Ultimate Spider-Man

For SM2 veterans, the story mode is just too short for a full recommendation.

A better game than Treyarch's previous efforts, but it still relies too heavily on the novelty of swinging around the city and beating up the same bad guys over and over again--a novelty made less so by the simplification of both mechanics.

The blockbuster production values make this one of the best comic book to videogame adaptations ever made. The control is equally as impressive which may not be apparent initially as I mentioned. The only things holding this game back from absolute greatness are basically the same flaws that held SM2 back from greatness: repetitive random missions, relentless chase missions, relatively short story mode and the lack of imagination in terms of game structure.

Ultimate Spider-Man is best enjoyed when viewed as a separate path for the franchise, one whose bright graphics and teenybopper storyline add a refreshing parallel to the realist movie versions.

It's best to go at these extra missions and goals in moderation though, as playing them for an extended amount of time can get boring.

Worth buying for fans of the Spider-Man series, but lacking anything really original to make it a stand out to the average gamer.

I feel as though $50 in an overcharge for what you're getting. The game itself is under ten hours long (just including the story missions).

In the end, the story mode of Ultimate Spider-Man and the incredible boss fights make it worth a rental. The repetition of missions and short length of the game do not justify a purchase.

Ultimate Spider-Man may look very stylish and visually capture the essence of a comic perfectly, but the gameplay feels like a swing backwards in almost every department.

The realisation that there's a great deal of repetitive gameplay here sets in all too quickly with samey fight sequences and perpetual chasing.

A fun game that's worth a play through but is brought down by a lack of variety in the game play.

Did a purse-holder at Activision one day grapple fruitlessly with the last game's control system and scrawl in their subsequent notes "Make the next one so that I can play it"? Speculation aside, someone sure messed-up Spider-Man. [Dec 2005, p.108]