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> Results: Spider-Man 3
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Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man swings onto video game systems once again with new moves, HD graphics (for the Xbox 360 and PS3), and a set of new threads (that may or may not be homicidal), in this exciting movie tie-in. The Spider-Man game series, starting with the first film, are some of the best action video gameplay you can buy. Starting with the setting. They've rendered most of Manhatten, and using the trigger buttons on your controller, you can make Spidey swing, flip, dive, and sail through the city streets. It's up to you how you'd like to play, the city is your sand box and unless you've accepted a mission, you're free to do as you like. This new edition eliminates annoyances like having to return to Peter's apartment in order to save the game, they've upped the graphics considerably (but despite the high-definition in the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, the characters still look very rough and robotic) and this alone makes swinging through the city streets an exhilarating experience.
Missions will unlock as you accomplish tasks and unlock new combat maneuvers for your wall crawler. Aside from movie plot related storylines (The Sandman, New Goblin, the black suit, and Venom all appear in missions based on the film), Spidey has to take on three rival gangs, Rhino and the Scorpion, and even rescue his College Science Professor from a scaly fate. There are timed races and a fun little series of missions that has Spider-Man swinging Mary Jane on errands, earning hearts and extra points for doing what she asks ("Swing high! Faster!"). It's usually a good idea to be careful when buying licensed games and Spider-Man 3 is a pretty good example of what that is. They did the right things, improved the graphics and added an entirely new and more satisfying combat system to the game, but for every swing forward, there's one back. The difficulty is out of whack, making this game the most frustrating Spider-Man game yet. The city streets are crowded with citizens who don't react to anything happening, and the character models, particularly Peter Parker's, are scary in a robotic kind of way. There are also technical problems with the graphics in places and there's a considerable wait between levels. All of this amounts to a game that could be great, but is brought down to average by annoying flaws that should have been fixed. Someone needs to remind the developer about that whole "great power, great responsibility" thing. But it is Spider-Man, most of the time it's a lot of fun, and it will make your teenager happy.  
Most versions are rated T-Teen for violence but this game is a far cry from other T-rated action games out there. The violence is comic-bookish, the destruction and "bad Spider-Man" themes are minor, and none of the subplots are overly disturbing or upsetting (well, one "black suit" mission reverses the Mary Jane missions described above in that you're got to scare her with your webswinging). The movie is much more graphic and intense. For budget gamers, "Spider-Man 2" is still available and a lot of fun, so is "Ultimate Spider-Man" and also recommended for budget Super-Heroic city saving is "Hulk: Ultimate Destruction."
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