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Spiderman 2

Spiderman 2

Written by Charles Husemann on 9/8/2004 for
More On: Spiderman 2
We’ve already reviewed the Xbox and Playstation2 versions of Spiderman 2 so now it’s up to me to review the N-Gage version of the game. Like the other two versions the game loosely follows the general plot of the movie but adds some extra villains to the mix. This is a necessity since it’s kind of boring to just duke it out against one bad guy. The big difference between the console and N-Gage version is that the N-Gage version of the game is linear while the console versions allow you to explore the city and address the missions in whatever order you want to. Given the storage constraints of the N-Gage that’s understandable.

Spiderman 2 contains two primary game modes. The first is your traditional side scrolling game where you maneuver Spiderman around the screen fighting bad guys and a second 3D view from behind Spiderman which has you guiding him as he swings through the city. The 3D sections along with some static cut-scenes act as transitions between the 2D sections that make up the bulk of the game.

The 2D sections are the best part of the game. The game allows you to crawl up walls, hang up side down, and use a variety of web attacks on thugs and bosses. Basically everything you would expect from a Spiderman game. You have you standard kicks and punches plus the limited ability to web up your enemies into a cocoon. This immobilizes them allow you to finish them off. You can also use your webs to swing from one area to the next or as a quick way to get to the ceiling of a level. This is probably the best part of the game as the graphics and animation are fairly strong. The controls are decent but I did have some problems switching from crawling to standing on occasion which lead to a lot of unnecessary crawling. During certain parts of the 2D missions a camera icon will flash and you have to press the 6 key within a few seconds. This takes a picture of the scene which earns you bonus points in the game. It is a nice touch that ties it back to the original franchise.

The 3D part of the game is ok and the developers pushed every bit of performance out of the N-Gage to pull it off. The 3D section has you swinging through New York to get to the next part series of missions. Your job is just to navigate Spidey though the city to get to a new point. The controls are decent but don’t expect the same experience you get on the console version.

There are 20 levels in Spider-man 2 featuring five classic Spiderman villains. It’s not a bad game but it is not a great game either. If you’re a fan of the Spiderman franchise, own an N-Gage, and like side scrolling games you might want to pick this up. If not then you might want to pass.
A solid but not great game that features some decent side scrolling action

Rating: 7.5 Above Average

* The product in this article was sent to us by the developer/company.


About Author

Hi, my name is Charles Husemann and I've been gaming for longer than I care to admit. For me it's always been about competing and a burning off stress. It started off simply enough with Choplifter and Lode Runner on the Apple //e, then it was the curse of Tank and Yars Revenge on the 2600. The addiction subsided somewhat until I went to college where dramatic decreases in my GPA could be traced to the release of X:Com and Doom. I was a Microsoft Xbox MVP from 2009 to 2014.  I currently own stock in Microsoft, AMD, and nVidia.
 

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