Spider-Man: Friend or Foe
a game by | Next Level Games, Inc. |
Platforms: | XBox 360, PC, Playstation 2 (2007) |
Editor Rating: | 5/10, based on 1 review |
User Rating: | 7.4/10 - 7 votes |
Rate this game: | |
See also: | Comics Games, Marvel Games, Spider-Man Games |
Remember that movie that promised to captivate audiences of all ages and superhero fans everywhere. You know, Suicide Squad. The one where a ragtag bunch of miscreants and villains are forced to work together for the greater good. Well, throw Spidey into the mix and you have the plot for Spiderman: Friend Or Foe, a game that looked great on paper but in reality, turned out to be a pretty mindless time sink to the disappointment of Marvel fans everywhere.
This game plays rather like a classic beat-em game where you move through stages after beating enemy waves. Games such as Streets of Rage, Dead Nation or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The title clearly puts a lot of impetus on presentation and gameplay above all other aspects and it leads to mixed results.
A mindless chore
The gameplay is where we should begin as it’s clear that the developers thought that this would be the driving force of this game’s success. Just to clarify, it is not. The game tries to replicate the fight to progress style of the Streets of Rage franchise in a 3D rendered setting. However, what they seem to have forgotten, is that Streets of Rage was a game from the eighties and had much more limitations than a developer today. So why is it that this game feels so hollow.
The enemies come in small, medium, large or boss sized with no variation throughout the whole game aside from a new skin based on the area. All the enemies fall to the same attack strategies and the bosses themselves all can be defeated through the same methods too. Which means that if you’ve played one stage, you’ve played them all.
So you would assume that the fighting is able to carry the game forward. Admittedly, the fighting is fun at times, the animations are smooth and the team gameplay does offer some interesting situations. However, the repetitive nature of the brawls takes away any joy you might have garnered from these moments.
Not Much Else
The game relies on its combat so heavily that there is little more to speak of in this title. There is a small amount of exploration that is encouraged throughout the stage to collect DNA samples. However, they aren’t exactly hidden all that well. Plus, the quintessential part of a Spiderman game, the platforming, barely makes an appearance and offers nothing other than a means of progressing.
Classy Spidey aesthetic
One of the saving graces for the title is the visuals and sound quality. The game opts for an art style that delivers a more comic book style Spiderman universe rather than the realism we have seen in other games of the time period. The environments consist of different international locations and are quite well presented in truth. The textures are far from stunning but they are simple and effective which is all they really need to be
Then in terms of sound quality, the voice acting within this game is impressive, with each actor capturing the essence of every character within the universe and delivering a performance that has a range of emotions and expressive tones which helps to keep the rather weak story somewhat engaging.
Foe, Definitely Foe
This title comes out the traps with a lot of promise but as soon as you get stuck into the action, you begin to see that you’ve misjudged the situation. The story is mediocre at best, the gameplay is repetitive and monotonous for the most part and the game is incredibly short and easy, so don’t expect to get more than five hours of playtime out of this one either.
It does have some good voice acting and visuals. Plus, it can be somewhat interesting to play as the villains of the Spiderman universe which is something that is rarely offered to players. Aside from these small moments though, the game is a let down that is a black mark in an otherwise strong library of Spiderman licenced games.
Pros
- Good voice acting
- Strong, comic-style visuals
- Rare chance to play as villains
Cons
- Too short and too easy.
- The gameplay is repetitive and tedious
- Story is mediocre at best
Download Spider-Man: Friend or Foe
System requirements:
- PC compatible
- Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
System requirements:
- PC compatible
- Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
System requirements:
- PC compatible
- Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP