Spider-Man: Friend of Foe (Wii) - Review by Jeremy

Introduction

We all love Spider-man. And don't we all kind of want to BE him once in a while? Isn't that why we buy Spidey games? So I got all excited when I got this new game: Spiderman: Friend or Foe, looking forward to all that climbing around, swinging through the air and Spidey-senses - fantastic. Next Level Games has made a beat 'em up game that isn't really anything to do with the Spider-man movie plots; instead it takes a selection of superheroes from the world of Marvel Comics and pits them against 'foes' who when beaten join up with the good guys and become 'friends'. Sounds good, right? Tingling with anticipation, I put my Spidey suit on, and sat down with my Wiimote (which I painted red and blue) ready to climb, swing, and you know, make webs and stuff.

Gameplay

Oh dear. Spidey doesn't really do much. He fights, sure, but he can't swing around on his webby ropes, he can't climb up stuff and he doesn't have any special Spidey-senses. Boo-hoo. That is the game's big disappointment that slapped me round the face and sent me to my bedroom to change out of my Spidey suit.

So Spidey is in charge, and works his way through bad bots ('phantoms') until he meets a boss - completion of a boss battle opens a way to the next area. You do this twenty times, which makes Spiderman: Friend or Foe a tad repetitive, although it seems that the game was designed to be simple and, errrr... repetitive. Everybody gradually teams up to get the arch-villain who has tried to mind-control everyone. Making baddies into goodies who all team up is in itself a good idea, and an original one, but despite this, the game is as disappointing as a pretty girl with a beard. Spidey seems to win fights far too easily, so he's a bit boring really. I played the game with my eyes shut and my hands tied behind my back, mashing buttons randomly with my nose, to see if he would still win. Of course he did, but unfortunately I think it was down to the game's limitations rather than my nasal gaming skills.

Controls

It's just too easy. And disappointingly, the Wiimote's capabilities aren't really explored at all. Spider-Man can admittedly do some cool stuff with his web-ability, flinging people around by webbing them and slamming them on the ground for instance. And you upgrade what he can do as you progress through the game by collecting tokens. But these moves are nearly all executed using the buttons, not by moving the Wiimote. You can chuck people around by flicking the Wiimote a bit, but that's about it, which seems like a wasted Spidey opportunity.

You always fight with someone else (allowing 2-player gaming), so you could choose to be the other guy rather than Spidey, but once you've figured what they can do, they get boring even more quickly than Spidey does. And Spidey doesn't really need any help anyway. However, it's worth mentioning that a second player can simply press a button and join in as the fighting partner at any time, resulting in quick, easy to pick up co-op play.

Graphics

Graphically the game succeeds in creating an interactive, comic-like environment. It feels more cartoon than movie, but that suits the genre of the game. It's nothing spectacular and certainly not intricately detailed, but because there is no real discovery element to the story, the five fighting arenas are kind of irrelevant anyway - who looks at the scenery much when they're flinging foes around?

Sound

The voice work is pretty good, occasionally amusing, and the sound effects are classic fight stalwarts. Looking at the graphics you might expect the music to be cartoony, but it is surprisingly atmospheric and added some much-needed mood to the fight scenes.

Final comments

Overall you'll probably get the uncomfortable feeling that you are too old for your Spidey suit. If you're looking for a fairly tame beat 'em up for pre-teens, Spiderman: Friend or Foe is actually OK. Kids will like the characters and it's so simple they'll feel like they're unbeatable - a nice feeling when you're ten. And to be fair, maybe that's exactly the kind of game that Activision wanted to publish. But for anyone older than that who is looking for a challenge, a plot, or engaging Wiimote motion controls, save yourself the irritation. You'll be more entertained by donning your Spidey suit and seeing how many elastic bands it takes to suspend yourself from the ceiling.

Pro: Instant co-op play
Con: Lack of motion control
Final score: 6.5

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