Spider-Man 2 Review - PC

Platform: Nintendo DS
Developer: Vicarious Visions
Publisher: Activision
ESRB Rating: Everyone

Rating:

Pros: Great graphics; solid Spidey controls
Cons: Frustratingly difficult; very little use of the dual screen abilities

Spider-Man 2 for the DS hits just in time for the movie’s release on DVD, and X-Play takes a look at how Nintendo’s newest system handles everyone’s favorite web-slinger. Eager true believers will find a mix of superb graphics, familiar villains, and, unfortunately, frustrating level design. If nothing else, Spider-Man 2 is certainly one of the best looking launch titles for the DS, but at a list price of $40, most gamers will likely want more than just a pretty picture.

Mighty Marvel Sights

Right off the bat, the first thing that will grab you in this latest iteration of the Spider-Man 2 franchise is how gorgeous it is. From the opening cinematic sequences, to the first scene of the first level and beyond, everything in the game looks fantastic. Loosely following the plot of the movie, there are plenty of new characters and additions thrown in. Spider-Man 2 sports 3D environments, side-scrolling gameplay, and about 15 web-slinging missions.

Villains like Mysterio and the Vulture have been included in the fray, in addition to Doc Oc, and there’s an almost endless line of thugs and robots to fight as well. Controlling Spider-Man is generally easy and mostly intuitive, and he has a reasonable array of attacks. There is a button for kicking and punching, and the touch screen lets you easily select a special attack for the right shoulder button. This works well, but is still a gimmicky use of the dual screen functionality. At various points in the game, the touch screen is also used for a web slinging targeting game to thwart bad guys who hurl objects your way.

Not-So-Super Spidey Action

Web swinging requires the repeated pressing of the jump button (instead of holding it in), and you can shoot a web line to pull yourself to locations as well, though this is often imprecise and difficult to use. Spidey’s super attacks range from slide kicks and shooting gobs of web at gun-toting baddies, to webbing and throwing an enemy, among others, and you’ll get more choices as the game progresses.

One neat gameplay aspect is the slow motion spider sense mode. When your spider sense goes off during close range combat, the game can be put into slow motion, enabling Spider-Man to unleash some great combos. Combat in general feels remarkably unbalanced, however. Since most of your foes are normal human thugs, it seems absurd that they can take more than one or two punches from a guy capable of lifting ten tons. Yet, even these basic bad guys can take a flurry of attacks before going down, and somehow are able to cause Spider-Man plenty of damage.

It’s Not Easy Being Red and Blue

Frustrations abound through the whole game, unfortunately, and plunge this version of Spider-Man 2 into the depths of near un-playability. Many of the levels require you to bash a certain number of enemies, or find specific characters, often while being annoyingly timed. The level design, though purely 2D in nature, is too often maze-like, and getting around certain hazards using webs can be an exercise in frustration.

Ideally, you’ll have to memorize the levels to get through them effectively, which just isn’t fun. This focus on an absurdly unforgiving design and occasionally frustrating controls makes Spider-Man 2 little more than a graphics showcase for the DS. The 3D levels are sharp and detailed, and Spider-Man’s animation is great. The audio isn’t nearly as impressive, unfortunately, and includes plenty of looping tunes, mediocre villain sound bites, and lackluster sound effects.

Webbed Menace

Spider-Man 2 for the DS is a great looking side-scroller that truly shows off some of the DS’ 3D potential. The problem is that the level design is so unforgiving and linear that most players won’t bother to see all the graphic panache the game offers. This is a game that gets by purely on good looks. While that might be enough of a reason for some new DS owners to put up with the frustration, it certainly doesn’t make it very recommendable.