Game Stooge

PREVIEW: Spider-Man: Friend or Foe

• Scribbled on September 13th, 2007 by Mitch Dyer
• Filed in Action, Game Demos, Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, Previews, Sony PSP, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3

What’s to be expected of a new Spider-Man game? Well for one, it’s not based off one of the terrible films, so like Ultimate Spider-Man, it gets bonus points strictly on those grounds. Spider-Man: Friend or Foe is, thankfully, nothing like its free-roaming counterparts, however. Fans of the SNES/Genesis/Arcade classic Beat-’em’-Up game Ultimate Carnage will feel right at home, since this is almost a 3D pseudo-sequel, as Spidey and his nemesis’ (in the case of the demo, Venom or Green Goblin) will team up to take on what appears to be an attacking alien race. Comic and movie fans will immediately notice a total ignorance of Spidey lore, but this isn’t really aimed at that crowd. This is a fun family friendly action game starring Spider-Man and some of his greatest foes ever.

The gameplay is fairly simple and the levels quite linear. There’s little room for exploration, but there’s an abundance of crates to destroy for health and power-ups but the action is plentiful and the combat is fun. The X button allows the web-head to attack whether it’s pressed or held, and can be used in conjuction with his web attacks (switched with the LB, RB, used with B) and throws (Y) for a fairly decent amount of pretty awesome looking combinations. Holding the Y button will allow the player to switch between Spider-Man and his Foe counterpart (I chose Venom) provided there’s no second player playing as the Foe in co-op. The ally artificial intelligence is a little sub-par, offering help only in battles that included more than 3 baddies, and next to none during boss fights, but at least the option is there to switch between the two. I often found myself leaving Venom behind as I swung from one end of the screen to the other with my webs, and engaging in battles alone before the lumbering goon finally came to help. Spidey is obviously the hero of this, what with more moves and faster attacks than his counterpart, but I can’t imagine why there wouldn’t be upgrades for the Foes as well as Parker.

It’s not a visually striking game but the environments are large and a pretty large amount of characters are on screen at once and no frame-rate drop. There’s a visual glitch or two with Doc Ock’s coat swaying through his leg, but the characters all look decent in game overall. Fluid animation helps too. The CG cutscenes aren’t ultra realistic but have a really distinct style that I kind of like. They don’t break up the action too much, so they’re a nice break between levels.

The demo impressed me more than I thought it would. I’m more interested in the game than I was before, but not enough to drop 60 quid on. If you’ve got kids, or friends to play with I can’t imagine a better game to play with them in October when the game is launched. It’s pretty easy, but it’s a nice throwback to the genre of yesteryear that many gamers left behind. I think this would be a perfect buy on the PSP rather than on a console since the level they let you play isn’t terribly long, and seems perfect for portable gameplay. This is a fun experience, so check out the demo at least; it might sway your interest.