No swing, no substance, no integrity. This game is better left in the garbage.
Players assume the role of both Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Eddie Brock/Venom. The story line picks up right where the comic book leaves off. If you are unfamiliar with the Ultimate Spider-Man story arc, then you will find yourself lost as you try to make sense of the reincarnations of your favorite classic characters. Ultimate Spider-Man is a retelling of the original Spider-Man story, only it is set in contemporary times. So a lot of the characters receive a more modern facelift.
The combat controls are clunky at best. Unlike previous Spider-Man games, where the player can pull off a multitude of combos with complex button mashes, in this game you can suffice it to hit the punch or kick button to take down most enemies. The swing mechanic is also considerably dumbed down. All one needs to do is press the R2 button (for Playstation games) and release to execute a swing. The longer the button is pressed, the more Spidey hangs onto his web. The original swing mechanic that was found in Spider-Man 2 was genius. Why did Treyarch feel it necessary to mess up a good thing?
One would assume that playing as Venom would be fun. WRONG. Playing as Venom is just as tedious as playing as Spider-Man. The game switches between characters through different points in the story. The game mainly consists of races (which are far too easy), combat tours (players go from point to point on the map beating up thugs) and finding tokens. This advances the story. This is a pathetic attempt at non-linear gameplay made famous by the GTA series. This game is linear to a fault.
Ultimate Spider Man is anything but ultimate. Do yourself a favor, if you bought it, take it back (I know I will) and if you haven't bought it yet, leave it alone. Treyarch, take a page from Neversoft and craft a descent Spider-Man game, it won't kill you, you know.