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Ultimate Spider-Man

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 23 / 25
Date: September 26, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Ultimate Spider-Man (2005.)

INTRODUCTION:
Over the years, Spider-Man has been one of the coolest comic book characters around. It's hard to believe a character Stan Lee created many decades ago, much less one that everyone thought would crash and burn, has remained consistently popular. The success of the live-action films based on Spidey only boosted his popularity moreso. However, video games based on the Webslinger, as well as most comic-based games, are well below average. The Spider-Man 2 Movie video game showed serious potential, and proved comic book games might have a future after all. And in 2005, Ultimate Spider-Man arrived on various consoles. The game was based on the Ultimate Spider-Man comic book series, which was essentially a modernized retelling of the classic story. To see how the game measures up, keep reading!

OVERVIEW:
Ultimate Spider-Man was released in September 2005. The game is one player, and features full-3D objective-oriented action-adventure. There are two playable characters.

REVIEW:
I waited for this game to come out for a long time. My expectations were pretty high. Did the game meet my expectations? For the most part, it did. The game plays similar to the Spider-Man 2 game, but this game is more linear and objective-oriented. Probably the first thing you are going to notice that is different from that most recent game when you play this one is the graphics. Rather than going with that blocky, polygonal look that plagued the recent game, this one opts for cel-shading, and benefits immensely from it. The game looks better than just about any other super hero game out there. By far, what is going to draw most players into the experience, though, is the ability to play as both Spider-Man and Venom. Spider-Man plays true to his recent 3D gaming exploits, with all his classic powers. Venom, on the other hand, sacrifices agility for power, and to stay alive, must suck the life force out of civilians. There are numerous objectives along with side quests that will keep your attention, as well as plenty of things that you can unlock on the side. Another thing I enjoy about this game is that various characters from the Marvel universe show up in the game - NOT just Spider-Man characters! You'll get visits from the Fantastic Four's Human Torch, the X-Men's Wolverine, and a variety of other characters. The environment the game gives you is also great. In addition to the Manhattan environment you had in the previous game, this one adds Queens to the locales. This makes the gameplay region so much bigger and more diverse, and gives the game a big boost. Unfortunately, as much as I like this game, it isn't perfect. Play control is my first flaw. NO, the control isn't bad by any means, but I don't see why the game makers keep having to change the scheme. If it ain't broke, don't fix it! The control scheme in the Spider-Man 2 Movie game was just about perfect. Having to adjust to a different control scheme every time a game like this comes out annoys me. My other issue is with the camera. This is something this series has issues with. Personally, I thought the camera was better in the previous game. One thing bound to turn gamers off is how linear this game is compared to the previous one. I liked being able to roam around freely and participate in events on my own. Sure, you'll get to do that in this game, I just wish it had that open feeling the last game did. Walking into invisible walls and seeing that "area unavailable" message gets on my nerves. My last complaint is that, until you beat the game, you can't switch freely between Spider-Man and Venom - the game switches for you when the story demands it. This annoyed me. I personally would have liked it better if the game had separate campaigns for either character rather than all the switching. But overall, I am satisfied with the game. In a world of dud superhero games, this is one of the few worthwhile titles.

EDITION NOTES:
This game is a recent release, so it is readily available in most stores at the time I write this review. In addition to the normal versions, on the Playstation Two there is a Special Edition version. This version features bonus content right on the game disc, including character profiles and an interview with the man of Marvel himself, Stan Lee. It also includes a special edition comic book! This version is scarce and hard to come by (the only way I know to get it, for sure, was to have reserved the game at Gamestop.) If you're a die-hard Spidey fan, shell out the extra cash and hunt this editon down. Otherwise, the standard edition is just fine.

OVERALL:
Comic book fans rejoice! This is another edition to the extremely small library of good comic book games in the modern age. If you're a fan of Spider-Man, you really can't afford to pass this game up. I recommend the game, although you might want to consider renting it before you lay your cash on the line and purchase it. Four out of five stars.

Quite fun...4.5 stars

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 12
Date: September 26, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I'll be the first to admit it, I'm not a video game guy. I buy one or two games per year, and the last one I bought was Spider-Man 2, which I played like crazy. I loved that game. When I heard about Ultimate Spider-Man, and that it was going to have the same structure as SM2, I knew that it would be my gaming purchase of the season.

I definitely did not waste my money. If you enjoyed Spider-Man 2, chances are you're going to enjoy this game as well.

So far, I am very happy with this game. It will give me many hours of enjoyment. Still, there are elements of the game that could have been improved. The radar/map that was present in SM2 is still intact, but is much harder to see in this incarnation. Swinging through trees is disorientating as well. These are minor gripes, and once I got used to them, the game is just as good as SM2. Currently I am stuck trying to chase Electro as Venom, a task that is proving much harder than any of the Black Cat chases in the previous game.

This game is awesome!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: December 14, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Because I am a spiderman fan, I immediately had to get this game. The graphics, levels and characters were great. I loved the sound effects. Anyone who likes spiderman should buy it.

Ultimate Spiderman is indeed ultimate but only for a short period of time

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: March 27, 2006
Author: Amazon User

As the title indicates Ultimate Spiderman has a very short single-player story, which can probably be completed in six hours or even less. The length of the game, however, is considerably lengthened side-tasks most of which are web-swinging races, some of which are gang beat-em-ups, and occasionally rescuing and searching for hidden tokens. These side-tasks are by no means side-quests and are by no means as entertaining as the main story, so why do they comprise the majority of the game's length is a question that will boggle the minds of gamers. This game had the potential to achieve greatness, but falls short due to shortness of story. The inked-cartoonish look of Spiderman is great although not as spectacular as the model Spiderman in Spiderman the Movie game, which I have also reviewed. I have yet to play Spiderman II, but at some point I plan to. However, the short story of Ultimate Spiderman is far superior in gameplay than the gameplay of Spiderman the Movie. Playing as both Spiderman and Venom is great and both characters are well-designed with fabulous inked-comic book looks, which in a way maybe better than the more deeply modeled look in Spiderman the Movie. Play as Spiderman you feel both swift and powerful, while playing as Venom you feel a great sense of power and monstrous rage. It is great. The majority of missions are as Spiderman, which is fine. The most spectacular parts of this game are the boss battles. Wow, you truly fight gigantic characters in this game, that would seemingly crush Spiderman but cannot for his speed and wit are too great. Venom leaps tall buildings in a single-bound just to give you a hint about his power. The game has various unlockables but they are for the most part afterthoughts. The Spiderman missions involve saving bystanders, chasing enemies down and cornering them, and fighting them with a strategy. One major difference in this game than in the movie game is that Spiderman can actually fight well; he has got some skills and combos are quite easy to perform. Not too many three-button combos here, but rather combos linked by bouncing off-walls or one opponent to the next. It is a neat and rewarding combo system. The few moves that are missing from Spiderman in this game that I liked in the movie game are impact webbing, webbed fists, and the web dome, of which the web dome was the most effective move in the game. Impact webbing is a neat idea because you send a ball of webbing at high speed. Do not think that would be effective, well then think again because it would probably be more effective than hurling a high-speed basketball at someone. All the same the moves in Ultimate Spiderman just make sense and are good enough to really enjoy. Spiderman is no longer a wimp that can be bullied by an ordinary street thug. He is seriously tough in this game. Venom, on the other hand, is back-breakingly tough meaning he can do back-breakers and skull-breakers, which is super cool. The races against J Storm are entertaining and the other races are fun for a while but not enough that you want it to replace at least a few more hours of the story that you feel just should have been there. In this case, less races and side-tasks is more, as in more better. Rescuing the random New Yorker in distress, however, is quite entertaining and I try to rescue them every chance I get. This part of the game should be kept because it is so random that it is entertaining and it seems like something that Spiderman would do. The web-swinging in Ultimate Spiderman, however, probably has even more camera problems when making tight turns and leaps than the web-swinging in Spiderman the Movie game. This observation is important when you consider that majority of the time spent completing Ultimate Spiderman are the races. Also, in Ultimate Spiderman you have to work to keep swinging and speed up, unlike in Spiderman the Movie game where you can just hold down the R button or one of those buttons. This idea is good and bad because you can no longer mindlessly swing, which is good because mindlessly swinging is not realistic at all, but you have to continuosly press buttons during swinging, which is bad because it can get tiresome especially during a long race. The web-swinging of Ultimate Spiderman has a redeeming quality, however, because you can combo your swings and it becomes easier to do as you become more familiar with the controls. For instance, you can swing, swoosh, somersault, swing swoosh, double somersault, and swing, swoosh, and back-flip, which are all super cool. All in all, Ultimate Spiderman is a fun and great game while the story lasts, but next time Activision should put a longer story in their game and maybe then it would have spectacular. It is definitely worth $20 but not the $50 that I paid for it.

Spideys Back

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 30
Date: September 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Well lets face it Spiderman 1 well sucked, Spiderman 2 eh good but can be better, Ultimate Spiderman, Ah that hit the spot. This game is fun with a twist of evil (so more fun) This game you can play both sides, bad and well good. You can play as Venom who is a ugly spider dude who's moves look more like a thing a spider could do, such as oh I don't know maybe HAVING 4 EXTRA LEGS COME OUT! Or well you know other stuff too. Well Venom is obviously the bad guy in this game and Spidey is the good guy. Well you can play both sides( does that sound like X-men 2 or is that me?) This game is flat out fun. The art style is what really one me over though (just kidding if you beleived me you suck) Its the open area gameplay of course! The format is the 2nd Spiderman game only now I guess they added Queens(It's a town idiot). Venom can pick up cars and throw them at people( well isn't that nice?) While Spiderman has to save the other peoples butts. You can save people by doing various things, helping them from falling(dont even ask me how they got there) to helping some dumb *** kid get his balloon. In Spiderman 2 you can go to the Statue of Liberty and some other islands. Same in this game. The boss fights are also getting more difficult. Some guy said that chasing Shock is hard( well duh! do you think he's just going to say well here ya go and I brought cookies too!) The boss fights that they weren't able to do before they are able to do now(Don't know why,don't care) Well I'm bored and I'm going to do something else.....I give this game a well you do the math(just kidding)

I'm bored and this is what all the "specail" people do because they can't right well(haha)

Graphics: 5:5

Gameplay: 5:5

Controls: 5:5

Replay Value 5:5

Sound: 4:5
..................just kidding

heres the real deal

Graphics: 5:5 not kidding

Gameplay: 5:5 once again not kidding

Controls: 5:5 well I said I'm not kidding

Replay Value: 5:5 sigh........

Sound: 4:5 wait somethings different! Oh never mind!

Well that was a total waste............Who wrote this crap? OH yeah me........

Button-Smashing Boredom!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: February 16, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game is the perfect example of how to go from critically aclaimed playability (i.e. Spider-Man: The Movie games) to button-smashing redundancy.

There are less than 10 moves in this entire game for both Venom and Spider-Man. Here's the list:

Spider-Man:
1) Web 360 degree attack
2) Web yank attack (kick or punch)
3) Web yank under and punch attack
4) Web hang (on street lamp)
5) Web stomp attack
6) Web attack.

Venom:
1) Tentacle attack
2) Back breaker
3) Tentacle grap and throw
4) Tentacle grap and smash face into ground
5) Tentacle grapple (This only works on objects. It's basically a zip line.)
6) Tentacle grab and life drain

As you can see, these are extemely basic moves that quickly grow boring within the first few minutes of the game.

Boss fights are more of the same (in no particular order):

The Rhino: Just jump on his back and punch or kick. When he gets mad, run. Repeat.

Silver Sable: Jump and kick or punch. Dodge. Repeat.

Wolverine and Beetle: Whip, whip, whip, run, dodge, throw object, whip, whip, ad nauseum.

Redundant nonsense. Also, the game suffers from an invisible wall during boss battles. Example: During my fight with the Green Goblin, as I tried to dodge his fireballs, I kept running into an invisible wall, making it impossible for me to dodge his attacks. Unbelievably cheesy!

Another strike against this game is that now you're forced to finish irrelevant repetitive side games in order to move the story ahead, beacause everyone actually "loved" those racing courses the last time around. The combat tour, also a side quest, are the most unfair battles ever.

How it works is that you seek out criminals in the city and, when you find them, there's about 5 or 6 of them just standing around waiting for you. In every case, the most cheesiest of all the thugs (usually a guy with a flame-thrower or fire bombs) will do nothing but block your attacks and shoot at you, while you're trying to take down everyone else. The problem with this is that you're forced to keep jumping and punching and kicking. There's absolutely no style, joy, or beauty to the whole ordeal. You'll find yourself constantly trying to find room to fight rather than taking these thugs out like the hero you're supposed to be.

Speaking of dodging, I use that term very lightly. Remember that cool dodge feature in Spider-Man: the Movie 2? Well, it's gone. The only dodging you'll be doing is simply jumping out of the way. Lame, lame, lame!

I finished the game in 2 days and I tell you it's as worthless as Dragonball Z: Sagas. Rent it, if you must.

Ultimate!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: November 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I have no idea how anybody could possibly not like this game. My best friend thought it was a bad choice when I bought this game. I soon changed his mind when I got him a profile on the game and he got to the fight with Herman (heehee) and he was hooked. The real hook for this game is being able to play as not only Spidey but Venom DURING the story. The graphics are great and so is the story even though it is a little short. Even so, you can still play for hours upon hours after finishing the story with Free Roam mode. There are unlockables that you can get that will take effort but are surely worth it. You have variety in the city events that the spidey 2 game didn't necessarily have. Also, the story had debth and underlying meaning that you really wouldn't find in another game like this one. With humor in spidey's quips and situations you will leave and enter again from this game with a smile on your face (beneath your mask).

Great Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 11, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The controls were a little different than Spider-Man 2 (by the same maker) which I didn't understand, but you get used to it quick enough. The look of the game is great and a lot of fun to play. All of the Spider-Man titles have been great.

Nice game very enjoyable

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game caught my eye when on the TV I saw and I qoute:Play as spiderman play as venom! end qoute:it was fun and the very first level was a personal favorite because you play as a much more younger 15 year old spiderman compared to the spiderman 2 version which makes him seem like 24 maybe and what I like is that you fight (a weak but fast)Venom I was sucked into the game then once I hit him a couple times the battle goes off to the street where everyone is screaming (something which spidey 2 incredibly lacked because they had no interatcion with thugs and this like that)after seeing the big ugly face of venom and Venom might kill a few civilians (something else spidey 2 lacked)he had this really great move where he laxs out a long whiplash arm attack which can be hurtfull not only that but you also get eaten a couple times which made it more fun to break out of his body a few times untill you eventually gets venom on a date with an electrical wire which (from peters view) kills him thats about it all in all the good is that Nice texture and graphics the ability to be able to play as venom and spidey and fun fighting bosses the bad is that sometimes the storyline doesn,t really make any sense and lose your trail from where you were to where you are now

Revenge HAHAHAHAH

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is short and sweet when I started playing ultimate spiderman I would have gave it maybe a 2 BUT THEN I saw the kid who had lost his baloon and im sure you all remember that annoying kid who would always lose his baloon and you would hear him crying and everything even from very far away but now AS VENOM YOU GET TO EAT THE STUPID KID AND SUDDENLY MY THOUGHTS ON THE GAME TURNED SO LARGE YOU GET TO EAT THE STUPID KID HAHAH im sure a lot of you agree that once you eat the kid you finnaly get revenge for these exsact words:I lost my baloon!,Come back! baloon come back! (cry cry cry) I LOST MY BALOON!! then you would eventually get annoyed and get the stupid baloons (which is actually harder than any boss battle because you can never grab the stupid thing) thats it it sums it up all by having the ability to eat the boy with the baloon.

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