Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Underappreciated"

This is the game about "Ultimate Spider-man" in the arc with the creation of the Symbiote (remember that this is the Ultimate series arc, not the original storyline), and everything that effects Peter Parker (a.k.a, Spider Man) and Eddie Brock (a.k.a, Venom) and this game basically explains the whole story arc as if one is "playing" an actual comic book...

Story: 8 (It's about Venom, and Spider-man, that is basically a match between hero and villain)
Graphics: 8.5 (Cell shading makes the game appear to come right from the actual comic book, but not with the occasional fact that this is just a video game)
Music: 7.5 (It's okay, nothing extraordinary to be heard here, but it's tolerating to listen to)
Controls: 8 (The controls are fine, with the rare cons with the effects of combat and web swinging, but that's hardly a problem)
Sound: 7.5 (Decent voice work and sound effects with combat and the singular sound of Manhattan does the game alright)

The story starts off with the story arc of how the Symbiote was created, and the feud with Eddie Brock and Peter Parker, as it appears that the Symbiote is effecting Eddie's mind and body in the not-so-positive way, and it (the Symbiote) wants Peter to "join it" (believing Eddie and Peter are required to be a complete "creation"), and other people are involved. The story is already know to those who have read the comics or have prior knowledge of the story arc. It is a pretty cool idea with the creation of the Symbiote, but it also seems a bit too coincidental, but not really a bad thing, but not a great thing in an alternate story.

The game-play is a beat em' up crossed with an almost-open-world video game. The enemies are usually varying according to a simple thug to a soldier, so on, so forth. The variety is good, and so are the boss battles. While the change between playable characters Spider-man and Venom is a nice touch, as through their perspectives the story is more throughly explained and understandable, while also making the game entertaining and varying (Spider-man focused on minor combat, side missions, and a certain amount of free movement, while Venom has only one obstacle and is only meant to go on a rampage along with sheer destruction even, and to unnatural results). The collecting of unlock-ables are a nice replay value for fans of the comics, by collecting extra costumes, side missions, information and renders of characters, comic book covers of both Spider-man and Venom, etc.)

The game is a must-play for fans of both Spider-man and Venom (but mostly an emphasis on Spider-man), and something that can be fun but nothing really new and or an immersible experience at best. Nonetheless, the game is one of the best to truly represent Spider-man in all of his glory. So for fans I recommend renting the game at first to give it a try, while others should probably ignore this game.