Spiderman 3 Review

Spider-senses are tingling; this game is garbage! I know that it must get old hearing me bag on games made out of movies, but I really am trying to save you money. Just like Spidey’s bipolar disorder in dealing with the black suite, Spiderman 3 cannot seem to find exactly what it is trying to do.

Spidey 3 has both movie related storylines and original ones made for the game. This is both good and bad as the original storylines add more characters from the Marvel Universe, they also just make the game that much more of a jumbled mess. Expect to see Kingpin, The Lizard, and other cameos along with some fictitious gangs out to destroy Spiderman. There honestly is not a single solid storyline; Spiderman just does what he has to do to make the world a better place.

The initial dive into Spiderman 3 is very promising. Activision, like the previous Spiderman sandbox titles, has nailed swinging around New York City. While it is super simplistic, R Trigger shoots Spidey’s webbing and players steer with the left analogue stick, swinging handles so smoothly that I spent most of my time with this title doing just that. The experience of webbing around town is captured perfectly.


There is a wealth of other activities to take part in, but they are structured poorly and are simply mind numbing. Spiderman 3 consists of 42 missions, some photo missions, races, challenges, collectables, etc. The missions vary from stopping speeding vehicles, swinging Mary Jane around town, and fighting gangs. There is no imagination or innovation behind these and after a handful of missions I was right back to exploring the city one web at a time.

The real downfall of Spiderman 3 is the combat. There are a good variety of moves that are unlocked throughout the game, but all the battles consist of the same strategy. Wait for the enemy to attack, counter the attack with your slow motion spider senses, land a few hits, and repeat. Even the boss battles that should be more involved follow this simple pattern. It is enough to make you want to shoot webbing down your throat in order to end it all.


Much like the initial glee of web slinging, the visuals of Spiderman 3 look impressive yet ultimately fall flat. At least developer Treyarch nailed our hero. Spiderman’s character model looks great, he is by far the best looking object in the game. Spidey’s animations are also fantastic, especially while he is maneuvering through the air from building to building. The other characters were neglected so much that those whom crossover from the movie are barely recognizable. Manhattan overall consists of bland gray building textures that keep you wishing for more detail since most of your time is spent between them.

Besides web slinging, the voice work of Bruce Campbell as the narrator/tutorial guide is the only selling point for Spiderman 3. If you love Spiderman as much as I do then go see the movie and drop the $60 you saved on this game towards your road trip to Comic-Con.