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Spider-Man 2 PSP Vicarious Visions/Activision  Believe it or not, skater dude Tony Hawk and Spider-Man have a bit in common. It's not just that they're both Geminis who enjoy long walks on the beach: it's that publisher Activision seem to love getting both of them out on every gaming platform possible and will invariably give developers Treyarch the console versions and Vicarious Visions the job of creating the handheld ports. So, to that end, Vicarious Visions were responsible for developing 'Spider-Man 2' as a launch title for both the DS and PSP. Now, as educated gamers, we all would know that launch titles tend to be dodgy little pieces of software. Rushed to make the launch date and developed for new hardware, they tend to have bugs, glitches, unpolished visuals, short and hurried gameplay and a general lack of depth. Unfortunately 'Spider-Man 2' suffers from all of these: it's quite a short game, the gameplay is repetitive and it managed to crash on me a number of times. One impressive thing that can be said about Spidey 2 is that it could have been just a cut-down version of the PS2 game. But instead, the game was given an entirely new production, including new levels, story sequences, CG and even new voice-overs from the cast of the movie. The story is loosely based on the movie but includes a variety of other missions that have you fighting against some of Spider-Man's other foes such as Mysterio, Shocker, Rhino, and Vulture. As opposed to the console versions, 'Spider-Man 2' for the PSP is completely linear. There are no free-roaming segments in the game, so those hoping for a little New York City skyscraper hopping on a handheld will be disappointed. Instead, the PSP Spidey is much like the original 'Spider-Man' released back in 2002. There are 19 stages to play through and while that may sound like a good amount, each stage is quite short; you could complete this game in about four hours. One of the biggest hardware limitations for the PSP in comparison to the PS2 is that it lacks the right analog stick. This stick is often used to manipulate the camera, and it is dearly missed here. The D-pad is used to control the camera, which makes life very awkward for the player. Barring the presence of an extra arm, there's physically no way to manipulate the camera without removing your thumb from the analog nub. This makes most battles a frustrating balance in trying to dodge enemy attacks while moving the camera so you can actually see them. Vicarious Visions really should have thought about this more: a button to automatically return the camera behind Spidey would have been a much better option. The control system is fairly simple, including punch, kick, and web attacks as well as the web swing. More so than previous Spidey games, I found myself sticking to walls and objects at really inopportune times, while getting through the smaller environments was often an exercise in frustration. 'Spider-Man 2' does have its moments of glory, but they're few and far between. This game is definitely more for the web heads who are prepared to look past the flaws and see only Spidey love.  |
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