If your a Spider-Man fan, liked previous games, sandbox games or just beatin people up, its easy to recommend SM3 to you
The wait for this almost killed me. (It was like waiting for Jesus)...So I got Spider-Man 2 and played that. I finished the story in 6 hours but still played it for 2 weeks, because the real fun of the game was just swinging round the city.
So, after doing the tutorial with that darn same guy who thinks his funnier then he actually is, I set out to test the web-slinging, hoping they brought back the old SM2 system and not the Ultimate system. Well...Theres good news and bad news. The good news is that its kind of like a whole new system and for the most part its solid, fluid and fun. I hoped they would drop the Ultimate system of shooting out a webline and letting it go as soon as the button was released, returning to the SM2 system of jumping out of your weblines. But it is similiar to Ultimate. However now, you'll come out of the web differentlty depending on when you let go. So, if you release at the very bottom of the swing you'll propel spidey forward super fast, but letting go at the top of a swing will send him flying towards the skys. So its simple, yet complex, though still not as complex as SM2. The physics of the swinging has been completly over-hauled aswell. Spidey now FEELS like a weight on the end of a string. It takes a short while to get used to since most people will be used to old mechanical feel of swinging, but the way it actually feels to swing on a web is better from previous games.
At the very start of the game, as usual, you only start off with the basic swing, but as you play the game you get EXP which unlocks the usuals... Web zip, wall sprinting ect. One strange thing that seems to have been left out if the ability to jump off a wall as you slide down it, but maybe you unlock it later. Although making a happy return is also the ability to swing on lamposts!!! I can't wait to unlock Level 7 swing...
Combat has also had a re-working. It's faster paced and spider-reflexes is now shorter, but charges when not in use rather then charging from beating people up or while web-slinging. It works well, and if used right you always have enough spider-reflexes to deal with trickier situations. Combo's are now a big part of combat, and easier to string together then in previous games. If the combat does have a flaw though its that sometimes it can be done too fast.
There is a lot of stuff to mention about new Spidey. One of my faveorite things is what was called QTE in good ol' Shenmue. A button with flash on the screen and you have to press the button quick enough to avoid a hazard, shoot a web-line ect. Also new, is Spider-Sense....Although not technically new it actually has a purpose. You activate it with the right stick and it highlights threats in red. I've tried using it to find random crimes and it sometimes comes in handy....sometimes. Also 'hotspot' like 'zones' which are ran by 3 gangs. 'zones' are red on the overview map and hanging around in that area you have more chance of spotting a crime. Keeping levels down is important, because if they get to high, the gang will litterally rule the street.
The final big new addition is the black suit - and it adds quite a bit to the game. In previous games it simply gave you unlimited webfluid. Obviously with the focus on the black suit in the new film (Oh and the fact webfluid no longer exists), the game focus on it is to enhance Spidey. After unlocking it you can change between Red and Black suit from the pause menu...Kind of like Ultimate where you could choose between Spidey and Venom... Its not titled 'Choose a suit' but 'playable characters' so I'm hopping even though its 360 and we didn't get New Goblin, we may have some other costumes to swing around in...Or Venom... hopefully. While doning the black threads you have enhanced strengh, speed webs and can jump higher. Combat is different to with respect the improved strengh. Combo's look harder, that is, you'll knock someone littereally to another side of the block to web him back to your arms ready for a Zageath (sp...From Street Fighter....You know who I mean!) style powerdriver. The down side to the black suit? Only one, no EXP. Meaning if you rely on it too much you won't learn any fancy tricks.
Graphics wise, you'll be swinging around a whole new New York city. Well thats a lie...It is NYC after all, but the graphics are beautiful. The streets themselves are busy with cars and people, buildings are no longer blandly textured boxes... And Centeral Park actually has trees. Not just a few random green bloobs here and there. Playing it in HD adds more shine to things and just makes things sharper. Theres also a subway and sewer system to explore. Interior is also more impressive, the Daily Bugle is a huge, grand office now instead of a tiny little room.
Sound is the usual Spidey wit we've come to expect from the past games, and music is fitting but probably the weakest point of the game.
Live support?? Well despite stating on the box, and multiple places in the instruction manual that it does not support Live, in the pause menu theres Live options. Granted it only to upgrade your account (First game I've seen this in and why the hell would you want to upgrade to Gold if its not even supported?) and XBL Marketplace... DLC would be cool, like costumes or new interior to explore, but at the moment its empty and I'd be willing to put money on the fact it just picture packs and themes....Both I'd love to buy.
Overall, while not perfect it sticks to the orginial formular and builds on what worked from SM2 and USM. There are some small issues, the camara sometimes has a mind of its own while running around in confined areas like the subway and sewers.... And Spider-Man runs so fast its hard to navigate certain areas. Also, even with the improved web-sling physics, it still not as much fun as SM2...But then with that said I have yet to unlock everything, including swing level 7!! It could get a hella of a lot better. Still the fact remains.... you are Spider-Man. You have an entire city to explore and protect...and you can look damn cool while doing it.