Spider-Man 3 Review

The Wii version of Spider-Man’s next-generation debut is creating something of a storm across the Internet, though perhaps not for the reasons the developer hoped. Following in the footsteps of Spider-Man 2, a surprise hit that essentially rewrote the standards for superhero videogaming, was never going to be an easy task, but New York’s spandex-wearing protector had so much potential that his followers faithfully predicted that he would continue to stay on form.

However, many diligent fans are up in arms over the Wii iteration for one reason: the visuals. While Nintendo’s philosophy behind the Wii insisted that there is no need to push graphics so hard, a simple look at the screenshots available is enough to ask if the game’s looks were pushed at all. Standing on top of the Empire State Building in Spider-Man 2 saw a slight loss of texture but, nonetheless, the view was spectacular. The view from Spider-Man 3′s Empire State is on the verge of horrifying.

The city no longer stretches out as far as it did, and there is a noticeable absence of the districts north of Central Park. Worst of all, the vast majority of buildings lose all form of texture, meaning that the once instantly-recognisable New York skyline is replaced with an unorganised collection of white and pastel pink cardboard boxes. Roosevelt Island appears to be unfinished, the 59th Street Bridge is cut in half and the water appears to be nothing more than a blue carpet on the same level as the streets.

However, anyone who climbs to the top of the Empire State is unlikely to do so again. This is partly to avoid seeing the same view, but mainly because it takes so damn long to get up there. While the city’s boundaries may have shrunk, the buildings have become much taller. This makes Spider-Man feels less dominant than he did in the previous game, where the size ratio between Spidey and the buildings made the city feel more like a model, and the experience of being dwarfed by the Big Apple’s skyscrapers is far more immersive this time around.

The Spider-Man model itself is much nicer looking than its GameCube predecessor, with lighting techniques that make the costume look a little more realistic. Likewise, the lighting in the city is more impressive, and as the sun rises, the shadows stretch and shrink like a scene from Hollywood. In fact, the visuals improve the closer you get to the action. When brawling with a crowd of gang members, the Wii version looks much more comparable to the PS3 and 360 versions than to the prequel. Even when swinging through the buildings, the distant skyline is still devoid of texture, but the structures around you soon block them from view.

More importantly, the visuals are soon shoved forcefully from the gamer’s mind once they get into the swing of things. The Wii’s control system feels far more expressive than a traditional controller and brings you closer to doing what ever a spider can than Nintendo’s rivals. Web shooting is handled with the triggers on the nunchuk and remote, each representing the relevant hand. Firing a web line requires both a squeeze of the trigger and a flick of the wrist, and that simple physical movement is far more enjoyable than simply pressing a shoulder button with your hands wrapped around a controller. Disposing of bombs and swinging enemies over your head by making circles with the Wii remote makes you glad this version doesn’t have to depend on a simple analogue stick. The fun of the gameplay takes away from the disappointing graphics and, in the end, isn’t that what the Wii is about?

Similarly the combat is more enjoyable than the bouts of the previous game. Rather than mashing buttons, players use a combination of gestures and buttons when fighting. Swishing the remote side to side executes a simple, soft attack, while flicking the nunchuk down dodges around or vaults over an enemy. Combined with the hard attacks offered by the A button, mid-air attacks, web attacks with B and jumping out of the way, the combat system can actually be good fun.

The game’s biggest problem is that there is too much combat. With a few pie-based exceptions, the days of retrieving balloons and delivering pizzas are gone, but this leaves nothing to do but bash about a few thugs every few minutes. There are no stranded sailors to rescue, nor are there any cars to chase. The average ‘crime patrol’ will be based on a string of five or six objective, almost all of which will depend on you dispatching a group or wave of enemies, with the only variations involving an item that must be ferried to the nearest policeman or a person that needs to be carried to an ambulance parked suspiciously close to the crime scene.

In fact, the combat makes us the vast majority of the game’s content. Aside from smacking members of New York’s underworld, there’s very little to do. The five storylines that make up the game’s main plot are over in less than ten hours and the Save screen reveals that this makes up less than half of the game’s overall content. Not only is the story criminally short, it also lacks the memorable set-pieces the previous two games had. Battles with the Lizard, Morbius and New Goblin don’t seem to stick out in your mind as much as the moonlit Grand Central Station battle with Scorpion or the train-top brawl with Doc Ock.

Once Venom and Sandman have been beaten, there are the city’s gangs to contend with. Riddled throughout New York are gang informants, and listening to their tips will start a ‘crime patrol’, which is nothing more than roughly ten minutes of beating the relevant gang’s members senseless. Successfully doing so turns that territory over to the police, with the objective being to restore control of New York to the boys in blue. However, the reward for wiping a gang off the map is nothing more than a confirmation message that pops up on the screen and fades away, diminishing the appeal of slogging through the city and completing the increasingly repetitive crime patrols in order to finish the game. This becomes even less appealing when you realise that the differences between the gangs are purely aesthetic.

And then there’s the small matter of Black Suit Spider-Man. Introduced fairly early on in the game, this potentially major storyline object feels like nothing more than a gimmick. It is only essential in a single boss battle, and once you have completed the main storyline, you are rid of your black suit permanently, unless you have the stamina to search for the 50 spider emblems hidden throughout the city. Before you lose the ability, it can be useful against the tougher thugs and henchmen, but you can’t help but feel that the only major difference it makes is that the sound of your punches is somewhat meatier.

Spider-Man 3 wants to be a good game. Once you look past the appalling screenshots and see the game in motion, it’s far more acceptable than some would have you believe. Swinging through the city, a highly enjoyable pastime in Spider-Man 2, comes into its own on the Wii, but it’s less enjoyable when you realise that there is nothing to do when you land. If mindlessly beating the same henchmen for hours on end is your cup of tea, you’re in luck. If you want to experience the life of your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, a rental is most definitely needed before purchase.