Maybe Activision shouldn't have attempted a simultaneous launch across eight platforms synchronized with the film's release because Spider-Man 3 for Nintendo's Wii could - and should - be a much more enjoyable game than it is.

The Wii isn't a graphics powerhouse. This doesn't mean that it can't have fun games, but it does mean that porting a 360/PS3 game to it probably isn't the greatest idea. In order to maintain the same sense of scale so much detail is lost that Spider-Man 3 looks like it belongs on the PSP. Now, there's nothing wrong with the PSP, but when your console game looks like a portable game, it's time to step back and ask "is this really what we want to be doing here?" Spider-Man 3 could have been great if they'd put it on rails, focused on the web-slinging, and mastered the motion controls. Instead, Activision tried to deliver the same game available on the 360 and PS3 but tacked on use of the Wii remote.

The Wii has one really nice feature going for it that neither competitor can touch: independent motion control. Hook up the nunchaku to the Wii remote and the player can control each of Spider-Man's arms. This should have made web slinging an absolute blast, but the controls are so sensitive that you'll spend more time peeling yourself off of buildings than you will jetting around the city on wire-thin webs.

The motion controls work a bit better when it comes to combat though. Waggling the remote to beat up thugs is easy and effective, but it doesn't always feel quite right. Sure, I beat the snot out of that bad guy, but it didn't really feel like I was in control of the action. It almost feels like Activision mapped "any waggling" to "automatically beat the tar out of that guy." To offset the offense's low skill level, blocking is unresponsive due to enemy speed and Shenmue-esque QTE segments are analogous to patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time. I can't honestly be the only one out there that has a hard time tilting the nunchaku in one direction while swiping the Wii remote in another.

Thankfully, the black suit makes an earlier appearance in the Wii game than in the film. The black suit makes the already easy combat a downright breeze, and you'll be thankful for it because you'll be playing the same mission and beating up the same thugs over and over again with a different name each time. The only downside to the black suit is that sometimes you have to take it off and spend that much more time beating up the same generic thugs you pummeled three missions ago.

Developers need to realize that porting games to the Wii isn't going to move units. When faced with a choice between the same game on the 360/PS3 and the Wii, gamers are going to choose the more powerful systems. Success of a Wii game depends on one of two things: console exclusivity or excellent control scheme and Spider-Man 3 has neither. If Activision had nailed the web-swinging controls though, the repetitive missions and scaled-down graphics would be all worth it. As it stands, the Wii received a watered-down port of a decent game. And all Activision added was too-touchy controls.
Spi

May 30, 2007 | 0 comments
Justin Last