Spider-Man: Friend or Foe (Xbox 360)

A perfect Spider-Man videogame -- if you're a kid.
1/31/2008 12:00 AM | 0 Comments | Page 2 of 2

Knowing their audience was primarily kids, the developers at Next Level Games did a good job retaining the comic book flavor for the game's colorful and bright cartoon-like graphics. Even more impressive is the game's animation, which includes acrobatic midair moves. The Xbox 360 version looks better than the Wii and PS2 versions of the game. The voice acting is solid, and the lines of dialogue can be humorous at times, so overall the production values for this game are fairly impressive.

Play well and you'll be able to unlock bonus characters, including the black-suited Spider-Man from the latest Spider-Man movie, as well as special behind-the-scenes materials (such as character art, 3-D renders and movie clips) you can access at any time from the main helicarrier room. As with the ability to play past levels with unlocked sidekicks, this, too, adds some extra fun to the game once you defeat the relatively short six-hour story mode.

The bottom line for Spider-Man: Friend or Foe is this: If you have a younger brother, cousin or nephew who loves Spider-Man, then they shouldn't be disappointed in this accessible but easy action game. But if you're looking for a challenge or something high-definition and open-ended like the last Spider-Man videogame from Activision, you'll grow tired of this dumbed-down comic book brawler.

This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.