The Spider-Man games based upon the films were nothing short of two of the best comic-book inspired titles to ever grace the medium. Spider-Man 2 in particular, with its stunningly ambitious, free-roam rendition of New York City, was truly a wonderland to behold and, more importantly, play around in. Swinging to the top of the highest building, diving off, and swinging away to safety at the last possible second remains one of the most exhilarating things I have ever done as a gamer. Sadly, while Ultimate Spider-Man gives comic aficionados the cel-shaded edition version of the game they've always wanted, it also condenses much of what made the franchise so appealing in the first place into something far less satisfying.
The basics have not changed much from Spider-Man 2, and that's largely a good thing: controls are still simple to pick up, combat remains (for better or worse…) streamlined, and you'll still face off against many of Peter Parker's classic foes in a go-anywhere, do-anything rendition of New York.
Unfortunately, outside of the story missions, there's not much that's actually worth doing in Ultimate Spider-Man. The optional side missions from Spider-Man 2 that garnered complaints from gamers far and wide are back, except this time, they're mandatory. Filler, anyone? What's worse; the city layout that was so much fun to swing around in Spider-Man 2 has been replaced with a poorly-designed landscape full of much smaller buildings that serve as poor targets for web slinging. On the bright side, Venom's missions (the game's other playable character) are a blast, as you jump a half-mile at a time while feeding off of the life force of innocent civilians.
Gameplay concerns aside, the presentation in Ultimate Spider-Man is admittedly pretty great. The cel-shaded graphics really do an awesome job of capturing a comic-book feel, and the voiceovers are appropriately campy without being annoying. If only the gameplay from Spider-Man 2 had been preserved intact, this installment of the webbed one's adventures may truly have been Ultimate.
-George
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