Official Website

Platform: Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2, PSP, Nintendo DS,  Xbox 360, PC

Genre: Action

Number of Players: 1 or 2

When there’s no new Spider-Man movie in the works for a while, and believe me, they are planning another one, and probably another after that, and so it continues from there, the thing that any video game company is going to do is develop an offshoot of a popular license. Activision has released some great tie-in games to the movies, and with such a wealth of history and characters to choose from, giving Spidey another adventure isn’t too much of a problem.

Spider-Man: Friend or Foe is the return of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man to multiple platforms, but it isn’t just New York that he’s trying to save this time. After a nearly fatal encounter with some of his deadly enemies (all those seen in the films actually) his enemies suddenly disappear thanks to some new and mysterious force. Spider-Man soon finds himself on the S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier where Nick Fury and the organizations computer give the wall crawler a break down of what has happened.

A meteor similar to the one that brought the Venom symbiote to Earth made its way into Earth’s orbit, but before S.H.I.E.L.D could catch it, it broke apart with six fragments landing across the globe. Now someone is trying to collect those pieces and there has also been an appearance by symbiotic creatures known as Phantoms. It isn’t just Fury who needs Spider-Man’s help in tracking down and collecting these fragments, it’s the world, but Spidey is going to need to enlist the help of some friends, and some enemies, if he’s to stop this threat as his web-slinging skills (and a Helicarrier) take him to Japan, Egypt, and even Transylvania.

It’s never easy to take a movie franchise and turn it into a game, but those based on the films have always done and outstanding job at taking the plot of the film and working in some new villains and elements to make things more interesting. Friend or Foe however doesn’t need to worry about sticking to a script, and this works in the games benefit, not to mention that you’ll see some very familiar faces along the way.

During his quest, Spider-Man will forge partnerships with the likes of The Prowler, Silver Sable, Black Cat, Iron Man, and even Blade, but that’s just those on the side of good and righteousness. Whomever is trying to collect the shards has gained control of some of Spider-Man’s most deadly enemies, and once they’ve seen the light (meaning that you’ve beaten them to a pulp again) they want in on the action and to get a little revenge on whomever was trying to use their evil for their own. Sandman, Doctor Octopus, The Green Goblin and even Venom will be a part of your stable of characters that you can partner up with.

Friend or Foe plays a little like another of Activision’s Marvel titles, Ultimate Alliance, though instead of having access to four different heroes, you only have two, and Friend of Foe also works on the “beat ‘em up” concept, but the Wii integrates a few differences in the control scheme and you’ll need both the remote and nunchaku. The control stick will actually be used for your movement and by moving the nanchaku isn’t, you can switch between characters. The motion sensor of the remote is used as well, and the basic idea of fighting is quite easy to grasp; A attacks, B grabs or webs, and by combining your grab attack with quickly flicking the remote, you can perform a variation of different moves which will allow you to smash foes on the ground or spin them around. The game will allow you to do thing like jump in the air (done with the Y button) and then web grab enemies, punch them in mid-air or even slam them to the ground, so while the controls are on the simply side, something that’s going to be good for younger gamers, there is a bit of variety if you understand exactly what can be done.

Aside from enemies though, you can also grab objects to throw and your foes, and there are some more powerful Phantoms and even boss battle where throwing objects become priority. There are a number of breakable items that not only can damage opponents but will also Tech tokens and health. Tech Tokens will be pooled together while health will go respectively to the character that picks it up. Your collected tokens can be spent on the Helicarrier in the upgrade lab. Here you can improve the skills and defense not just of Spider-Man but also your sidekicks, and the web lab will give you new abilities that can be used in your quest to stop the symbiotes. The Helicarrier also will allow you to select the stage you want, but this isn’t the type of game that will let you randomly go from level to level. You will have to go in order, but once you’ve completed a stage, you are free to return to it.

There are times that you will want to return to a stage. They contain DNA Helixes that will unlock artwork that is found at the Rewards Terminal in the Helicarrier. There are also Keystones hidden in many stages. These unlock a special door in the stage and once you’ve eliminated the enemies inside, it will be unlocked so you can use it in the games verses mode. There are also power=ups that can be found while fighting the forces of evil with the exception of the health icons which will need to be purchased from the upgrade lab. There are four different power-ups that are associated to a direction on the D-pad. Aside from extra health, there is invincibility, mega damage and a hero combo that will let you and your partner dish out a devastating attack.

The game can be played alone or as a co-op mode, though the same ideas still apply. The difference however is that a sidekick controlled by a friend usually makes a better team mate than what the computer does, though the AI isn’t terrible and it’s rare to find a frustrating moment where you wonder just what exactly the computer is trying to accomplish. The Verses Mode is the same concept and allows you to play as any of the heroes or villains that you have unlocked during the course of playing the game.

Although Spider-Man: Friend or Foe is a game that is fairly simple to get the idea of, it does have some shortcomings. There isn’t a great deal of variation with the generic enemies and at times, the fighting can get a bit monotonous. On occasion I simply wanted to be able to jump ahead to the next boss battle to move the story along, not fight wave after wave of generic enemy. The level designs I feel are a bit too basic and don’t have enough inspiration as far as the presentation goes, though at least in the Japan level, the Japanese characters are accurate and not simply thrown together as the case has been in some other games. Another downfalls is that when you use a power-up and move to the never area in a stage, it is gone, so if you accidentally use one with no one to fight, you’re out of luck.

One of the biggest issues though is that the Wii really shows it’s inferiority in the graphics department. The cut scenes are done extremely well, but unfortunately the transition between these and the actual in-game look is painfully noticeable. The game does have some good animations, but overall it isn’t anything that is out of the ordinary or superior. The characters designs you’ll notice aren’t derived from the movies, even though the characters you’ve seen there are found in the game, but instead have a more unique look that is more like some of the various animated series, or even the Ultimate comics that Marvel has released, and it’s another thing that really gears the game towards a younger crowd.

If you’re used to the free flowing adventures that Spider-Man 3 offered, this isn’t going to be the game for you as it is more linear and controlled. For anyone looking for a game that is more about button mashing and occasion mechanics, it’s a definite super hero game that won’t let down. Personally, I found Spider—Man: Friend of Foe to be a valiant effort, but a bit too repetitive for my liking, though the ease of use and combination of the Wii controls definitely is a nice touch. This hero however isn’t catching my attention and unless mindless beat ‘em up’s are your thing, you won’t find anything spectacular or amazing with this.
 

-mike-