Spider-Man 3

PGNx Media

Spider-Man 3, while not a radical departure from the excellent foundation laid by its prequel, will amaze Spider-Man and action games fans alike. The sequel fixes the major complaints of the first game (generally the repetitive nature of side missions) and polishes everything up.

Game Chronicles

It almost becomes a rhythm game as you perfect the block-counterattack system, especially for the boss fights. And when you aren’t fighting some crazy mutant or saving the city from serial bombers, a casual swing through Manhattan at night is almost therapeutic.

GamingTrend

The game is not only bigger, but also better in almost every way. The graphics, the animation, the lighting, and the overall storyline cohesion – the whole package is vastly improved. There are some issues such as repeating voice work, framerate stuttering, and a hyperactive camera while indoors, but the rest of the game more than makes up for these shortcomings.

MS Xbox World

Although all of the game’s features are excellent qualities for a truly great game, the area where Spider-Man 3 succeeds most is in just being downright fun to play.

GamePro

The best thing about playing Spider-Man 3? Without a doubt, the web slinging. Thanks to a tight control scheme and great level design, slinging around the virtual city is one of the game's great thrills.

Games Master UK

Fails to build on the strengths of "Spider-Man 2" and take Spidey on to a whole new level. [June 2007, p.66]

Pelit (Finland)

A decent enough action-adventure in the vein of GTA and Crackdown. Spider-Man's web-slinging abilities are depicted very well. Go for the Xbox 360 version, the rest are not worth your time. [June 2007]

Play Magazine

Enjoy the missions, the options, the achievements and the story, but you'll always return for the flight, and the size of the world. For once, bigger means better. [June 2007, p.71]

Game Informer

Spider-Man 3’s greatest strength isn’t how accurately it captures the essence of this hero; it’s the game’s ability to keep you in a state of wonder. You never really know where Spidey will be headed next, or what challenge you’ll be tasked with upon arrival. Variety really makes this game stand out above the others.

GameZone

Spider-man 3 doesn’t differentiate much from its predecessor in terms of combat, but the new God of War-esque minigames are a nice touch. The mission structure is also nicely laid out, not too linear but conducive to the film’s plot.

XboxAddict

Even something as simple as web-slinging provides a thrill, as players can delight in utilizing the speed of a swing to shoot Spidey forward before letting him freefall towards the streets below, only to anchor a nearby object with a web strand via the right trigger mere seconds before he goes splat.

ZTGameDomain

While the tedious missions and fussy camera system will likely cause frequent bouts of controller throwing, swinging through the city is still as fun as it ever was and with so much to see and do there is plenty here to warrant your $60.

Xbox World 360 Magazine UK

Spidey 3 certainly has its problems in abundance, but they're far outweighed by its wealth of content. [July 2007, p.86]

Gaming Nexus

In conclusion, this game is for fans of Spider-Man or the super-hero genre in general. It has quite a few flaws, but the combat and the enjoyment of exploring the city more than make up for the games camera and boss combat issues.

Gamers' Temple

Spider-Man 3 certainly has its enjoyable moments, but camera issues and repetitive combat keep it from reaching its full potential.

Thunderbolt

I'm sure that younger gaming fans especially, will be able to appreciate swinging around in pajamas. The rest of us can find an entertaining game hidden underneath a pile of little flaws.

Planet Xbox 360

Frustrating levels, repetitive gameplay, button mashing, and graphical issues are all problems that could probably have been fixed had the developers had a bit more time to polish off the title.

VideoGamer

One frustrating game. While playing you'll more than likely go through spells of loving what Treyarch has done, but you'll want to throw in the towel at numerous points too. The camera and combat system are most to blame, with the two working against you far too regularly for Spidey's next-gen debut to be considered a classic.

Total Video Games

Fundamentally the same as the last couple of Spider-Man titles with a handful of enhancements, Spider-Man 3 on the next-generation consoles disappoints in its portrayal of what the new range of consoles have to offer - particularly if you're looking for something other then crisp, clear visuals.

Play.tm

Spider-Man 3 is very much a game of two halves, the conventional game elements with their inherent problems actually get in the way of the fun you can have just 'being' Spider-Man.

AtomicGamer

The sad part is that the most exciting portion of Spider-Man 3 is still the ability to swing around the city at high speeds. And since the swinging system hasn't really changed since the last game, it's frustrating to see the game's best feature be overlooked by the developers.

GameTrailers

You can get through the main story in a casual weekend of playing, and the extra mission objectives aren't exactly compelling. Tack on some seriously under whelming visuals and a problematic camera, and you're left with a game that has its moments, but is ultimately disappointing, even for true believers.

Game Over Online

If you’re looking to recapture the fun you had with the previous generation’s titles (which were FAR better), then please keep waiting.

DailyGame

New York looks great, but the camera inconsistencies and helter-skelter gameplay flow takes away all the good will that Spider-Man 2: The Game had built.

GameSpot

Sure, it throws in a few new wrinkles to the combat system and adds some crazy God of War-esque contextual actions into the mix, but the core game is functionally the same as previous Spider-Man games, and the changes are a mixture of positive and problematic.

Kombo

Rushed out for release and filled with problems, Spider-Man 3 is – not unlike its cinematic counterpart – a huge disappointment. It’s not a complete loss, and many gamers, particularly Spider-Man fans, will probably enjoy the game enough to merit the $60 asking price. Those without a huge attachment to the character would be better off spending the money on some trade-paper backs of the comic.

Game Almighty

The camera seems really buggy at times. While, for the most part, it does an acceptable job of keeping the action onscreen, there’s no way to easily re-center your view and so things get confusing at times.

Extreme Gamer

This new version feels like its reversing the progress Treyarch has made.

GamerNode

The thing Spider-Man 3 does right is exploring the city and web-swinging. It captures the feel perfectly, and really is a blast to swing around Manhattan as your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Unfortunately, everything else is a mixed bag, and often the worst parts rise to the surface of the game.

Official Xbox Magazine

If it were a meal, Spider-Man 3 would be a very filling sweet-and-sour dish--often too tough, sometimes uneven, but ultimately very tasty for Spidey fans. [July 2007, p.80]

Da Gameboyz

The game ultimately comes across as unfinished and unfortunately gets thrown into that large group of movie based games that have failed to live up to gamers expectations.

Armchair Empire

The main components of the Spider-Man 3 – the fighting, the webslinging in a wide-open environment, lots of villains – are spot on but most everything else just feels somewhat incomplete or at least unpolished, particularly the story.

Electronic Gaming Monthly

Webslingin' remains the selling point, but the combat--although built from the ground up for this game--still consists of random button mashing. [July 2007, p.88]

My Gamer

As a licensed game, Spiderman 3 is exceptional, but its problems and shortcomings stop it from being a notable game altogether.

DarkStation

Spider-Man 3 is a game that has all the workings of being a great comic book video game, but the final product is deeply flawed and in need of some serious re-tooling.

G4 TV

Fans of the character and the action sequences will likely find plenty to enjoy, but anyone expecting something more will be disappointed.

Talk Xbox

An undeniably rushed product. It’s obvious in the lackluster gameplay and visuals. Content-wise, there’s a TON of activities and sub-plots in Spider-Man 3 such as sky-diving, Mary-Jane thrill rides, bomb defusing, races, etc. The only problem is very rarely are they fun.

Worth Playing

Between Spider Sense and the web slinging, Spider-Man 3 offers a fairly comprehensive Spidey experience, but there's as much frustration as fun here.

GameDaily

Spider-Man 3 on Xbox 360 stands out as the best version, thanks to slightly improved graphics and numerous achievements to unlock. Unfortunately, the awful camera, frustrating combat, bad character models and cheesy voice acting make it less than stellar.

Yahoo! Games

It's disappointing that Spider-Man 3 goes from exhilarating to budget-ware production levels so quickly and dramatically. Part of the problem down at street level is the combat. It's drawn with terrible character models, bad animation, and inconsistent AI that makes it easy to win fights by spamming a few basic attacks or taking advantage of the fact that bad guys can't figure out how to get around a park bench.

Games Radar (in-house)

Spider-Man 3 is so by the numbers, so average that we just can't muster much enthusiasm. Comic fans'll hate the inconsistent power levels while hardcore gamers will balk at how routine it feels.

Cheat Code Central

The focus of their next Spider-Man game should be making the combat feel as authentic to Spider-Man as they've done with the web-slinging. With a focus on improving the combat, the A.I., and more epic cineractives, Spider-Man 3 would have been a great game.

Eurogamer

And if the button-mashing, combat-heavy missions aren't underwhelming enough, or the under-use of web swinging doesn't deliver enough disappointment, then the often-iffy technical side of the game rounds off a less-than-stellar package.

IGN

Other than nailing what web-swinging should feel like, this game is a bust. We were promised a Spidey experience that was next-gen and expanded on everything Spider-Man 2 did right, but we were given a buggy game that's just "Spider-Man 2: Special Edition."

GameSpy

Right out of the gate, Spider-Man 3 is going to smack you in the face with some of the worst next-gen graphics you have ever seen.

Xbox World Australia

"Spider-Man 2" was leaps and bounds ahead of the original, but the third outing tinkers with what made the second so great without improving on any of the things that sucked. This wouldn't be so bad if it didn't add a host of new suck in the form of dodgy camera control, frustrating combat and dull missions.

GameShark

A buggy, frustrating, and unpolished game that only at times feels like the wind-rush you expect from an open-ended 360 Spider-Man experience. Toss in the hideous camera, the button mashing fight sequences and sadistic Boss fights and you have a videogame companion that is fits well with the third movie – both are sadly unfulfilling.

Digital Entertainment News

Remember how good Spider-Man 2 was? Hang onto that feeling by not playing this game.

Team Xbox

Spidey 3’s camera is horrible. You can’t look up and move at the same time, because, when you start to move, the camera wants to correct itself to show Spidey’s heading, which sometimes conflicts with what you need to see when you’re playing.

Official Xbox Magazine UK

A lack of development time this time round is surely the only possible explanation for the game’s unfinished feel...There’s a fantastic title in there, one that Treyarch has obviously worked hard on, but we can’t help but feel it’s a case of embarrassing premature web-ejaculation.

1UP

You know that "PS2 game with shiny characters and lots of bloom lighting" look that plagues PS3 and 360 ports of last-gen titles? It's dripping all over Spider-Man 3. Except it's not a port. Which is almost okay, until it throws in some vicious slowdown whenever you make the mistake of breaking environmental objects.

Gamestyle

When it works, Spider-Man 3 is an enjoyable return to New York, and it quite often does work. However the myriad problems soon build up and cause frustration, leaving a distinctly average taste in our mouths.

PALGN

Poor camera? Check. Boring Combat? Check. Movie tie-in? Check.

Sydney Morning Herald

The biggest annoyance is an erratic camera, which never reliably displays the best view of the action and requires constant adjustment.

Gaming Illustrated

The controls were too loose for a game like this.

NTSC-uk

This isn’t a high-def interactive movie or a massive leap forward for all things Marvel – but it is a fun distraction and perfect for a casual or younger, superhero-mad gamer.

Gaming Age

The city is not very alive, if you know what I mean. It looks like New York, but it doesn't feel anything like it.

360 Gamer Magazine UK

Awkwardness resulting from the terrible camera and hopelessly lazy last-gen elements will soon see your Spidey Sense telling you to bite through the control pad in abject frustration.

X360 Magazine UK

A few good missions ultimately wrecked by lame and/or pointless missions. [Issue#20, p.90]

Game Revolution

Spider-Man 3 features the series’ worst combat yet.

Edge Magazine

The frequent glitches and pop-up testify to a lack of preparation, and a question has to be asked about what exactly Treyarch has been doing for the past two years. [July 2007, p.89]