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Chapter 5 – Need For Spider-Man

Sometimes a franchise begins and then, with every iteration, slowly loses the magic that made the initial title so awesome. I haven’t played a Spider-Man game in a long time that resonated with me. Also, the Need For Speed series, though consistently fun, never seemed to capture the magic that made Hot Pursuit so amazing. Luckily, it seems that two new titles may have reset my opinion…

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions is one of the latest super-hero games to be hitting the market; it stars Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Spider-Man and Spider-Man. Seriously, though, the main plot of the game revolves around an artifact shattering, causing problems between the different Marvel Universe realities. Four different Spider-Men (Amazing, Noir, Ultimate, and 2099) must work together to restore order.

I stood on the sidelines for a while, watching people play this game (which is a visual treat); in the demo, three of the four Spidermen were available (Amazing was not). I watched a few people pick Spider-Man 2099, who moves around his futuristic setting like lightning, relying on his suit’s claws in combat. Ultimate Spider-Man wears the symbiote, forming weapons that emulsify his enemies.

When my turn arrived, I decided to pick Spider-Man Noir, a character I wasn’t really familiar with before this game. Spider-Man Noir is pretty cool, relying more on stealth than any of the other Spidermen; in fact, stealth mechanics are built into the appearance of the game when you choose Noir: when you are in concealment, the colour palette changes to blacks, whites and greys. If you happen to be discovered, colour is introduced into the mix, indicating your precarious position.

In terms of implementation, the game reminded me a lot of Batman: Arkham Asylum. This impression may partially be because of Noir’s reliance on the shadows to complete missions; however, mobility is key for Spider-Man, and the developers have done an awesome job of allowing you to move like Spider-Man should move, without the confusion present in other games. I enjoyed this demo thoroughly.

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions will be out in a few weeks.

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit

Dana Sissons, PR Manager for EA was chatting it up with anyone that happened to come by his booth expressing interest in Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit. Some of this chatting involved trash talk, the purpose of which was to get people to try and beat his high score (which was pretty impressive); Dana can drive a Lambo like no other. I queued up, watching as person after person failed to beat Sisson’s time. When my turn came, I calmly took the controller that he handed me; it felt strangely large – or perhaps I felt small. Either way, I shook off the feeling of foreboding and decided to do my best.

Things didn’t start out well for me; I took the Porsche – my old trusty standby – and was immediately met with a chuckle. “You’re not going to beat a Lambo in that piece of junk. ” Dana did not mince words; but he was right: the Porche couldn’t match the Lamborghini in top speed. It was going to be a tough race.

NFSHP takes the franchise back to its roots; the style is nestled comfortably between arcade and simulator, allowing you some fairly realistic physics (spike strips, for instance, actually move when they are dropped onto the road, following the laws of conservation of momentum), while not being so picky as to make the game too tedious to deal with, given the high-stakes situations you are dropped into. There are a few things in your repertoire as a badass driver as well: a constantly charging Nitro boost, spike strips, and a super-boost power that you can use once a race.

Not only can you race against the cops, but you can race as them (hearkening back to the original series); career modes are available for both sides of the law. The only other neat function I will mention is the Autolog; this social media interface reports your friends’ achievements to you when you turn on the game (if you’re internet-enabled), adding a competitive dimension to the multiplayer aspect of the game. Single player is good, sure; kicking your friends’ asses is better.

NFSHP is not a game that really needs a lot of describing. You need to play it; it brings back the same feeling of racing through Lost Canyon with the cops on your tail. For those who have never played any of the games in the franchise, this would be the perfect introduction. Besides, someone has to beat Dana before he masters that pimped-out gold Mercedes that he was trying to get me to drive the whole time.

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit races into stores in early November.

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Posted in Events, First Impressions, Xbox 360 |