Spider-Man Preview

Spider-Man and friends appear in full 3D for the first time on the PC.

Games based on comic books typically haven't done very well on the PC, and as a result, there's been an obvious lack of comic book game releases over the past couple of years. Activision wants to break the drought with a PC port of the popular console game, Spider-Man--a game that was originally developed by Neversoft, the same company responsible for the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series. Spider-Man makes the jump to the PC look easy, and carries over the strong gameplay that made the console version so successful. If anything, comic book fans might be surprised by how closely it adheres to the original comic book's style and storyline, as very few liberties have been taken to adapt Spidey into a full 3D world. However, as with most console-to-PC ports, the full 3D world that you crawl and swing through may seem a little dated--Gray Matter, the development team working on the PC version of Spider-Man, hasn't had the time to make any significant graphics upgrades, except to boost the resolution. Find out more in our interview with members of the team later in this preview.

Spider-Man begins in the classic comic book style--a small crime is committed, but as you quickly find out, it's only a part of a much larger crime about to take place. During a speech given by Dr. Octavius, Spider-Man swoops down onto the stage and steals the device that he's been legitimately promoting. Of course, Peter Parker--the real Spider-Man--sees this and starts to pursue the doppelgänger, but Parker is not the only one. Eddie Brock, also known as the symbiotic Venom, also gives chase, and only makes the real Spider-Man's life more difficult. As Spider-Man, you have to swing your way through more than 30 levels to uncover a plot involving many of Spider-Man's most well-known enemies, such as the Rhino, Mysterio, and Dr. Octopus. But you also receive help from some of Spidey's allies and see some familiar faces from other Marvel Comics series.

Spider-Man has all the moves from the comic book, like the web attack.

Though the game marks Spider-Man's first entry into a full 3D world, it's probably more successful at capturing the essence of the Spider-Man comic book--you leap off tall skyscrapers, free-fall for a second or two, fire one of Spidey's webs, and then watch as he glides across the sky from building to building. Indeed, even watching the manner in which Spider-Man climbs up and down the buildings is so authentic that it's obvious the original developers are huge fans of the series and went through a great effort to make sure all of Spider-Man's movements and mannerisms were as close to the comic book as possible. But as fun as it is to fly across the skies, nothing is more fun than actually using some of Spider-Man's attacks, which--in conjunction with a heavy stealth element--really add some depth to the game.