And, of course, in true console game fashion, you will have to start the level over from scratch if you do get your fingers stuck. Can you rotate the camera and beat up thugs at the same time? Probably not.

In one early scene, thugs would surround the superhero as if to challenge the almost unusable control scheme. Trying to fly Spider-Man around the screen, shoot webs, and control the camera at the same time is next to impossible - and that's just in the tutorial.Īs soon as the action starts, it becomes much more infuriating. No such luck on the PC, which does provide the same functionality but not the handy analog sticks, unless you buy that sort of controller. You also learn about the awkward controls and constantly rotating camera.įor the uninitiated, camera control on PS2, Gamecube and Xbox is much friendlier (though not without its faults) because one analog joystick can be used to control Spidey, and the other shows you where he's going. You learn quickly that Spidey can crawl on any surface, plus he shoots a web to catapult across the skyline, zip across a room, or to temporarily disable the bad guys. This is arguably the best part of the game, featuring the voice of Bruce Campbell as your sarcastic guide through some simple objectives. In fact, the game pretty much dispenses with most of the narrative build-up that everyone probably already knows and drops you right into a tutorial as Peter Parker after he has just discovered his abilities. The backstory is right out of the comic books.

For true Spider-Man fans, there are some elements to the game that are an excellent extension of the movie and the comic book legend, and the whole package has such a high quality that it almost redeems itself - but not quite. On PC, the controls are maddeningly difficult, so much so that it sucks the joy right out of an amazingly colorful and well-textured game. Nothing says 'brainless port of a console' like combo buttons and a keyboard-driven interface. Unfortunately, everything that's wrong with Spider-Man (the game) has to do with the fact that it was not designed for the computer. The game, meanwhile, has debuted on all platforms simultaneously and we're still waiting on the numbers for that one. A couple of weeks ago, Spider-Man (the movie) opened in the US to some pretty good reviews, general media hysteria and record-breaking box office numbers ($225 million after two weeks and rising.). Summertime is a chance to catch a few rays, revel in the warm temperatures, and enjoy a blockbuster movie that has the brains of a watermelon and the visual excitement of a greased rollercoaster.

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