Ultimate Spider-Man (video game)
Ultimate Spider-Man is a 2005 action-adventure video game based on the comic book of the same name by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley, itself based on the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man. The game was released on most sixth generation consoles, including Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo DS.
It is the second open-world Spider-Man video game, after 2004's Spider-Man 2, and features a similar gameplay, allowing the players to freely explore Manhattan and parts of Queens, while engagins in various side activities. The game introduces Venom as a playable character in addition to Spider-Man, who has his own play style and series of missions. Set within the Ultimate Marvel universe, the game's main storyline sees Spider-Man investigating the corrupt Trask Industries and its connection to the creation of the Venom symbiote and his parents' death, while facing off against various supervillains, including Venom, who has his personal vendetta against Bolivar Trask.
A prequel, , was released in 2006.
Gameplay
Ultimate Spider-Man is a third person action-adventure video game, set in an open world based on Manhattan and parts of Queens. Players take on the role of Spider-Man or Venom and complete missions—linear scenarios with set objectives—to progress through the story. The player starts in story-mode where they can only free roam as Spider-Man, and the game automatically switches between Spider-Man and Venom during missions. After the main story is complete, the player can switch between the two characters at any time, and free roam as Venom.The two characters play differently from one another. Spider-Man is more agile and uses webs to travel through the city, being able to either web swing or web zip; similarly to Spider-Man 2, the player needs to be close to buildings and manually attach webs to them. Spider-Man can also use his webs during fights, imobilizing enemies for a few seconds, or grabbing and throwing them around. Once a enemy is down, the player needs to quickly web them in order to imobilize them for good, otherwise they will get up and continue attacking the player.
Venom, meanwhile, is much more aggressive and uses his tentacles to pull himself to buildings, much like Spider-Man's web zip. He can also perform massive jumps and grab enemies, whom he can either throw away, crush against the ground, or consume. While playing as Venom, players can consume NPCs to regenerate their health; normal pedestrians usually grant the player more health than enemies. While free roaming as Venom, he will slowly lose health regardless of taking damage or not, requiring the player to often consume people to regenerate health. Venom can also throw cars and go on destructive rampages, earning police attention. The more destruction Venom causes, the more police will attempt to stop him. However, unlike Grand Theft Auto, the player can't lose their police attention, and they won't leave them alone until Venom is killed and respawns.
As the game progresses, Spider-Man and Venom will have certain "City Goals" to accomplish in order to continue the storyline. These consist of various side missions, such as races, combat tours, and collectibles.
Game Boy Advance version
The Game Boy Advance version of Ultimate Spider-Man is a side-scroller beat 'em up, divided into seven "issues", each containing three chapters. Both Spider-Man and Venom are playable, and each has his own series of levels. In addition to the two main characters, the game features only three additional bosses: Shocker, Silver Sable, and Carnage. This version also includes a limited supply of Spider-Man's web fluid, which can be refilled only by picking up special markers scattered throughout levels or dropped by enemies. Additionally, players may choose to collect hidden power-ups to gain more web fluid capacity or gain new moves and abilities for both Spider-Man and Venom.Nintendo DS version
The Nintendo DS version of Ultimate Spider-Man is also a side-scroller beat 'em up, albeit it features a 3D environment. Both Spider-Man and Venom are playable, and each play differently from the other. In the Spider-Man levels, most of the game happens on the top screen and the touch screen is only used for selecting special attacks and operating certain objects. In the Venom levels, the game switches to the touch screen, and players are able to grab and throw objects or enemies using Venom's tentacles, or attack by tapping the screen. The game also features a slightly modified storyline and a multiplayer mode, where players can unlock different characters and arenas for a head-to-head fight.Plot
After explaining how he came to be Spider-Man, Peter Parker reveals that his and Eddie Brock's fathers worked together to find a cure for terminal diseases, and created a black liquid substance that can envelop one's body and heal them, in addition to enhancing their strength and other abilities. However, they were tricked into selling the "suit" to Trask Industries, and later died in a plane crash before they could complete work on it. Years later, Peter and Eddie reunite and discover the suit is their inheritance. After learning how his dad was tricked by Trask Industries, Spider-Man tries to take the suit and is covered by a portion of it. While it enhances his powers, the unstable suit also tries to consume him, forcing Peter to remove it. Later, Eddie feels betrayed upon learning how Peter tried to steal the suit and, after deducing his identity as Spider-Man, takes the rest of the suit for himself, becoming Venom.After a fight with Peter that seemingly results in Venom's death, Adrian Toomes, an employee of Bolivar Trask that secretly witnessed their confrontation, contacts his boss to inform him of the suit's capabilities. Three months later, while Peter has returned to his normal life, Eddie has been forced to feed on the life energy of civilians to prevent the suit from consuming him. One night, he fights and defeats Wolverine. Later, at Mary Jane Watson's pleads, Spider-Man investigates something rampaging through Queens, and discovers it to be R.H.I.N.O., a giant, rhinoceros-themed mecha suit, built by Trask Industries. While he defeats R.H.I.N.O. and leaves its pilot, Alex O'Hirn, for the police, Spider-Man fails to recognize the company's name. Elsewhere, Trask hires Silver Sable's Wild Pack to capture Eddie, but he defeats them as Venom and escapes.
Later, during a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Peter senses Venom's presence nearby and defeats him. Venom is then captured by Sable, who Spider-Man assumes is working for S.H.I.E.L.D., and imprisoned inside an energy cage by Trask. Forced to test the Venom suit for him, he chases and defeats Electro, while protecting Spider-Man, who was knocked unconscious by Electro when he interfered. As S.H.I.E.L.D. arrives and arrests Electro, Venom flees and Nick Fury wakes up Spider-Man, only for him to storm off after berating Fury over constantly interfering with his life. Eddie returns to Trask and informs him that he had more control over the suit in Spider-Man's presence. Remembering that Richard Parker's DNA was used as the basis of the suit, Trask concludes that Peter is Spider-Man and that getting some of his DNA will help stabilize the suit. Sable takes Eddie to track down Peter, but he transforms into Venom and escapes.
Meanwhile the Beetle releases the Green Goblin and steals a vial containing a sample of the Sandman for his mysterious employer. After encountering Spider-Man, the Beetle flees to the Latverian Embassy. Nick Fury later asks Spider-Man to infiltrate the Embassy, only for the Goblin to emerge from inside. Spider-Man defeats him and he is arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D. Meanwhile, Venom defeats the Beetle when he attempts to collect a sample of the symbiote.
Later, Silver Sable kidnaps Peter and attempts to deliver him to Trask, but he escapes and fights her. Venom interferes and kidnaps Sable, forcing Spider-Man to chase and defeat him, but the battle leaves both exhausted, allowing Sable to deliver them to Trask. While Eddie is imprisoned, Peter is injected by Toomes with a makeshift sample of the Venom suit, transforming him into Carnage, who goes on a rampage. Venom escapes and defeats Carnage, before absorbing the symbiote off Peter, which gives him full control over the suit. Venom then attempts to exact revenge on Trask, but Spider-Man goes to warn him, leading Trask to attempt to escape via helicopter. When Venom tries to destroy the helicopter, Spider-Man stops and defeats him.
As S.H.I.E.L.D. arrives and arrests Venom and Trask, Peter retrieves some files from the latter, which reveal that the plane crash that killed Peter's parents was caused by Eddie's father trying the Venom suit on board and losing control due to his incompatibility. After Peter tells Nick Fury that Eddie must see the files, he reveals that Eddie escaped. Days later, Venom kills Trask in prison, while Peter vocalizes his worries about Eddie to Mary Jane, saying that he's not sure if he's scared of Eddie, or for him. Elsewhere, a partially transformed Eddie leaps from a skyscraper, turning into Venom just before he hits the ground.
Limited edition
There is a limited edition of the game exclusive to the PlayStation 2, which contains four character biographies, an interview with Stan Lee, a G4 special entitled "Making of Ultimate Spider-Man", developer tips and tricks, and a special edition Ultimate Spider-Man comic book containing scenes from issues #33-39. One of the concept arts in the special edition also reveals that Beetle was working for Doctor Doom, and shows him delivering the vial with Sandman's DNA as part of Doom's plot to develop Latverian super-soldiers.The limited edition version comes in a different case sporting plain purple and red holographic sides. The case also comes with a cardboard sleeve with a picture of Venom on it. The DVD surface itself has a new picture on it: purple instead of red, once again with Venom. The instruction manual matches this trend with the cover being a fight scene between the two. The limited edition features are accessed from a new menu titled "Limited Edition" via the unlockables screen.
Prequel
, a side-scrolling beat 'em up where players can control both Spider-Man and the Green Goblin, was released for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS on November 14, 2006. The game is also set in the Ultimate Marvel universe, prior to the events of Ultimate Spider-Man.Reception
Ultimate Spider-Man received "generally positive" and "mixed or average" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic.CiN Weekly gave it a score of 88 out of 100 and stated that "The true letdown... is that the master villains can still be supremely frustrating to defeat, requiring several replays and exhaustive bouts of highly patterned attacks". The New York Times gave it a positive-to-average review and said that the game was "very entertaining, and the addition of Nemesis creates some interesting new situations, but over all there isn't a lot of variety; you fight, you race, you ramble around the city, and then you do it all again". The Sydney Morning Herald gave it three-and-a-half stars out of five and stated that "combat against dim-witted goons can become repetitive but missions offer diversity".