So far, there have been no horrible Spider-man games, aside from the game where he teamed up with the X-men to fight Arcade. The side-scrolling fighting games were good in the early to mid 90s, the 3D versions for the PSX were very well done, and the Spider-Man 2 Movie game was extremely well executed. So how could Ultimate Spider-man follow such past roster? Apparently very well.
The game allows not only game play as Spider-Man, but also Venom. They made the characters act and play differently to create a variety of game play and storytelling. Though the story mode is a little short, there are enough extras to make the game last much longer. After all, if there is a special event that requires one to beat up Boomerang, you know the game has to be good. I only wish the story mode was longer and they answered a little more of the questions they created, instead of throwing in a random villain to face and fight.
The controls are pretty smooth, but the lack of an auto-lock can make things a little difficult. Also, sometimes Spider-man appears not wanting to shoot any webs when falling from massive heights.
As for the graphics, they fit the game, comic, and mood very well. The Cel-shading is done perfectly and looks like an animated comic. Plus the inserted panels create add to this and hint the players on actions that may be hard to see from 3rd person.
The music was very well done and fit the image and mood of the game. I know a lot of people hate techno, but it is fast paced and fits for battles against gangers, races with Johnny Storm, and the ever popular stop that car. But I would not buy the soundtrack though, unless I plan on listening it while web-sling across town or doing other super hero feats.
Is this game worth buying? Absolutely. It is well designed, very fun to play, and full replay value with all of the extras present.
Pros: Good controls, nice graphics, fitting music, full of replay value.
Cons: Story mode a little too short, some parts of the story mode seemed thrown together, no auto-locking on enemies.
