Wii

Spider-Man: Friend or Foe

The game’s graphics are respectable but not great. The key characters from the Spider-Man movies including Spider-Man, Venom, Green (and New) Goblin, Sandman, and Doctor Octopus look like the their movie counterparts although they’re considerably more comic-book and cartoony in Friend or Foe. The various environments look different enough and boast a good amount of variety. But on a purely technical level the game isn’t going to win any awards since the main characters aren’t super-detailed, the enemies are somewhat generic, and the environments don’t show off any insanely detailed textures.

Spider-Man Friend or Foe avoids the open-ended gameplay altogether, returning the series to its early Activision brawler roots. The results are generally good, and long time fans of the series will definitely enjoy the trip down memory lane. But newer fans might feel a bit constricted by the linear design and the lack of the high-flying action the series has become famous for.

Spider-Man 3 has come and gone from movie theaters, and with no Spidey 4 immediately in the works, do you think that Activision is just going to let this lucrative movie license sit stagnant? Of course not! But how do you make a movie game with no movie to base it on? Just do what LucasArts has been doing with Star Wars games for years: spin-offs!

Spider-Man: Friend or Foe feels like an arcade-style beat-em-up. You punch, kick, throw, rinse and repeat, ad nauseam. Enemies are pretty easy to keep at bay, and the only real difficulty comes in with the mid-bosses and main bosses. It's not hard to figure out how to kill the next bad guy, it's just a matter of staying interested enough to do that. The incentive to do well is tokens. When you die, you lose tokens. You can obtain more tokens by keeping your combo level up. After each level, you can spend your tokens on character upgrades like power and health. Goodies like hidden artwork and Versus Arenas are hidden throughout the game, but they aren't exactly hard to find.

Although the Spider-Man movies have been credited with helping comic-book movies mature and take a more sophisticated turn, the problem with all of these complex, serious heroes and villains is, well, that they're all so complex and serious. They lose sight of the fact that Spider-Man is far more entertaining when he's wheelin' free and crackin' wise rather than stressing out about the whole "with great power" thing and generally being riddled with angst. The webslinger is in loose, smart-aleck form in Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, a beat-'em-up that doesn't get bogged down in character development. Instead, the game puts the focus on the kind of combat that's simple but showy, with an art style that reminds you that comic books shouldn't necessarily be so somber.

A peine sorti des sentiers battus que Spider-Man : Allié Ou Ennemi y revient prestement. Ainsi donc, à l'exception d'un design très typé et d'une bonne dose d'humour, le titre de Next Level Games n'offre qu'une aventure certes agréable à jouer mais de très courte durée et non exempte de défauts. Un bon moyen pour s'amuser le temps d'une soirée mais certainement pas suffisant pour redorer le blason vidéoludique du tisseur.

Adding to the game’s lack of creative level design is the dumb enemy and ally AI that makes combat both a breeze and frustrating at the same time. In levels where you’ll be jumping from platform to platform be prepared to see your chosen sidekick slip to his or her death and waste precious Tech Tokens as they’re instantly resurrected. The Phantoms aren’t even very intelligent and while they do manage to wallop you good on occasion, it’s nothing teamwork and power-ups won’t fix. Really, this is a game you should be playing with a buddy since a friend won’t be making many of the same mistakes your ally makes during the game. Plus, you have the benefit of having a friend jump in at any time during the game and coordinate attacks together to chain some pretty mean character specific combos, making for a better cooperative experience.

Spider-Man: Friend or Foe is a simple beat-em-up game for kids. There’s something nostalgic about its style that makes it inviting and fun to play. While I recommend this game for younger audiences who love Spider-Man or comic books in general, the older crowd might require something meatier to hold their interest. For them, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe will be good for a brief rental, but not much more.

Activision's chance to capitalize on the Spider-Man license should not fall on deaf ears, though, because the simple mechanics and easy gameplay in Spider-Man: Friend or Foe are the perfect fit for any young Spider-Man fan or casual gamer looking for an action title for the Wii. During the holiday season, it will make a great gift under the Christmas tree, but it's not the superhero game with which most gamers will be looking to update their gaming libraries.

The good news is that the game is aimed at younger Spider-Man fans who more than likely won’t question the story’s validity and plot holes that border on insanity (Harry Osborn is the “New Goblin” from the third Spider-Man film, yet Green Goblin, his supposedly dead father, is alive, well and still has access to Oscorp’s weapons and gadgets… what?). The game doesn’t just stop with tailoring the story for the younger set; the gameplay also has its sights set on the attention spans of 8-year-olds. Friend or Foe is, at its core, a simple yet mildly enjoyable beat ‘em up adventure. There isn’t a gamer on the planet that will have a problem breezing through this very easy game, and chances are their younger siblings won’t have too tough a time either.

Friend or Foe is a generic game which is salvaged by the co-op play. For new or young gamers this is a great title, but for those who have been around the block, there's nothing to see here.

Some of the character animation is solid, but what's with the lack of textures on the environments? Friend or foe? Well, I'll give you a hint: friend has been taken off the table.

Spider-Man Friend or Foe falls short in just about every aspect. A sub-par story with abysmal level design and combat so easy it will make you want to run and cry to your Aunt May, will quickly turn any gamer away from this game. If you need something Spider-Man for this holiday season, turn elsewhere, for there is no fun to be had here, unless you are under the age of ten.

I could see this game being the holy grail for younger players, as it's an easy game to pick up and play, with characters and situations you'd love to play with and in, and enough challenge to maintain interest. For older players though, the appeal is severely limited, thanks almost entirely to the weaknesses of the enemies. All they needed to do to make this a solid game would be to pull back on the playable characters and make the foes more interesting to battle. As it is, it's a fun couple of hours, but hardly enough to engage most gamers. A rental will answer any questions you have about the game, and will help you kill an afternoon.

Ultimately, Spider-Man Friend or Foe feels like a lazy attempt to cash in on the character's license. The game is obviously geared most toward the younger set, but even kids like a bit of challenge, right? Despite its downfalls, the game has its moments. Hero attacks are fun to see, many of the upgrades are well-designed and exciting to watch, and the voice acting is redeeming – during battles, we found ourselves longing to return to the "helicarrier" just so we could hear the ship computer's jokes. But mostly, we just longed to be done with Spider Man: Friend or Foe.

Friend or Foe may bear the likeness of one of comics' most popular characters, but it doesn't feel like a Spider-Man game at all. At the end of the day, this is an unfortunate stain on the tights of a character that has had a fairly respectable video game career.

If you can believe it, this is possibly even worse than the diabolical Spider-Man 3. It's time someone cut the beleaguered crime-fighter some slack.