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Spawn Preview

We check out Namco's upcoming action game starring the comic hero.

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Todd McFarlane's Spawn really can't catch a break. The tortured antihero has arguably the most messed-up origin for a modern hero to date. For those unfamiliar with Spawn's roots, the angst-ridden one was once a soldier/assassin (depending on his mission) named Al Simmons who met with an untimely end at the hands of his own men. However, thanks to the surprisingly accommodating powers of darkness, Simmons was reborn as Spawn, a creature gifted with superhuman strength and mystic powers whose role is to serve the forces of evil. Unfortunately, Spawn chose to go against the grain and fight against the forces of evil, becoming an unlikely warrior in the fight for good and generally ticking off the demon world. As a result, Spawn leads a tortured existence that finds him shunned by demons and not exactly welcomed back to his old life, due to his unsightly appearance. To add to all the aforementioned trauma, he's had to star in some sketchy games over the years. An uninspired side scroller on the Super Nintendo and Game Boy Color, a poor 3D adventure on the PlayStation, and a gorgeous but uncontrollable third-person shooter on the Dreamcast did little to capture the character's appeal. Granted, the titles certainly nailed the feeling of a living hell, but they weren't very fun. Fortunately, it looks like 2003 may finally see things take a positive turn for the hero, thanks to Namco and developer Point of View. The duo is working with McFarlane on a multiplatform 3D action title that could be the best Spawn game to date. We recently had a chance to check in on the game, which met with a rather lackluster reception at E3, to see how it's coming along.

The game's story presents a mystery for Spawn to solve. The game opens with the antihero going about the business of fighting evil. However, in the course of his daily routine, the hellacious one stumbles onto a plot by the angels to wipe out hell. While this sounds pretty good on paper, there's one hitch--the earth will be destroyed in the process. Discovering the specifics of the plot and preventing the earth's destruction are Spawn's main goals in the game, which will be spread out over roughly 30 missions. Uncovering the mystery and stopping those involved will require you to travel to six major locations, some of which should be familiar to fans of the series, and lead to encounters with friends and foes, some taken from the comic book, and others created for the game.

The gameplay in Spawn borrows liberally from Capcom's first Devil May Cry and casts him as spry, gun-toting, axe-wielding, spellcasting action hero. While the work-in-progress build shown at E3 came across as derivative, the team is working to ensure that the game takes better advantage of its license. Spawn's core abilities will be fairly straightforward. You'll move around, lock on to your enemies, and perform combos by alternating between your guns and your axe. You'll have three varieties of jumps--a normal jump, a regular jump, and a wall jump. In addition, you'll be able to glide at the top of a jump. You'll also be able to use Spawn's chains as grappling hooks to reach new areas. Besides Spawn's physical attacks, you'll have access to spells such as a destructive necroplasm ball or a time spell that triggers a bullet-time effect.

Spawn handles quite well, even in the early build of the game we saw. The combat in the game is looking especially promising, as Point of View is attempting to throw some strategy into the mix of mindless carnage. You'll find that enemies will be vulnerable to specific attacks or weapons. Discovering which attacks do the most damage against the different enemies should keep you on your toes.

The graphics in the game are shaping up pretty well across all the platforms. Spawn's character model is detailed and well animated. Fans of the series hoping for a proper rendition of his cape are in for some good and some bad news. The good news is you do see the cape in the game, and it looks very good. The bad news is that Spawn's cape is only visible when he glides. Little animation touches such as the shell casings that drop from his pistols, the spinning animation on the minigun barrels, and the way his chains whip out to collect items help round out the package. The enemies you'll encounter in the game are a ragtag assortment of demonic monstrosities that feature suitably twisted designs. As mentioned, you'll face off against a mix of familiar foes and original creations. The game will feature

a fair number of cameos from the likes of Cogliostro and Violator, among others, to satisfy fans of the franchise. The environments in the game will feature the same mix of old and new seen in the selection of enemies. The various locations you'll be slaughtering evil minions in will feature a good level of detail and an assortment of interactive elements. The game's look is enhanced by a varied selection of special effects such as lighting and particle effects for weapons fire and Spawn's spells. At present, the game is roughly comparable across all three platforms, although there are some differences. You'll notice what's now becoming a standard series of distinctions between the different versions of a multiplatform game in terms of visual quality. The Xbox version has a higher level of detail and a steadier frame rate. The GameCube version follows with some noticeable hitches in its frame rate and slightly less texture detail. The PlayStation 2 version is nearly on par with the GameCube version, although the latter's superior texture detail gives it a slight edge.

The audio in Spawn is still coming together. The most prominent audio elements right now are the effects used for weapons fire and the cries of your soon-to-be-slaughtered foes. The game's soundtrack features the sort of driving guitar rock you'd expect from this sort of a game.

So far, Spawn is looking like a game that's not doing anything too heinous with the license. The graphics are looking good, and the gameplay is solid and generally fun. We'd obviously like to see the gameplay be a little less derivative of Devil May Cry, and hopefully Point of View will be able to make that happen before the game ships. Spawn is currently slated to ship this fall for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. Look for more on the game in the coming months.

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