PSP - Spider-Man 3

Format
PSP
Publisher
Activision
Developer
Treyarch
Country of origin
US
Release date
Late 2007
Genre
3rd person action

First Look at Spider-Man 3 for the PSP

By David Rasmussen
17th May 07

You don’t need me to tell you what this game is based on.
Yet another of a long chain of MARVEL games based on their movies, yet seemingly the ONLY MARVEL Movie Game franchise that DOESN’T suck (once again The Punisher game that came out during the Thomas Jane movie didn’t count because it was based on Garth Ennis’ opening volley writing The Punisher’s last ongoing series rather than the movie)… except on the handhelds.
Even on the PSP Spider-Man 2 only managed to wrangle out a 3 out of 5 (X-Play), while it’s underwhelming Nintendo DS version got rave… criticism, and not much in a good way (2 out of 5).

But hopefully this year’s portables turn out to be different. Hopefully.
Based on the 3rd, and supposedly final (if Sony Pictures doesn’t bend it’s will to the siren’s call of cha-ching at the bank and rush Spider-Man 4 into scripting) Spider-Man film, Activision’s latest outing on the Spider-Man movie to game romp, Spider-Man 3 brings the webslinger against not one (the soon to be Sandman, who has become the “True” killer of Uncle Ben) not two (Green Goblin II, aka the son of the former Green Goblin) but THREE villains (Venom) in one game (not counting the additional comic villains thrown in).

Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures has gone all out, with early critique of the movie by the monied media (Get well soon Mr. Ebert! We who still remember you’re one of us Anime Otaku miss you!) things look good for Spider-Man 3 raking in lots of money on it’s theater run.
Now let’s see if it can do the same as past Spider-Man games (on the consoles) and rake in money for being one of the few rare gems of movie to video game conversions that didn’t suck.

Not to use too many Prince of Persia references, but this time out you’ll be doing a Two Thrones slash Rival Swords take on Spider-Man by controlling his Prince-ly red suited self, as well as his Dark Prince-ly black and white version of himself (yes, in this game description the black suited Spider-Man is referred to as his “darker, more mysterious black-suited persona)… though, mind you, you probably won’t do the whole “body swapping” thing ala Prince of Persia : Rival Swords in this game, and Spidey won‘t talk to himself during the game… and he won‘t answer himself either (ala Prince of Persia : Rival Swords).

One of the things fixed from previous Spider-Man games, hence showing the game developers really DO listen to critique (maybe) is the promise that this version features a larger, dynamic, free-roaming NYC to explore (something missing from the last PSP version of this franchise). This is, in theory, supposed to give the player more freedom to chose their own gameplay experience through multiple movie-based as well as original (I.e. side mission) storylines, with the promise of fully integrated city missions as well as “performance” awards which allows you to upgrade Spider-Man’s speed, combat maneuvers and agility. I think the Nintendo DS version of Spider-Man 2 had this, but it didn’t work out very well.

Regardless of that experience, however, if this promise isn’t just a lift of what the PS2, PS3, XBox360 or Wii versions of the game is going to have, then this is a first for the PSP. After all the last PSP outing of Spider-Man the movies (Spider-Man 2) was kinda fun, but too formulatic and straight forward without the freeroaming gameplay of it’s big console brother the PS2 version. So you can understand that, if this is indeed what we can expect from the PSP version (ala Grand Theft Auto : Vice City Stories) then we should be in for a good game here. Maybe. I guess only the review will merit that out.

Now good luck finding any screen shots of the game… come to think of it, good luck finding the PSP version of the game while I‘m at it. Not even places planning to sell the game (May 15th) have any (like Wal-Mart) as the creators of the game seem to be holding their cards tight against their chest, holding off two whole weeks as to not reveal too much about the movie beforehand from it’s game version. As for games to play? Well while I saw copies for the Wii (if I can get my reviews off the ground faster maybe I can start reviewing the Wii with a review of Spider-Man 3), GameBoy Advance, Nintendo DS, Playstation 2 and 3 as well as the XBox360 well… surprise, surprise, no copies for the PSP. What the hell! Why is it seemingly only the PSP has been left out of the rush to get the game to market? Any reason?
Well, let’s see what else this game is going to promise us as we gear up for it’s release.

- Players draw upon Spider-Man’s all new (completely revamped from it’s last PSP outing) combat abilities as you head out to keep an eye over the Big Apple, defeating enemies both from the movie (I.e. Sandman, Green Goblin II and Venon) and from Spidey’s big list of enemies… well, I did sneak a peek at the PS2’ extra villains list and two names, Morbius and Shriek (not to be confused with beloved Dreamworks ogre Shrek) are listed as extra bonus villains. What? Really? As for the extras in other platforms I guess only playing will reveal that but… well… you’ll find out when you play them yourself I suppose.

- Seemingly picking up a page from (dare we hope) God of War we see Spidey has new moves including an expanded combat system for aerial battle as well as “finishing moves” (whether or not they are in the button tapping vein of God of War remains to be seen). Also we have new uses for your webbing abilities during missions, as well as boss battles (probably laid out in the same manner as it was in previous games, though for me I guess I have to reference the freeform gameplay of Incredible Hulk : Ultimate Destruction since that is the only game I’ve played with freeform “boss battles”).

Now comes the uncomfortable part of this review… no, no, I haven’t sat on my Spidey Web Shooter action toy… didn’t get one. It’s the part of the piece about the game (gleaned this from Wal-Mart if you’re wondering) where EVERY FEATURE in the game is followed by… a question mark?
Is this a typing error or do we really have no idea what the features in this game is going to be? Dammit, make up your minds already!!

“Welcome to the dark side ?”
Yes, of course since this is Spider-Man 3 it means for the first time you get to control the legendary black suited Spider-Man… except it isn’t because the black suit was one of the alternate costumes for Spider-Man in Ultimate Alliance (complete with it’s own upgradable abilities). That faux pas aside, as you get the hang of the new black suit (which apparently didn’t originate from The Secret Wars as said Wars haven’t taken place in this “reality”) you’ll find that (like in Prince of Persia : Rival Swords) this new suit comes with it’s own abilities and powers as is magnifies Spidey’s strength, agility and durability. This means you’ll be able to take out your same looking clone enemies in this game with “explosive new attacks” and “incredible upgrades” including moves that act as super attacks which allows for the clearing of multiple enemies (good when you’re cornered and need to get some clear air ASAP).

However, much like the toll the Dark Prince took on the Prince of Persia, so too will having a dark side take it’s toll on you in this game. Sadly the fun of the black suits new powers and abilities is counterbalanced by the suit’s AI (yes, the suit itself has it’s own AI from my understanding of this) which will eventually begin to resist your control over Spidey, making it harder and harder to control the character.

Basically it sounds like you can turn yourself into a dark character (and thus lose the game as you turn citizens your supossed to protect against you). This means you can’t have all the fun you want with the black suit, but on the other hand it means the black suit won’t become a means by which to blow through whole parts of the game removing the challenge from the game (which is a good thing).

“Let freedom ring ?”
It’s the big selling point of Spider-Man 3 on the PSP, for the first time the game opens a large Grand Theft Auto Stories style freedom to players allowing them to travel anywhere at anytime in this game meaning you can play the game in any pattern in any order expanding the game’s lifespan (which last time clocked in at about a meager 10 hours) as you tackle both main “story mode” missions as well as a large wellspring of side missions not previously available before… well… OK, Spider-Man 2 (PSP) did have the same non-movie battles like the console version, yes. However without the time widening ability to take on multiple side missions and tasks, limiting the player to a set line of tasks and fights that have to be done in a restricting order without compromise, the game was short and didn’t score as well as it should have.

This is something we’re hoping is changed with Spider-Man 3. It’ll improve it’s short lifespan and definitely make it more fun than it’s previous incarnation.

“The city is your playground ?”
Does this mean I should avoid strangely dressed former friends offering me explosive pumpkins?

As this version is finally supposed to enter the world of Grand Theft Auto Stories style freeroaming, you should find a larger “playground” from which to explore. From the heights of skyscrapers to the depths of the vast sewer slash subway system beneath the city (maybe you’ll accidentially run into a band of recently Prince of Persia-ized ninja turtles while you’re down there) you are supposed to be able to fully appreciate the widened landscape of freeroaming gameplay by finding far more terrain to roam (as opposed to the tightly restraining environment of Spider-Man 2).

As for your enemies? Oh the enemies you’ll fight. While there is as yet no real word as to what villains you’ll fight you do have villains (movie and franchise wise), as well as three (count em, three) criminal gangs to take on. I take it that means you’ll probably tangle with (at least one gang) Daredevil’s favorite sparring partner the Kingpin… maybe. It could just be three clone criminal gangs, but hopefully they are all based on criminal gangs from the MARVEL universe at the very least.

And oh the missions they’ll send you on.
They’ll take hostages, steal cars… I guess that’s the criminals only since I don’t think we’ll see Shocker going into a little Grand Theft Auto : Spider-Man in this game. Let’s see… harassing citizens (an attack by the villainous Simon Cowell or the misunderstood lovable anti-hero the Drunken Hasselhoff, formerly Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.?)
Oh, and then there’s the times when they break stuff and create havoc. Like Spider-Man 2 PSP.

“Don’t let the city go to the dogs ?”
No, the nefarious Randy Jackson-man hasn’t come to call everyone “dawg” while fighting Spidey.
Apparently another new feature of the game is a crime meter. Unlike GTA Stories where the game keeps track of how much crime you undertake, Spider-Man 3 (of course) keeps records on how much crime you stop, tracking your progress against the three criminal gangs in the progress. The higher the crime rate in any particular part of the city is, the more chaotic it’ll become. However the more you assert your presence and lay claim to your turf, keeping crime down, the more that part of town will become “normal”. You know, quiet day in Vice City as cloned citizens walk about without purpose or goal normal.

This means you’ll be doing lots of side missions to keep the peace, insuring you don’t just spend time on the story mission since, well, once things go too far down the rabbit hole in certain areas the streets will explode into chaos as the unbearable rate of crime in said area spiral out of control. However, in GTA San Andreas style you can expect the AI won’t leave you be even if you retake control of a neighborhood as…

- “Don’t let the city go to the dogs ?” (Part 2)
Another promise which the game may or may not keep is a shiny new AI on the bad guys.
This “advanced” AI promises to make the villains you fight smart, though the promise seemingly is to make the villains “F.E.A.R.” level smart as they will head out to retake “calmed” neighborhoods, using tactics to surround you once you come on the scene, grapple you, call for backup as they try to pin you down, and basically do whatever it is a cloned thug can to take you out (or retake vital territory).

Now this is a promise that we’ve seen made in the past, and not always kept. For instance, lest we forget, we have the slowly dimming intelligence of the AI from the Far Cry franchise to point towards. In it’s PC incarnation the AI was superb, then it dulled abit on the Xbox slash XBox360, and went downhill from there in the Wii version (whose Far Cry : Vengeance is supposed to be an embarrassment compared to previously well made versions of the FPS franchse on Microsoft’s bread and butter consoles).
Basically we want to see this promise kept since it will do much to extend playablitiy (and thus add replayability to the game which was missing from Spider-Man 2 PSP).

“Everybody was kung-fu fighting ?”
Basically this is going back to the comparison I made between this game and Prince of Persia : Rival Swords, in that the two Spider-Mans will be different from the get-go. Apparently the makers of the game decided to go back to the drawing board after getting not so sterling reviews of Spider-Man 2 PSP (not to mention Spider-Man 2 Nintendo DS as well), redesigning a brand spanking new combat system from the ground up especially for this third interation of the franchise.

The game claims that it’s new combat system empowers players twice over with suit-specific attacks and combo chains unique to both the red as well as the black versions of Spidey’s outfits. This means new animations (as opposed to the same animation sequences for both red and black suits), new combos (each one unique to each suit), as well as the perhaps God of War style finishers making each punch, kick, and web attack more effective in both ground as well as the newly expanded air maneuvers category (another upgrade from the ground up made specifically for this game).

And yes while I do talk about God of War I am sure that (even in the black suit) Spidey won’t rip off the heads of criminals, hack them apart, or spill blood all over the place.

“Super Villains galore ?”
I won’t go into this because the makers of this game are going out of their way to not tell you what villains they’re putting in this game… except for the two I gleaned for the PS2 (Morbius and Shriek) the rest are still tightly under wraps, so until somebody lays down in front of me a verifiable list of the villains in this game I won’t speculate on it until I’ve played the game for myself (and seen what it holds for myself).

One thing I can talk about, which I am sure was probably done in Spider-Man 2 PSP, is the fact that the villains here will take advantage of their surroundings in this game. However they will also seemingly use their own minions as well, which may be a change if done in a way other than picking them up and chucking them as projectiles (or using them to “power up” which I’d expect out of Venom/Carnage for starters).
Another promise is that the villains picked for this game will have a wider more destructive ability with their powers making for boss sized mega attacks you’ll have to either dodge or power through, which should make for the most interesting of boss fights (as long as the bosses don‘t crumple too easily under enough punishment from your character).

“Go, go gadget ?”
Another promise made by the game is that certain events and environments will open up new powers for you to control. For instance say Green Goblin II blasts a building side and sends debris falling streetside, you’ll be able to use your webbing to catch the falling debris (including any people thrown out of the building by the blast) before they hit the ground (and people) below.

Rhino busted up train tracks? Use your webbing to fix it.
Too many cloned bad guys coming your way and you’d like to catch your breath, or limit their entry so you can easily defeat them in small groups? How about barricade some doors with your webbing.
Need to get crosstown on a speed timed mission and webslinging isn’t doing it for you? Create a slingshot with your webbing and express post yourself crosstown on the Spidey Express.

The possibilities add to the playability, and thus the replayability though hopefully each situation provides several possibilites for your abilities and not just mission specific set powers which are the same each time you go through without the ability to experiment or try different approaches to certain problems.

“Spider-Man is growing up ?”
Funny, aren’t most college students technically considered “grown up” already?
Like X-Men Legends you may find that, as you progress through missions and side-missions, you’ll be able to tweak Spidey’s abilities by improving his web moves, swing skills, and melee combos allowing for access to more moves, improved accuracy (and power) of moves, quicker moves and so forth.

Of course that is if this is like X-Men Legends and it’s wide customability of abilities. Then that’s good.
If it’s like MARVEL Ultimate Alliance and the so shallow you might as well leave it on auto pilot ability upgrades then that’d be no good.

Otherwise only a final review will say what needs to be said about Spider-Man 3.
Stay tuned, true believers (and yes, this game franchise has not burned you in the past so there should still be many a true believer out there), because a full review is coming soon.

-- David Rasmussen 17th May 07