Spiderman 3

Spider-man, Spider-man! Does whatever a spider can?

Games based on movie licenses have never been recognised for amazing production values, have they? But every now and then, a movie tie-in release comes along that pleasantly surprises even the most jaded games reviewer. Such was the case with Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2 and Ultimate Spider-Man, which were all released with a welcoming sigh of relief onto Sony's PS2.

Here comes Spider-Man 3 on the Wii. A game which on the surface looks passable, but underneath the shiny exterior suffers from poor level design, a distinct lack of innovation, repetitive combat and shoddy graphical errors. Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself - let's cut this open and take a look ...

Being fair, the title/menu screens are well presented and easy to navigate. A new game begins automatically and the player is casually guided through a handy control tutorial. So far, so good even with Bruce Campbell's narration comically berating you throughout.

The Wii controls do take some getting used to especially when it comes to web-slinging through the city, but once you've got the hang of it, you'll find yourself lured into a false sense of security. Hey, it's a Spider-Man game, web-slinging should be fun right?

After a few hours of story mode and exploration, certain fundamental flaws quickly become clear. For anyone who played the far superior Spider-Man 2 game on PS2, this isn't anywhere near as fun, and by comparison Spider-Man 3 (at least on the Wii) looks and feels half finished.

But there's more to game play than slinging through the city. Graphically, the collision detection is bog-standard awful. Why can Spidey pass through solid objects such as walls and vehicles? Is this the same New York that featured in Spider-Man 2? If so, major landmarks are missing; including the Twin Towers, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan Island. Sightseeing is no longer fun because there's no real diversity between different areas of the city.

Some sections actively reminded me of playing games from yesteryear, graphically. I also noticed broken textures around the city - something that should have been picked up at beta testing level. Okay, so there's a story to play through, but it doesn't even directly follow the events of the film. Whilst some parts are momentarily fun, it quickly gets bogged down in repetitive play.

I could go on, but it'd be best to mention what was (for this tester), the biggest no-no any game could possibly commit. SPIDER-MAN 3 CRASHED OUR WII, and though the Wii does crash sometimes, this was the first instance this one had ever crashed on us. Pulling out the mains cable was our only way to solve the problem.

In closing, all I can say is I'm off to play Spider-Man 2. Why should publishers be allowed to get away with releasing games six months too early? If you want a decent Spidey game, one which does the licence justice, sadly this isn't it.

Vicarious Visions can do better and if Activision were pushing them for an early release, this game doesn't deserve to sell. Maybe your ten year old cousin will enjoy playing it for an afternoon or two, but don't count on it. For anyone else, they'll more than likely feel ripped off by the £30-£35 price tag.

Frustrated Reviewer - Ben Daniel