Spider-Man 3 (video game)

Spider-Man 3 is an action game loosely based on the Spider-Man 3 film and released for the Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable. The Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS & Wii versions were developed by Vicarious Visions while the Microsoft Windows version was developed by Beenox and the Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3 versions were developed by Treyarch. There was also going to be a GameCube release of the game but it got cancelled due to its discontinuation along with Shrek the Third. An Xbox version was also planned, but later cancelled due to the low sales for the system.

The game's plot expands on the film by including additional characters and elements from the Spider-Man comics and the Marvel Universe. Depending on the platform, different villains from the comics are featured, but all versions of the game feature the film's main villains: Venom, New Goblin, and Sandman.

Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Microsoft Windows versions
The game starts off as Spider-Man swings into a burning building. He defeats the bombers of the building and saves a woman from being killed. It then skips to the next day. His former best friend Harry Osborn does not talk to him anymore and he has a new rival in the Daily Bugle: Eddie Brock. Meanwhile, an escaped convict Flint Marko falls into a lab pit and turns into sand. A small meteor crashes, with a symbiote inside.

Spider-Man takes Mary Jane Watson, his girlfriend, on a thrill ride, and after that, talks about Harry. Mary Jane comforts him; while talking, the symbiote attaches to Peter's shoe. Meanwhile, Harry comes out of a chamber in the Green Goblin lair, filled with Goblin gas.

After visiting his science teacher Dr. Connors, who turned into the Lizard by performing an experiment on himself to grow a new arm. The Lizard then turns other people into lizards, then escapes into the sewers, Spider-Man then follows and defeats the Lizard but the Lizard escapes deeper into the sewers. Harry (now the New Goblin) attacks Peter. They go on a high-fly battle on New Goblin's glider, but Goblin is defeated and knocked unconscious. Peter brings New Goblin to the hospital, where he will be treated.

Rumors are spreading that numerous gangs (Arsenic Candy, Dragon Tails, and the Apocalypse) are threatening the city to death. After Spider-Man foils all of their plans, he goes to another mission of the H-Bomber gang which was possibly kidnapping J. Jonah Jameson and killing him by Carlyle a.k.a. the Mad Bomber, the leader of the H-Bombers.

Spider-Man then visits an abandoned laboratory where a doctor attempts to kill a person: Mac Gargan. But while testing him, he accidentally turned him into the Scorpion.

Spider-Man goes to the city to chase and battle Scorpion in the city and then goes to sleep due to a very tiring day.

During his sleep, the symbiote consumes Peter, leading Peter to have a new jet-black suit. The new symbiote suit makes him stronger, more agile, and more aggressive. Marko, now the Sandman, recently robbed a bank, and is headed for the subways. Spider-Man pursues him, and eventually defeats him, washing him away in a sewer line.

Brock and Peter both are given an assignment by their boss, J. Jonah Jameson: catch Spider-Man robbing something, and the one who does gets a promotion. Brock attempts to cheat by paying someone to pose as Spider-Man. The real Spider-Man appears, now influenced by the black suit, breaks Brock's camera and punches him. Brock tells him that he has many more cameras, and automatically photographs Spider-Man punching him. Spider-Man is able to recover the cameras and Brock swears revenge.

Peter gives Mary Jane a ride back to her apartment after a horrible date, where under the influence of the black suit, he alienates her. After acting too bossy and asking her to shut up, she decides to call off the relationship, which saddens Peter. Peter decides to go to a church, where he attempts to remove the symbiote suit, and successfully releases its bond to him. Unfortunately, Brock secretly finds and watches Peter unmask himself, and attaches to the symbiote, becoming Venom.

Brock finds a still-alive Sandman, and blackmails him to work together to defeat Spider-Man, or he will kill Sandman's daughter, Penny. Sandman eventually agrees. They kidnap MJ, so Peter suits up again in the red suit as Spider-Man. He goes to the construction site where Venom and Sandman are holding MJ captive in a taxi. He fights Venom and Sandman while Harry, recovered from his head injury, decides to help Peter rescue MJ as the New Goblin. Harry arrives and rescues MJ, and fights a giant Sandman which he defeats. Harry attempts to help Spider-Man fight Venom, but is killed in the process. Peter eventually defeats Venom by weakening him with sonic vibrations then dropping the two of them off a building. He survives as Venom is impaled by a steel bar.

Peter mends his relationship with MJ, and Sandman, still alive, is reunited with Penny, who has just been rescued by police.

Game Boy Advance Plot
As Spider-Man swings through the air, he spots a building on fire. He enters it and defuses a bomb which has been planted there. He then finds New Goblin flying around, and defeats him, knowing that it is his friend, Harry Osborn. He then retreats to save civilians who are trapped in a building. After rescuing them, he is encountered by Sandman. Knowing that he cannot defeat Sandman, he flees to his home, where the alien symbiote takes over his body. Peter wakes up with the black suit, and uses it to his advantage. He then finds that Electro has kidnapped the Senator, and Mad Bomber has planted explosives throughout the city. After foiling their plans, and defeating them, he swings off to find Sandman, and gives chase. He then defeats Flint by opening a door which releases a large amount of water onto him. Spider-Man, thinking he killed Flint, tries to get the black suit off him, knowing that its influence is corrupting his mind. The black suit then is removed when sound waves drive it off, onto Eddie Brock, who desires revenge on Peter and Spider-Man, and gives himself the name "Venom". Spider-Man then finds that Sandman is still alive and well, and now has quicksand powers at his usage. He is then defeated once again by Peter. Venom then comes, and battles Spidey, but is defeated when dropped from the building. Spider-Man proceeds to call for medical attention, and the symbiote escapes into the night.

TV Game Plot
Levels 1, 2 and 3 begin with Spider-Man chasing the New Goblin around the city. The New Goblin throws bombs at Spider-Man and he has to shoot them with webs to make the bombs blow up. The glider can blow up if Spider-Man shoots webbing at it. Spidey wakes up with a black suit and fights the Sandman and his thugs. Spidey has to retrieve all the diamonds that Sandman stole and save people who are getting their backpacks stolen. (Levels 4-9). In Levels 10-12 Eddie Brock becomes Venom and teams up with the Sandman. They find a construction site and fight Spider-Man there. They kidnap Mary Jane and Spidey has to save her.

Plot for mobile phone
This version of the game does not include any of the actors of the other platforms. The plot changes drastically compared with the film and the other consoles, especially because none of the characters appear side of the other consoles, and this version follows a single thematic thread. As in most of the consoles, the player can return to any level using the Spider-Man's red and blue suit or black suit.

The game starts with Peter going to Mary Jane's play, but he is late for fighting some thugs on the streets. Mary Jane is disappointed to Peter by his double life as Spider-Man and asks him if he can be more like Harry. Then appears Harry Osborn, with the New Goblin costume to take revenge on Peter for the death of his father. Spider-Man defeats Harry and gets the symbiote.

Possessed by the symbiote, Peter ruins the career of his fellow reporter Eddie Brock, defeats his former friend Harry, and almost kills Flint Marko. Realizing this, he decides to pull out the black suit, which falls into the hands of Eddie Brock, who becomes Venom. Venom kidnaps Mary Jane and decides to take revenge on Peter. Spider-Man defeats Venom, who promises that they will meet again, and rescues Mary Jane. Peter and Mary Jane finally get reconciled.

Characters/Voice Cast

 * Peter Parker/Spider-Man (voiced by Tobey Maguire)
 * New Goblin/Harry Osborn (voiced by James Franco)
 * Venom/Eddie Brock (voiced by Topher Grace)
 * Sandman/Flint Marko (voiced by Thomas Haden Church)
 * J. Jonah Jameson (voiced by J.K. Simmons)
 * Mary Jane Watson (voiced by Kari Wahlgren) (likeness provided by Kirsten Dunst)
 * Lizard/Dr. Curt Connors (voiced by Nathan Carlson) (likeness provided by Dylan Baker)
 * Robbie Robertson (voiced by Bill Nunn)
 * Betty Brant (voiced by Elizabeth Banks)
 * The Narrator (voiced by Bruce Campbell)
 * Mad Bomber/Luke Carlyle (voiced by Neil Ross)
 * Kraven the Hunter/Sergei Kravinoff (voiced by Neil Kaplan)
 * Penny Marko (voiced by Perla Haney Jardine)

(PS2, PSP, Wii version only)


 * Morbius/Michael Morbius (voiced by Sean Donnellan)
 * Shriek/Frances Louise Barrison-Morbius (voiced by Courtenay Taylor)

(Xbox 360, PC and PS3 Version only)


 * Dr. Stillwell (voiced by Nika Futterman)
 * Mr. Chen (voiced by Keone Young)
 * Dr. Andrews (voiced by Iona Morris)
 * Jeanne De Wolfe (voiced by Vanessa Marshall)
 * Scorpion/Mac Gargan (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker)
 * Kingpin/Wilson Fisk (voiced by Bob Joles)
 * Rhino/Alex O'Hirn/Aleksei Sytsevich (voiced by Steven Blum)
 * Calypso (voiced by Angela V. Shelton)

Gameplay
The game retains many of the gameplay elements from the previous game. Among the holdovers from the previous game is the freely explorable Manhattan map, which is larger in area than the one in Spider-Man 2. There have been various changes to the movement and combat system, including the usage of motion sensitive controls on the Wii version. The Nintendo DS version's combat system is entirely operated using the DS's touch screen - the d-pad is only used for moving Spider-Man. Players are also now able to interact at certain points during some cutscenes. Another prominent feature is the ability to play as the black-suited Spider-Man from the film, which allows access to new attacks and special "Rage" moves.

Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360


The Treyarch-developed Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC versions differ from the versions developed by Vicarious Visions in that initially players cannot change into the black suit at will. Instead, players change into the Black Suit at a certain point in the storyline. Players are also able to swing freely and enter the Bugle for assignments like in the Spider-Man 2 game and can enter into Peter's apartment. Like many other PC games, the PC version can be modified, although few mods for this game have released. Scorpion, Rhino, Kraven, Kingpin, and the Arsenic Candy gang are exclusive villains to this version. Peter Parker [in civilian clothes] is also playable through a glitch.

PlayStation 2, PSP, Wii
Vicarious Visions developed the game for the Wii, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. The game follows the movie, but has different side missions when compared to the Treyarch versions. Vicarious Visions allows players to switch between the red and black suit at will, although using the black suit has negative consequences. These versions include two exclusive villains: Morbius, the Living Vampire, and Shriek. Activision released Spider-Man 3: Special Edition for the PS2 which includes a bonus DVD featuring "Spider-Man 3: The Story Behind the Web", an exclusive interview with Stan Lee, the Spider-Man 3 movie trailers, and a collectible lenticular card with an image from the movie. Otherwise, the PS2 and Wii versions are largely the same, although the Wii version does utilize the Wii Remote's motion sensor controls for swinging and combat. In this version, there is an alternate ending in which Venom loses control of the symbiote instead of being impaled by a steel bar. The PlayStation Portable version is a full port of the PlayStation 2 version of the game by Vicarious Visions and features a free-roaming city, Morbius, the Living Vampire and Shriek, plus the black suit. The player can also land on the ground, unlike Spider-Man 2 on PlayStation Portable, where he cannot land on the ground, similar to the original Spider-Man movie game.

Special Editions
Special Editions of the game were available to PS2 and PS3 owners. The PS3 version came in a case with a black colored costume on it instead of Spider-Man's. Common features for the PS2 and PS3 were an interview with Avi Arad, chief creative officer of Marvel Entertainment and founder of Marvel Studios, Spider-Man 3 movie webisodes, and a behind the scenes featurette with the cast. The PS3 Collectors Edition and Xbox 360 Platinum Hits versions of the game also featured the ability to play as the New Goblin. The New Goblin was also made available for download from Xbox Live and PlayStation Network for users who did not own the Platinum Hits version of the game.

Reception
Spider-Man 3 was met with positive to average to mixed reviews. GameRankings and Metacritic gave it 63% and 68 out of 100 for the Game Boy Advance version; 78.17% and 79 out of 100 for the DS version;  62% and 62 out of 100 for the PC version;  53% and 50 out of 100 for the PlayStation 2 version;  66.24% and 63 out of 100 for the Xbox 360 version;  54.66% and 53 out of 100 for the Wii version;  63.03% and 60 out of 100 for the PlayStation 3 version;  and 50.67% and 52 out of 100 for the PSP version. The key criticism for these versions is the game's similarity to its predecessor.

The Wii and PS2 versions have been criticized for a short story mode and disappointing graphics, with GamesRadar suggesting that they were technically inferior to the preceding game from 2004. The Wii version has however been praised for the use of the Remote and Nunchuk in its gameplay, which is considered to be the Wii version's strongest point. The Xbox 360, PC and PS3 versions, despite receiving only average reviews, have been universally better received than the PS2 and Wii versions. The Wii version was given a "D" grade by The Wire. X-Play gave the Wii version 1 out of 5 (the first Wii game to get 1 out of 5), the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions 3 out of 5, and the DS version 4 out of 5.

The game was also criticized for not being the same version on each system. Some criticism has surfaced due to having New Goblin only fully playable in the PS3 and Xbox 360. It was also criticized for having a lot of glitches. However, Game Informer liked the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of game, giving them an eight out of ten. For the DS version, GameSpot praised the number of moves, Tobey Maguire's voice acting, and the variety of missions, but criticized the soundtrack. ScrewAttack named the Wii version of the game the 7th worst superhero game.