound: 4.5 The sound is good don't get me wrong but there are a couple of times when (Tobey?) sounds bored. He could have used a little more inflection in his voice but that's nothing to get too upset over. The guy who narrates the training is a hoot. At one point he says he's going to get a ham sandwhich and the next time you hear him he's definitly chewing on something.

Controls: 5 It's hard to argue with a game that allows you to customize your control issues. If you prefer the old style, use em. But the advanced allows for many of the new improved actions to be performed easily once you get the hang of it.

Gameplay: 5++ Definitly the selling point of the game. (after the movie, the franchise, all those people hyping it up, and the fact that it is a cool game) You really feel as though you are granted great powers and responsibility yada yada. Seriously, you feel as though you are actually Spider-Man. If you enjoyed the first game, you will not be let down in the least.

BTW, for those of you who thought the first game was a little too cartoony or childish, this game isn't. It starts off telling about ****SMALL SPOILER**** Uncle Bens death and you must track down his killer to avenge him. That cheesy repairte that made it into the first game didn't make the cut here. Just some witty banter between heros and thugs. If you've ever wanted to experience being Spider-Man, go get the game. Or you could work with radiation and spiders and hope that one will bite you with the correct resutlts but I don't recommend that.

24 of 25 found the following review helpful:


Activision says "Hello Spidey Fans!!!"  Apr 23, 2002 By Anand Aidasani "araidasa"
I've followed the Spider-man games by Activision for a few years now. I was blown away by Spider-Man on PS1, its sequel, however, left much to be desired. Thus, my expectations for this game were rather low.

After playing it most of this past weekend (trust me, time flies when playing this game), I am back on the Activision band wagon.

This game is materially different than the Spidey games on PS1. It has much of the same Spidey moves and interaction with nefarious villians. However, the graphics, the movements and the action are amazing. Web slinging is dramatically improved and the movements are extremely smooth.

The plot seems to follow the plot of the upcoming moviee so some may not wish to play this before watching the film (released May 3). However, if you are looking for a great action/super hero game, I see none better than this one.

This game should yield hours of good fun and is a bargain at the price compared to how much "fun" that buys you in other places (movies, plays, music, concerts, arcades, etc.)

Buy it and enjoy it.

17 of 17 found the following review helpful:


It's rated E for Everyone, but should be rated H for Hard!!!  Jul 26, 2002
Hello I'm a 14 year old gamer and the pictures are really cool looking and the abilities are neat, but it's really hard. There is a training part at first, but after that it gets tougher. Only on the first 2-4 levels you have to fight a bunch of Skull's gang and they have guns and everything. Sure you can go on the ceiling and stuff but they can find you easily if they already saw you on the ground. Each guy needs to be hit 4 times pratically and the webb power to tie them up doesn't last long if your hitting or kicking the guy(after 2 hits). I would suggest renting it first instead of just buying it because of the movie. Also, the moves are kind of hard to remember, too. Thank you for reading my review, hope it helps you.

13 of 13 found the following review helpful:


Fun...while it lasts  May 14, 2002 By Nick Watkins "Nick Watkins"
This game has awesome, awesome graphics, good storyline (a bit different than the movie's), good voiceovers-all of that. BUUUUUUUUUT----one problem. TOOOOOOOO short. I beat it on Normal in 2 days. Actully, 1 and a half. This game is tons of fun, while it lasts. Still, I guess you can play it on different challenge moads. And it's fun just to replay the first few levels, too. OK anyway:

The game is different then the movie. It features Green Goblin (duh), Shocker, Vulture, and Scorpion. As you move about the game, you'll run into golden spider icons. When you touch them, you'll attain a new combo. If you forget the combo buttons, you can press "Start" and click "Combat Controls". Wa-lah. The normal fighting controls are just like the 2 for PS1, so you'll probably remember them. Also, you can unlock secrets (such as bowling and hidden movies) when you collect enough points. OK, I'm gone.

13 of 13 found the following review helpful:


The Best Spider-Man Game of All Time  Apr 21, 2002 By Gil
When reading the previews of this game, I simply fell in love with it and reserved a copy immediately. The graphics are great, it's an amazingly fun game to play, but it can get frustrating at times. The camera sucks at times, but if you master the right analog stick to change the camera views, this wouldn't be much of a problem for long. The graphics are very nice, and the movie sequences after each stage keep you interested and the game really makes sense. The enemies fit in together to make sense with the story, so you don't have stupid enemies running around that have nothing to do with the story. If you're a spider-man fan, this game is definitely for you. It's better than all the other Spider-Man games that have ever come out and playing this through will definitely have you dying to see the movie more and more. You should probably rent it first, because it tends to be fairly easy. But I'm not disappointed in buying this game at all.

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