Spider-Man: Friend or Foe

Dec 13, 2007

Any time saving the world becomes a chore, something’s gone wrong. Even in licensed spin-off drivel, there should be some kind of spark that taps into your inner geek - such as assembling your comic book dream team in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, or swinging the city in the last Spider-Man game.

Not here. You walk into an arena full of crates and exploding barrels. Something happens to lock you in, usually a gate slamming shut, or a bridge being raised. A random assortment of the game’s whopping half-a-dozen enemy types beam in, and you button-mash them to death. The gate opens. You move a few metres. Another lot beams in. Button mashing. Gate opens. Button mashing. Gate opens. Boss fight. Repeat.

The only differences between levels are in background scenery and enemy costumes. You’re always up against the same brain-dead goons, never having to use tactics, never mind vary them. Punching, kicking and throwing gets you through every challenge, with Spidey’s superpowers either underdone (such as only half-swinging across the screen before giving up) or just plain rubbish (anything involving web slinging).