Spawn: Armageddon

 PlayStation 2
  • Publisher: Namco
  • Release Date: Nov 21, 2003
Metascore
56

Mixed or average reviews - based on 33 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 21 out of 33
  3. Negative: 8 out of 33
Buy Now
Buy on
  1. Gamenikki
    80
    Spawn lovers finally have a videogame they don't have to hide in shame, and those not initially interested in the comic will still find an addictive action title at Armageddon's core.
  2. IGN
    77
    Challenged by a few technical issues (especially on the GameCube) and held back because of its repetition, it might not grab as many audiences as Namco hopes -- Even if it is mindless, good-looking fun.
  3. Game Chronicles
    76
    A great action game that will likely appeal to fans of the previous two Devil May Cry games. For fans of the Spawn franchise, Manson fans, or fans of Goth-horror in general, this is a no-brainer.
  5. GameZone
    75
    Despite its flaws, this is the best Spawn game I've played. It's a "Devil May Cry" clone all the way through, but it's not like these games are a dime a dozen.
  6. GamingWorld X
    73
    The game only lasts around four and a half hours. The replay value isn’t all that hot either, and the game is not completed unless it’s beaten on all three difficulty levels, totaling around fifteen total hours.
  7. Next Level Gaming
    73
    It follows the story line and the characters from the comic well, and does a great job of capturing the overall mood of the series, but the gameplay itself doesn't have the right attitude.
  8. Gamezilla!
    72
    The frustration of Spawn comes mostly when you are trying to move him around tight spots, or see what the heck is going on right in front of him when he is near a wall.
  9. GameReviewer
    72
    If you're prepared for the occasionally uneven difficulty and the dark themes, Spawn: Armageddon makes a highly recommended weekend rental.
  10. Cheat Code Central
    70
    Even with three difficulty settings the game doesn't last very long. If you're a Spawn fan you'll get a kick out of this game but I recommend a rental.
    All this publication's reviews
  11. PSM Magazine
    70
    A simplistic combat engine prevents this game from shining. [Jan 2004, p.46]
    All this publication's reviews
  12. Game Over Online
    67
    The disappointing part of Armageddon is its length and its lack of variety. You won't get too much playing time to see the visuals and there is no compelling reason, apart from aesthetic appreciation, to revisit some of the locales.
  13. Gamer's Pulse
    66
    From its unbalanced gameplay to its mixed visual and audio presentation, Spawn: Armageddon is a valiant effort at coupling modern action gaming with a beloved character that unfortunately falls short of reaching heaven.
  14. Game Informer
    65
    Where Armageddon really shines is the combat. [Jan 2004, p.132]
  15. Gamers' Temple
    62
    Spawn is indeed from hell and will make you suffer through a purgatory of repetitive gameplay.
  16. Boomtown
    60
    It’s sad that the game doesn’t use Todd McFarlane’s artwork more effectively, because a Max Payne approach to the story telling would definitely have resulted in a better score.
    All this publication's reviews
  17. GameSpy
    60
    It has a simplistic hand-to-hand fighting system, a jerky, broken camera, crappy, jarring level designs, and horrifically frustrating platforming elements. It pretty much just fails at emulating the combat-heavy action games that have inspired it, and you'll constantly remind yourself of this as you play.
  18. GameBiz
    58
    The gameplay is too simple, hard and repetitive, making it feel like an arcade game. The graphics are good, as are the sound effects, but the fighting music is just horrible.
  19. Play Magazine
    58
    Not bad, but not real good either. [Dec 2003, p.81]
    All this publication's reviews
  20. GameSpot
    56
    Regardless of the game's inspiration, Armageddon is a mediocre action game that is carried only by its license.
  21. 1UP
    55
    A very standard beat 'em up/third-person shooter that has many of the elements you'd expect (minor upgrades between levels, slow-motion special power) and none that you wouldn't.
  22. Armchair Empire
    54
    "Devil May Cry 2" got a lot of heat for feeling bland and uninspired compared to its predecessor. Spawn: Armageddon, being even more vapid, actually makes that vaguely lackluster title seem like a work of absolute genius.
  23. eToychest
    50
    Boring, repetitive gameplay and bland visuals make up Spawn’s biggest missteps, while a formidable soundtrack keeps the game from being totally without merit.
  24. GamePro
    50
    Although Armageddon’s selection of slick, diabolical hardware is great, using it turns into a fumbling experience. Between multiple foes attacking in every direction and the unintuitive button setup, switching between your weapons is a chore.
  25. PSX Nation
    50
    Quickly loses its fun after the first 30 minutes or so.
  26. Yahoo!
    50
    Not that simple-minded action isn't worth some time, but Spawn just feels like it's mired in the past, with simple platforming, basic attack combos and a few collectibles to string you along. After a while, with eyes blurry from too much same-y destruction, Spawn just felt like "Bad Dudes" dragged kicking and screaming into 3D.
  27. Electronic Gaming Monthly
    48
    The action isn't bad - just appallingly generic. [Jan 2004, p.110]
    All this publication's reviews
  28. TotalPlayStation
    45
    Quite simply a bad game. Period. There’s just not enough variety in the combat to make the action entertaining, and poorly designed jumping puzzles, sloppy combat and unresponsive controls all add up to a game that won’t even keep Spawn fans entertained for more than a few seconds.
  29. Gaming Age
    42
    Button mashers rejoice, there is another title for you to pounce on! For the rest of us who have played games like "Devil May Cry," "Chaos Legion," and "Castlevania," you will know this little game play tale after the first few minutes.
  30. G4 TV
    40
    The weak, shriveled heart of "Armageddon" can barely pump the appealing lifeblood of the comic book series into this hollow shell. It isn't terrible, but it offers few reasons to complete the 20 or so missions.
  31. Official U.S. Playstation Magazine
    30
    Goes from merely mediocre to appallingly bad.
  32. GameCritics
    25
    It's a stale, ugly revisiting of a genre that should be put deep in the ground, with no story or aesthetic styling to redeem it, a hollow exploration of ground that's already been trodden flat.
  33. GameNow
    16
    Oh, and "thumbs up" to the completely inane grappling system, awkward control, and megabuggy "visuals." [Jan 2004, p.59]
    All this publication's reviews
  34. TotalGames.net
    13
    This really is the most onerous, excruciating thumb-mind-and-soul-numbing experience we've had the sorrowful displeasure of witnessing. To play it is as concerning as listening to a long, drawn out joke that you have to pay attention to follow, only to realise the that the punchline is embarrassingly racist. The devil would cry. This is embarrassing.
    All this publication's reviews

Awards & Rankings

80
#80 Most Shared PS2 Game of 2003

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 30 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 30
  3. Negative: 6 out of 30
  1. Sarsaparrilla
    Apr 15, 2021
    3
    There is almost no content in this game. Repetetive, boring and it doesn't top the comics at all. The camera is clunky and the story sucksThere is almost no content in this game. Repetetive, boring and it doesn't top the comics at all. The camera is clunky and the story sucks because it doesn't matter if you pay attention or not. The music is basically a rip off, the same in all battles. I thought the game was going to remind me of DMC, not even that. The last missions are obnoxious and confusing, and the bosses don't survive the "hype". The difficulty is all over the place. Anyway, if you play it, play it on easy. I'll save you a lot of time, 4 hours tops.… Full Review »
  2. aspentitan
    Oct 25, 2020
    7
    This game is worth a look. It is debatable whether it's an underrated gem but certainly is deserving of a remake on a higher powered nextThis game is worth a look. It is debatable whether it's an underrated gem but certainly is deserving of a remake on a higher powered next generation gaming system since that seems to be today's thing. Let's start with player scores: A couple players are reviewing more than once and bringing down the average score. Looking further they are making comments which are not true which may explain their low scores. (You can switch locked on targets)- I'd recommend reading the manual or going thru the game tutorial again. Much of what's said for the player scores is somewhat echoed in the professional review scores. I kinda laugh when a professional reviewer says the game is too simple and hard back to back in the same sentence. So which is it? No matter how I break that down it seems more a compliment than anything and to me translates as easy to learn and hard to master. Regardless most of the reviews I read seem to be loyalty service not getting exactly the game they dreamed of. Does that really mean this is a bad game? Absolutely not. Let's start off with the main branches of gameplay. Upon startup you can go to options and configure your controller. Many of yesterday's games were very hard to play because each one used different button mapping to get used to. Here we have options for mapping your buttons to mock whatever game preferences you enjoy and mapping your own immersive style to your controller. This is huge. That said it's not the game it's just options. About the game, what makes a game great? Variety and the ability to play as you wish with lots of toys, a good story and graphics are important too. Graphically this is in the high end of ps2 games some comments in forums even suggest this game looks like early ps3. Load times are quite respectful. Story wise may be weak but it's a comic and relies on the tie in. I think most people get that so I don't punish this game too hard for that. I'm not a Spawn fan though, I'm interested in the gameplay so I can recognize to fans there may be some disappointment there. On the flip of that though, Spawn, in this game has tons of variety in attacks. We see guns, chain, melee and necroplasm attacks not to mention there are many scrollable choices within this category. There are plenty of options to play as your own reincarnation of Spawn. Action wise this game was pretty decent. On top of that you have mission based gameplay containing areas to explore and incentives to find collectibles to unlock bonus content, and they are replayable. Despite Spawn fans not getting their story I kinda feel the developers reasonable knew they had to provide something for the fans and it seems fair and reasonable to me that this is what they offered up. Whether gamer or fan, this seems a good compromise. All in all I really don't see the dislike in this game. Most button mashers get these low scores but by no means is this a button masher. My complaints around the game are really only about two things. The first is there are some bad camera angles which are not gamebreaking but are annoying and break up gameplay immersion really bad. Annoying. The largest issue with this game for me is an oversight which really brings the score down for me and that is you are forced to play without the option of x axis and y axis inversion, and the default setting is the "left handed/brained" option and this control setting is futile to work with for some people such as myself. Now, as you can see in my review profile, I've played a lot of games and that said I have x axis and y axis "muscle memory" since most games offer options for this setting to be changed to the most common control scheme. It was super difficult to try to play this game with default settings that move me in the opposite direction my natural instincts are pushing the controllers anolog sticks. As great a game as the fatal frame series were they had the same issue and rendered them unplayable to people like me. Thankfully this game was more friendly in that respect the combat was more straight in your characters viewpoint and although needlessly frustrating, was workable. Providing these options, I would have enjoyed the game even more and goes back to the statement I made that if remastered with new developers and a higher powered system this game remake could be very successful. As it stands I feel this game was a niche title overlooked at the time the ps3 was luring gamers away from ps2 and the relatively few gamers who reviewed it didnt help.… Full Review »
  3. ChrisB.
    Jun 28, 2004
    9
    Yea this game good but they should let u play with spawns cape while ur walking and sh.t that makes it really dark say anybody know that capeYea this game good but they should let u play with spawns cape while ur walking and sh.t that makes it really dark say anybody know that cape cheat for xbox? if u do email me at rdsoldier88@yahoo.com… Full Review »
See all user reviews »