Using the Tony Hawk engine once again, the graphics fit perfectly for the
game and are never dull for your eyes. There is no "jaggies" in game at
all, or they're just not too noticeable, and the game stays at a perfect,
smooth 60 FPS at all times which is quite amazing when you're fighting about
five or six enemies at once and are all shooting at you and moving at once.
Every few levels take place in the same setting so some of the textures are
used often so they get very repetitive, but then again, they aren't horrible
looking so they are standable.
Animations are superb in the game, the digital Spider-Man is just as agile
as the 'real' Spider-Man from the movie. The animations for the combos run
smoothly from one right into the other, no jerkiness from the punches into
the kicks either. While swinging in the air Spider-Man's arms and legs move
around depending on how fast he is going, showing how in depth Treyarch went with getting Spider-Man's motions perfect.
For the most part, lighting effects are sort of ordinary and plain,
spotlights don't shine magnificently and light doesn't exactly shine through
windows, which would have been a really generous effect, but it isn't too
big of a deal. But what really caught my eye the most was how beautifully
the windows on skyscrapers reflected light from the sun and you can actually
see the reflection of other buildings perfectly making it look very
life-like. Explosions and particle effects have been done exceptionally
well, like the lasers from Scorpion's tail, explosions from the Green
Goblin's bombs, and the way the Shocker's air vibrations makes ripples in
the air looks great.
The game scores pretty well in this category mostly because of the superb
voice acting of Bruce Campbell as the narrator. Whenever he is telling you
how to do something in the game, whether it be important or something that
you really don't need to know, he is always making small wise-cracks here
and there that you just have to at least chuckle at. I'm very pleased that
Treyarch decided to use Bruce as the narrator, he's the perfect guy for the
role, even though it is somewhat insignificant. Tobey Maguire does the
voice of Spider-Man (it's just natural that they use the star from the
movie) and although he seems to be the least likely guy to be Spider-Man, he
does the voice great and his wise-cracks sound natural. Willem Dafoe (also
from the movie) does the voice of Norman Osborn and the Green Goblin, and
in my opinion, he is perfect for playing as the Goblin as he fits the role
perfectly.
The background music for the game sounds like it was ripped right out of
the movie and just doesn't really fit the game all too well. I sort of miss
the short rock guitar riffs from the first Spider-Man game for the PSOne,
but I guess that's jut me... Foot steps, grunts, etc. all sound pretty
generic and isn't all that spectacular, although the sound effects from
whenever you shoot some web or swing around sounds pretty fair. Explosions,
however, sound great and makes you feel like you're right there in the middle
of the action.
There are so many objectives to complete in the game that you'll find
yourself playing through it more than twice. As I have mentioned before,
there are twenty-four golden spiders hidden throughout the game which will
let you unlock all the combos. Even more so, after finishing a level you
will gain points which can be used towards unlocking secrets (such as a very
amusing bowling mini-game!). To gain even more points than for just beating
the level you're on, you will have to finish objectives which consist of
finding secret rooms or destroying a certain amount of enemies, and some
levels you can gain bonus points for finishing it quickly for a time bonus.
The game's length itself is pretty fair for its genre. In total there are
twenty-two levels in the game, and will take you about five to seven hours
to complete the first time through and about three hours each time after
that. Moreover, not only there is a lot of secrets to unlock that will have
you playing through the game quite a few times, but there are a lot of
cheats that you can play around with such new costumes (play as Mary Jane
or even the Green Goblin!) and Matrix-style attacks (eat your heart out
Keanu Reeves)!