While my play time was a tad limited during Activision's press event in San Francisco, I can say that Treyarch is doing a great job building on the open-ended New York of Spider-Man 2 while infusing the game engine with some wonderful new ideas. Utilizing a technique called "3D Comic Inking," the graphics go a step beyond cel-shading and move as fluidly as a living comic book could. The cutscenes capture the feel of the Ultimate Spider-Man comics, which retell the characters with a contemporary feel. To see screenshots is one thing, but to see the product in motion is something completely different. The screen is split up into multiple frames, much like the comics, and the animation in each frame truly comes to life on its own. There is no doubt that Ultimate Spider-Man is one of the nicest-looking games to come down the pipe this year.
If you've played Spider-Man 2 on the consoles, you're going to know the score fairly quickly. The controls are very similar to the "easy swinging" controls from that title. Peter glides through NYC with fluid ease. Interestingly, the graphics engine powering the webs is designed to ease players' abilities to swing around buildings and city blocks, which was a complaint lobbed at Spider-Man 2. Rather than having them stick to buildings, they're programmed so that the longer Peter sticks to one spot, the closer the base of the web gets to the building. That means that the base of the shot is further out, which gives him a nicer arc of direction to make turns, but the longer he dangles, the more the physics fall into place.
The combat system remains fairly unchanged from the last title; that is, the leaping, swinging, and brawling all seem to be intact and feel like Spider-Man 2. One of the introductory levels relives the notorious rainy football field brawl between Peter and Venom that takes place in the comic books. It's another authentic element that will satisfy USM fans and impress non-readers. As of press time, it hasn't been confirmed whether or not upgradeable combat and web elements will be implemented into this title. As with a majority of the control scheme, it seems as though Spidey 2 vets will feel right at home jumping thugs.
