Jae Nar @Nar

Spawn: Armageddon (PlayStation 2)

Ahhh... necro goodness.

The Good
I loved this game from beginning to end. Beginning with the opening sequence, excellent rendering of 3-D CGI sequence with an actual rockin Marylin Manson track bursting through your speakers. The best Spawn opening I ever seen. The entire settings of this game carries an ongoing darkness with cool appropriate background music and sound effects that sends chills running down your spine from time to time. Yeah it's definitely SPAWN! The game is pretty darned gory at times, but hey, if you're a Spawn fan, that's only a plus. The number of bosses in the game are not bad, consisting of some familiar faces like the Redeemer, Cygor and two versions of the Violator. I still wish I saw Clown, Angela, Overtkill and the Curse in this game, but it seems to take off from the later issues of the Spawn story arc whereas these characters are now dead. The different necro powers Spawn can use are very very cool and adds to the game play once you figure out what each one can do in special environments. His chain attack is cool and always great to see him use his large cape when leaping from one building to another. This is a simple hack and slash action based game with easy to learn controls. The story line isn't bad either, taking you through each of the 23 missions giving you ratings for all the damage you did and even grades you based on your great skills. The hardest setting of this game will definitely put you to the challenge. Even the gimpiest of demons become hard to knock over with your huge axe called the Agony. The replay value of this game is fair. You collect comic book covers you can later look at when you go into the menu screen. You'll have to beat the game in all 3 difficulty settings to get all the covers and concept art.

The Bad
Like I said before, I wish more familiar faces were included. Perhaps more levels too because I couldn't get enough of this game after I beat it the first time around in all 3 difficulty settings (to grab all the artwork and comic book covers). Heck I'm still playing now just trying to get the best grades for gutting up nasty demons. Sometimes the camera angels in this game can become annoying, but only in one or two levels, which isn't bad compared to other Spawn games I played. coughIn The Demon's Handcough. Some of the controls could of been tightened up just a bit to really make this game solid.

The Bottom Line
Rockin demon slashing, bloody gore action. This is the best Spawn game to date no doubt. Not the best game in the world, but the best Spawn game ever made thus far. Fun, quick to learn, and only makes you wish there was more to it. Recommended for both purchase and or rental. Spawn: Armageddon for Playstation 2 gets 2 demons thumbs up from Nar of the Comic Underworld!

By Jae Nar on June 3, 2005

Spawn: In the Demon's Hand (Dreamcast)

Ugh...

The Good
The only thing decent about this game, were the decent graphics and strong attempt in presenting the Todd McFarlane characters in a very cool aggressive way. But they were still too bright and "sunny'cheerful" for me. The game starts off with a few characters to choose from whereas you can then beat the boss mode with each one of them to earn new characters and weapons etc. Over 30 characters. Which is pretty cool. But...

The Bad
nearly everything else about this game blows. Especially the frustrating camera angles. I'm surprised that Capcom screwed this one up this bad. Believe me, I don't care what you say, this defect will drain your gaming spirit almost instantly. The music in this game sounds a bit cheesy. (my personal opinion) Corny Generic rock music you've heard in most Capcom games. Now don't get me wrong. Capcom's traditional choice of music usually works great with their own titles like Megaman or Street Fighter, but for a Spawn game? ..eh. It's supposed to be dark and eerie. Hardcore even. But this one's a sheep, plain and simple. I'm nit'picky because I love Spawn, so for some of you out there, this probably won't bug you as much. But I hated it. Spawn: Armageddon, for PS2, is way more Spawn appropriate than this Capcom mess and plays a lot better too. (though it's a different genre) It's so sad too because this game looks like its going to kick major ass as its loading its "Capcom'ish" presentation...but instead sucked ass. (sorry but its true, and seems like many folks feel this way too so I'm not alone, this game sucks. Real bad.)

The Bottom Line
One word would describe this game. FRUSTRATING. The real drawbacks from this game excluding my bias opinions, are the camera angles the game decides to use as you're playing, and the game play isn't really user friendly such as when trying to switch weapons while you're getting your ass kicked. This in itself is what makes the entire game frustratingly challenging. Personally, I don't care for this type of challenge. I want to enjoy a game, even difficult games, but not stupid frustrating games like this one.

I don't recommend it unless you're looking to grow white hair, because thats what you'll end up with after playing this sorry mess of a game for about an hour or so. If you're a Spawn fan, I urge you to skip this one like you skipped the PS1 version of Spawn and jump right into Armageddon for PS2. It's not the best game in the world, but a HELL of a lot more fun to play.

Spawn: In The Demon's Hand gets smacked by Nar of the Comic Underworld.

By Jae Nar on June 2, 2005