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Spider-Man 3
Spider-Man 3 PC
Developer:
Treyarch
Publisher: Activision
Released: 2007
Genre: Action-Adventure
Platform: PC, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Game Boy Advance, N-Gage, Mac OS X, Nintendo DS, PSP, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii
Preceeded by: Spider-Man 2

Spider-Man 3 is the official video game based on the 2007 film Spider-Man 3. The game is an action game loosely based on the film and released for the Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation 3 and PSP. The Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 versions were developed by Treyarch, the Microsoft Windows version by Beenox while the other versions were developed by Vicarious Visions.

A GameCube version was going to be released as well, but it got cancelled. This was possibly due to limited resources for the GameCube. The Xbox port was also planned, but was cancelled due to the system's low sales.

The game's plot expands on the film by including additional characters and elements from the Spider-Man comics and the Marvel Universe. Depending on the platform, different villains from the comics are featured, but all versions of the game feature the film's main villains: The Sandman, Venom and The New Goblin.

The game retains most of the gameplay elements from the previous game. Among the holdovers from the previous game is the freely roaming the city of Manhattan, which is larger in area than the one in Spider-Man 2. There have been various changes to the movement and combat system, including the usage of motion sensitive controls on the Wii version. The Nintendo DS version's combat system is entirely operated using the DS's touch screen - the d-pad is only used for moving Spider-Man. Players are also now able to interact at certain points during some cutscenes. Another prominent feature is the ability to play as the black-suited Spider-Man from the film, which allows access to new attacks and special "Rage" moves.

Plot[]

The game starts off as Spider-Man swings into a burning building. He defeats the bombers of the building and saves a woman from being killed. It then skips to the next day. His former best friend Harry Osborn does not talk to him anymore and he has a new rival in The Daily Bugle; photographer Eddie Brock. Meanwhile, an escaped convict Flint Marko falls into a lab pit and turns into sand. A small meteor crashes, with a symbiote inside.

Spider-Man takes his girlfriend Mary Jane Watson on a thrill ride, and after that, talks about Harry. Mary Jane comforts him; while talking, the symbiote attaches to Peter's shoe. Meanwhile, Harry comes out of a chamber in The Green Goblin's lair, filled with Goblin serum gas.

After visiting his science teacher Dr. Curt Connors, who turned into the Lizard by performing an experiment on himself to grow a new arm. The Lizard then turns other people into lizards, then escapes into the sewers, Spider-Man then follows and defeats the Lizard but the Lizard escapes deeper into the sewers. Harry (now the New Goblin) attacks Peter. They go on a high-fly battle on New Goblin's glider, but Goblin is defeated and knocked unconscious. Peter brings New Goblin to the hospital, where he will be treated.

Rumors are spreading that numerous gangs (Arsenic Candy, Dragon Tails, and the Apocalypse) are threatening the city to death. After Spider-Man foils all of their plans, he goes to another mission of the H-Bomber gang which was possibly kidnapping J. Jonah Jameson and killing him by Carlyle a.k.a. the Mad Bomber, the leader of the H-Bombers. Spider-Man then visits an abandoned laboratory where a doctor attempts to kill a person: Mac Gargan. But while testing him, he accidentally turned him into the Scorpion. Spider-Man goes to the city to chase and battle Scorpion in the city and then goes to sleep due to a very tiring day. During his sleep, the symbiote consumes Peter, leading Peter to have a new jet-black suit. The new symbiote suit makes him stronger, more agile, and more aggressive. Marko, now The Sandman, recently robbed a bank, and is headed for the subways. Spider-Man pursues him, and eventually defeats him, washing him away in a sewer line.

Brock and Peter both are given an assignment by their boss, J. Jonah Jameson: catch Spider-Man robbing something, and the one who does gets a promotion. Brock attempts to cheat by paying someone to pose as Spider-Man. The real Spider-Man appears, now influenced by the black suit, breaks Brock's camera and punches him. Brock tells him that he has many more cameras, and automatically photographs Spider-Man punching him. Spider-Man is able to recover the cameras and Brock swears revenge.

Peter gives Mary Jane a ride back to her apartment after a horrible date, where under the influence of the black suit, he alienates her. After acting too bossy and asking her to shut up, she decides to call off the relationship, which saddens Peter. Peter decides to go to a church, where he attempts to remove the symbiote suit, and successfully releases its bond to him. Unfortunately, Brock secretly finds and watches Peter unmask himself, and attaches to the symbiote, becoming Venom.

Brock finds a still-alive Sandman, and blackmails him to work together to defeat Spider-Man, or he will kill The Sandman's daughter, Penny. The Sandman eventually agrees. They kidnap Mary Jane, so Peter suits up again in the red suit as Spider-Man. He goes to the construction site where Venom and The Sandman are holding Mary Jane captive in a taxi. He fights Venom and Sandman while Harry, recovered from his head injury, decides to help Peter rescue Mary Jane as the New Goblin. Harry arrives and rescues Mary Jane, and fights a giant Sandman which he defeats. Harry attempts to help Spider-Man fight Venom, but is killed in the process. Peter eventually defeats Venom by weakening him with sonic vibrations then dropping the two of them off a building. He survives as Venom is impaled by a steel bar.

Peter mends his relationship with Mary Jane, and The Sandman, still alive, is reunited with Penny, who has just been rescued by police.

Versions[]

(Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, and PlayStation Portable)[]

Spider-Man 3 PS2, Xbox, GameCube, Wii and PSP graphics

The versions developed by Vicarious Visions retains many of what the Treyarch versions have. Most notably the recycled cutscenes and similar story missions, as well as the open-world hub and challenges. In the Wii, Xbox, GameCube, PSP, and PS2 versions, the black suit can be put on at will and works similar to Hypermode in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. although there is no health cost for using it. The black suit will enhance the player's attacks, but if the player uses it too long, Spider-Man can be permanently corrupted by the black suit, leading to a game over. To free Spider-Man from the black suit, the player must perform a series of quick-time events to turn him back to normal. Much like Spider-Man 2, you have an upgrade system, where you can purchase unlocked upgrades as you progress. Upgrades are purchased with Hero Points. You earn these points by completing the main story missions, or the side missions. The black suit cannot be upgraded. Like other Spider-Man titles, there are side missions that can appear at random. These missions can range from muggings to delivering items such as fruit pies. The side missions however are activated through a radio transmission which gives you the option of doing said mission or not. This has never been done in any Spider-Man game before. Much like the next-gen versions, there is a crime wave mechanic, where on the overhead map displays the gangs throughout the city. To lower the crime wave, you must complete combat tours where you have to complete tasks similar to the side missions of the game. As you progress the combat tours the gangs will lose control, giving the NYPD an advantage. If however, you ignore the combat tours the gangs will take over more parts of the city as well as other gangs. This will affect the open-world hub with a new environmental mechanic. Similar to Spider-Man 2 & Ultimate Spider-Man, there are collectables. The only collectables you can find however, are the Meteorites and Spider Emblems. These are scattered throughout the city. Spider Emblems can only be found once you complete the story missions. Once you find them all you will unlock the black suit and, has a full access of Rage Mode like no longer needing quick-time event suit change to normal, as well the Rage Mode will deplete to 0 in few minutes later and can be refilled anytime while in black suit instead of dying while in Rage Mode. Apparently in this version, it lacks of aerial combat moves. Morbius, Shriek and a boss version of Luke Carlyle are exclusive villains to this version.

The primary features for the Wii version are motion controls. By flicking the Wii Remote & Nunchuck, you can perform various actions such as combat, and one of Spider-Man's trademark abilities: Web Swinging. There are also certain mini-games tailored to the motion controls. This can range from ridding a bomb, to completing quick time events. The PSP version is a full-on port of the PS2 version with an extra feature exclusive to the handheld known as "Conquest Mode". Conquest Mode is an extra mode where you have only a very limited amount of time to go around the city and complete challenges. These range from combat tours to delivering items to protecting civilians. The more challenges you complete, the more hero points you earn. Once the time is up you are given a score and you return to your last save. You can go back to it at any time to get a higher score. If you think you're done with Conquest Mode, you may go to the Daily Bugle to end it and return to your regular game. Conquest Mode can be accessed via the title screen or Scrapbook.

(PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows)[]

Spider-Man 3 Xbox 360, PS3, and PC graphics

The Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 versions developed by Treyarch differ from the versions developed by Vicarious Visions. The most conspicuous difference is where you cannot alternate between suits at will, similar to how the Prince cannot control his transformation into the Dark Prince in the Ubisoft title The Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones/Rival Swords. Instead, you alternate between suits as you progress through the story. The upgrade system is different compared to earlier titles as well. Upgrades will be unlocked only as you progress and cannot be purchased. Collectables can be found in the form of tokens, which are scattered everywhere throughout the city, from skyscrapers to the subway tunnels. Once you have completed all the story missions, you are given a New Game + option. This will allow you to replay all the story missions in the black suit only. You can switch between suits via the pause menu. Spider-Man 3 is the first Spider-Man title to introduce quick-time events, a mechanic where you have to follow the corresponding controls on-screen to progress. Like many other PC games, the PC version can be modified, although very few mods for this game have been produced. Scorpion, Rhino, and Kingpin are exclusive villains to this version.

The player is also granted temporary access to play as New Goblin during the final mission in the game in a boss fight against Sandman, until he became a full playable character exclusive to PlayStation 3's Collectors Edition of the game, then as downloadable content for both PlayStation Network and Xbox Live. In the PC version's modifications, New Goblin's free roam gameplay is similar to his PlayStation Network/Xbox Live's downloadable content counterpart, such as having no story missions, while challenge missions can only appear when selecting him via debug mode. Unfortunately, when it comes to New Game+-style mod, it is highly recommended not to play as New Goblin, due to his different gameplay than other Spider-Men and may cause bug on the next tutorial.

Outside PC modifications, in all three versions, Peter Parker is also playable through a glitch, but some of your abilities are lost due to some of the glitch's bugs. However, you can overcome these bugs if you complete a certain side mission.

Nintendo DS version[]

The Nintendo DS version is a 2.5D side-scrolling beat-'em up game that uses the Touch Screen to execute most attacks. In this version, players can put on the black suit at will, and it can only help them. However, that suit will be disabled if Spider-Man's health is too low. This version supports wireless multiplayer.

Reception[]

Spider-Man 3 had mixed or average reviews on the Xbox 360, PC, Wii, PS2 and PS3 according. On Game Rankings, these versions average between 53% and 67%, and on Metacritic 50% to 68%. The key criticism for these versions is the game's similarity to its predecessor. The PC version has been additionally criticized for its high minimum system requirements and 30 frame/s framerate cap, but received better reviews than the PS2 and Wii versions, due to its similarity to the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game.

The Wii and PS2 versions have been criticized for a short story mode and disappointing graphics, with GamesRadar suggesting that they were technically inferior to the preceding game from 2004. The Wii version has however been praised for the use of the Remote and Nunchuk in its gameplay, which is considered to be the Wii version's strongest point. The Xbox 360, PC and PS3 versions, despite receiving only average reviews, have been universally better received than the PS2 and Wii versions. The Wii version was given a "D" grade by TheWire. X-Play gave the Wii version a 1 out of 5 (the first Wii game to get a 1 out of 5) and the PS3 version a 3 out of 5.

The game was also criticized for not being the same version on each system. Some criticism has surfaced due to having New Goblin only fully playable in the PS3 and Xbox 360. It was also criticized for having a lot of glitches. However, Gameinformer liked the game, giving it a 8.0/10 or "Great" rating. Gameinformer praised the number of moves, Tobey Maguire's voice acting, and the variety of missions, but criticized the soundtrack[5] The game running on the GBA, a far less powerful system, was developed as a side scroller. ScrewAttack named the Wii version of the game the 7th worst superhero game.

Cast[]

Also features the voice of Bruce Campbell as the "tour guide", and for the hint markers.

External links[]


Raimi Film Series
Films: Spider-Man | Spider-Man 2 | Spider-Man 3
Characters: Peter Parker/Spider-Man | Mary Jane Watson | Harry Osborn | J. Jonah Jameson | Uncle Ben | Aunt May | George Stacy | Gwen Stacy | Robbie Robertson | Betty Brant | Curt Connors | Flash Thompson | Dr. Stromm | Mr. Ditkovich | Ursula Ditkovich | Maximillian Fargas | Henry Balkan | Rosalie Octavius | Hoffman | Bernard Houseman | Mr. Aziz | Bonesaw McGraw
Enemies: The Green Goblin | Doctor Octopus | The Sandman | New Goblin | Venom | The Carjacker
Locations: The Daily Bugle | Oscorp Technologies | Quest Aerospace | Osborn Penthouse | Goblin Lair
Video Games: Spider-Man | Spider-Man 2 | Spider-Man 3
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