Spider-Man 3

Moby ID: 28058
PlayStation 2 Specs
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Description official descriptions

Based off the 2007 movie of the same name, Spider-Man 3 puts players in charge of the titular hero as he tries to once again New York City safe from the combined menace of the New Goblin, the Sandman, and Venom.

The game style is similar to Spider-Man 2 in which the player is free to explore a large scale version of New York City in a "Sandbox" style, this time in a larger city that allows for exploration of the subway and sewer systems. The game also allows for players to adventure in storylines not explored in the third film, such as facing familiar Spider-Man villains like Kraven, the Lizard, Scorpion, Rhino and the Kingpin, or breaking up various gang factions.

One of the main focal points of the new game is the inclusion of Spider-Man's black symbiote costume. When wearing the traditional red and blue costume, Spider-Man is more fast and is more accepted by the public. When wearing the black costume, Spider-Man becomes stronger and more aggressive.

The game also includes "cineractives" - cinematic scenes that allow for participation via button presses or controller movements.

This version also has the inclusion of Morbius and Shriek as bosses to fight against. The black costume is an interchangeable accessory after a certain point in the game, but can threaten to overwhelm Peter if worn too long.

The Wii version allows for full web-swinging control via the Wiimote and Nunchuk. The control set-up acts as Spider-Man's "hands", allowing players to swing by performing the appropriate gestures.

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Credits (PlayStation 2 version)

518 People (465 developers, 53 thanks) · View all

Peter Parker/Spider-Man
Harry Osborn/New Goblin
Eddie Brock/Venom
Flint Marko/Sandman
J. Jonah Jameson
The Narrator
Mary Jane Watson
Penny Marko
Dr. Conners
Joseph Robbie Robinson
Betty Brant
CEO
Chief Creative Officer
President
Executive Producer
Producer
Chief Technology Officer
Senior Lead Designer
Senior Lead Engineer
Senior Lead Artist
Senior Lead Audio Designer
Art Director
Production Coordinators
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 57% (based on 26 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 17 ratings with 1 reviews)

Great Controls Marred By A Drop In Overall Quality.

The Good
To hit the biggest point of the Wii version that, in my opinion, makes this version tower above the rest of the Spider-Man 3 games is the controls. The Wiimote/Nunchuk setup that is used to simulate Spider-Man swinging through the streets of New York is fun, intuitive (once you get used it), and very interesting. This is what I had hoped would be possible with the Wii's unique control scheme, and it delivers. I couldn't imagine playing it any other way now. Even using the webbing to fight seems interesting, and several clever ideas have been implemented.

Spider-Man 3 takes the missions from the second game and provides more realistic goals. Spider-Man spends more time breaking up street gangs and disarming bombs than helping whiny kids recover their balloons.

There are also some fun story elements, and a satisfying selection of villains from both the movie and comics to contend with. The black suit aspect is interesting, and it's also novel that Spidey has to struggle to get it off each time. The Wiimote based cinema scenes are also novel.

J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson adds a lot of fun to his role, and actually sounds like he's enthused to be there. Bruce Campbell also returns as the Narrator, and provides the same level of humorous and snarky commentary.

The Bad
Graphically, something went horribly, horribly wrong. This is by no means as pretty a game as the Gamecube version of Spider-Man 2. The lighting is weird and inaccurate, buildings down the street or from high up lose all of their textures, looking worse than any Nintendo 64 or PSX game. The draw-in is embarrassing, and makes the game feel incomplete, or at worst, like a Nintendo 64 game sans the fog effects. Everything in the game looks bland even up close. The character models are hideous, especially in the cut-scenes.

Sound-wise, with the exception of the two above listed actors in the "good" category, the main stars sound bored out of their skulls during their reading. It's line recital, and little more. The NPCs are just as bad. Sure, NPC characters are not the focus, but female characters speaking with male voices, Caucasian characters speaking with Asian accents (not the only ethnic switch-around - there are several different varieties), it becomes unsettling. Even New York itself is quiet. This is New York City. It's never quiet there. Ever. It sounds more like a small town with the occasional car honk or pedestrian comment.

While web-swinging controls are great, the fighting is merely okay. Waving the Wiimote back and forth starts to feel silly after a while and gets a little tiresome.

There are also several glitches in the game that allow Spider-Man to have trouble climbing buildings, clip through walls, fight for a good view with the camera... the game even crashed once during its tutorial. Sequels to games are supposed to improve upon the original title, not regress in quality. The character of Spider-Man sticks TO walls. He does not get stuck IN them.

The Bottom Line
With as "right" as this game gets it with the incredible web-swinging control scheme, it does so many other things wrong.

It's easy to dismiss a lot of these problems as it being "just a movie-based game". But Activision has always (until now) treated the Spider-Man license with a lot of care and enthusiasm. The first two movie Spider-Man games were great titles, and even the original story games were very good and a lot of fun. This game feels like it was rushed to make sure it came out in time for the new movie. and it shows in almost every facet of the game.

The Wii version is a visual step back from the pretty Gamecube version (the previous system), also lacking the polish that allowed Spider-Man to "do whatever a spider can".

Activision needs to try again with a new game. Those clever controls are wasted on too much of an average game, and that's unfortunate as that's the best part of the entire title. Hopefully, they'll actually spend some time and care on the next title, and allow players to experience the elements of what made the past games so cool, and the ideas introduced in this one.

At least try this for the control set-up....

Wii · by Guy Chapman (1748) · 2007

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Related Sites +

  • Spider-Man 3
    Official website from Activision for Spider-Man 3.

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  • MobyGames ID: 28058
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Guy Chapman.

PSP added by firefang9212.

Game added May 13, 2007. Last modified December 3, 2023.