Spider-Man has recently had a new video game released ("Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions"), and like all recent Spidey games over the past few years, reviews have been mixed. While it's a fun game for many to play, it still suffers from repetition and a paper-thin plot, which is pretty ironic considering that "Shattered Dimensions" was written by the soon-to-be-sole-writer of "The Amazing Spider-Man", Dan Slott.
It seems like Activision has had a hard time making a "Spider-Man" game that's as good as their 2000 mega-successful "Spider-Man" game, or, my personal favorite, "Spider-Man 2: The Movie Game". Heck, even "Ultimate Spider-Man" did a better job with gameplay than "Shattered Dimensions" in certain areas. Recent Spidey games by Activision just haven't given us the same kind of thrill as being Spider-Man as those games. And I think I know a few ways that they can fix that. Here are the five things I'd love for Activision to do in the next "Spider-Man" game, whatever it maybe based upon:
5. BRING BACK THE PREVIOUS VOICE ACTORS! "Shattered Dimensions" had the right idea by including such memorable voice actors as "Spider-Man: The Animated Series" voice actor Christopher Daniel Barnes as Noir Spider-Man, "The Spectacular Spider-Man" voice actor Josh Keaton as Ultimate Spider-Man, and MTV'S "Spider-Man" voice actor Neil Patrick Harris as Amazing Spider-Man. But why didn't they do the same for the villains? Granted, it's cool that we got voice actors like John Kassir as the Scorpion and Steven Blum as the voice of Hobgoblin. But why didn't they go the same route with the villains' voice actors they did with the four Spider-Men? The closest we got to was having a previous voice actor reprise his role from a Spider-Man animated series was that they got John DiMaggio to provide the voice of Hammerhead, but even then it was the Noir Hammerhead. It's nice they brought back guys like Nolan North as the voice of Deadpool (which he did the voice for in "Hulk Vs."), but come on! I would have rather had them enlist previous Spidey voice actors from past animated series to do the voices of the villains for the next Spider-Man game. Say you have a "Shattered Dimensions" sequel and that you have (x) amount of villains for each dimension like last time. As an example, say that for the Ultimate Universe levels of said "Shattered Dimensions" sequel, that this time the villains for the game are Ultimate Electro, Vulture and Doctor Octopus. Now imagine that "The Spectacular Spider-Man" voice actors reprised their roles for that dimension so that way we got Crispin Freeman back as the voice of Electro, Robert Englund back as the voice of Vulture, and Peter MacNicol once again providing the voice for Doc Ock (and since I thought MacNicol was perfect casting, I really hope he gets to voice the character again someday). Or here's another example for you. Say the next "Spider-Man" game is an all-Amazing universe game you're playing. Wouldn't you love it if "Spider-Man: The Animated Series" voice actor Neil Ross reprised his role as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin? Or maybe get fellow "Spider-Man: TAS" voice actor Maxwell Caulfield to voice Alistair Smythe? Or even get MTV's "Spider-Man" series actor Michael Dorn back to provide the voice of Kraven the Hunter? Wouldn't that make more sense, and give old school Spidey fans a big ol' thrill at the same time? By the way, we need more Stan Lee narrations. Lots of 'em. After all, Stan IS the Man!
4. MAKE THE GAMEPLAY NOT REPETITIVE AND GIVE THE PLAYER SOME BETTER REWARDS (UNLOCKABLE COSTUMES, UNLOCKABLE CHARACTERS, ETC.). As much as I love my favorite of all Spider-Man games, "Spider-Man 2: The Movie" game, I must concede that the gameplay can often get repetitive and that there weren't as many cool unlockable extras, like discovering bonus outfits or going by buildings found in the Marvel Universe such as the Baxter Building. Granted, that Spider-Man game was done with the Sony movie universe in mind, but come on! Even "The Incredible Hulk" movie video game two few years back got away with including the Baxter Building, Nelson and Murdock, and the Daily Bugle! If you're going to have alternate costumes, include costumes that provide new gameplay fun when you repeat the levels. For example, if you have the Scarlet Spider costume unlocked, then have it provide different fighting moves (like an impact webbing attack) for gamers to adapt to and then put to good use. If you have a symbiote Spider-Man costume, let the black suit make the player stronger and faster than you would if you were the red-and-blue Spidey, but it would also be more difficult for completing some levels (like if you're saving someone from a burning building and your health gets weaker more quickly because of the symbiote's weakness to fire). One costume usually unconsidered that I'd like to suggest including is having an Octo-Spidey costume in the game. Personally, I thought was really fun to finally play as my favorite Spidey villain Doctor Octopus in the "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe" game, despite the flaws, gameplay repetition and that it was clearly aimed for kids. But could you imagine playing as Spider-Man with Doc Ock's tentacles? Imagine the combo moves you could do with having webbing AND the metal arms both at your command! I'd also suggest that some of the combo moves from previous Spider-Man games (like the yo-yo from "Spider-Man: The Movie Game" or the stair-step combo from "Spider-Man 2: The Movie Game") come back, as well as the slow-motion Spider-Sense feature from "Spider-Man 2", in addition to some all-new ones to master. As for the game levels, include some fun Easter eggs and super hero cameos. Imagine swinging over to Nelson and Murdock and meeting up with Daredevil. Or you could go by the Baxter Building and have a run-in with separate members of the Fantastic Four. Each time you go there could also be more than just for the sake of having a hero cameo in the game. You could also explore some of the rooms in each building to find new unlockable outfits in the building by doing a mission or by talking to a specific hero (like getting The Amazing Bag-Man costume when you complete a task in Mr. Fantastic's lab, something like that). Better yet, after you do a specific task, you could unlock a new character and play as them so you're not stuck with just Spidey. For example, after you meet up with Daredevil, then you can unlock the character and play as him instead of Spidey. Or you could drop by Felicia Hardy's home and end up unlocking/playing as the Black Cat. Or maybe, after a specific boss fight, you could unlock Spidey's best enemies and learn how to play as Venom, the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus or the Lizard. Think "Friend or Foe" but without the hassle of having to be stuck having Spidey as either a playable character or co-op sidekick. Playing as Spidey in a new costume after unlocking new challenges would be fun. Playing as a new character like Carnage or Venom? THAT would be something else. And cooler.
3. A BETTER STORY. One of the trickiest things about Spider-Man's games is having a unique, fun story to go with it. I suggest that this time we go back to what made the PS1/Nintendo 64 "Spider-Man" game fun: include a story that was better than the comics with genuine challenges, fun to play, and creative in ways we haven't seen before... or, quite honestly, since. I mean, come on! Monster Ock was genius! Who would've thought of having Doc Ock wearing the Carnage symbiote becoming reality? The next Spider-Man game should have a continuity that could be vague so it is mainly from the classic Marvel Universe, but could include aspects that made you think it could also be based on another reality's Spidey. My advice, why get just one writer? Why not, if you're doing four different realities for a possible "Shattered Dimensions" sequel, get a different Spider-Man writer from a comic book series or TV show to do one of the reality's levels? Imagine, for example, the Ultimate dimension was handled by Brian Michael Bendis, the Noir (or maybe an entirely new) dimension was handled by "Spectacular Spider-Man" story editor Greg Weisman, the 2099 (or maybe an entirely new) dimension was done under the supervision of "Spider-Man: The Animated Series" producer John Semper, and the Amazing universe was handled by a returning Dan Slott. Or maybe, if you're having an Amazing-reality-only Spdiey game, you get all of them together and have each one design a specific arc for game-players to go ga-ga over. Want to see what Greg Weisman would've done with guys like Scorpion, Hobgoblin, or (one of his own-admitted favorite Spidey villains) Tarantula on "The Spectacular Spider-Man"? Have him do their game levels and find out when you face-off against them. Or maybe you could have John Semper show us what he would've done if he had used Sandman, Electro (Max Dillon, not the made-for-TV Red Skull's son version), and/or the Beetle on "Spider-Man: The Animated Series" by writing the stories for their levels. The possibilities are endless and I'm sure fans would geek out at the thought of having guys like Mr. Weisman and Mr. Bendis handling some big levels for the next Spider-Man video game.
2. BRING ON THE ROGUES GALLERY! And I mean ALL of the Rogues Gallery of villains. Have you ever noticed that we have never had a game where all of Spider-Man's most popular villains - Doctor Octopus, the Green Goblin, Venom, Carnage, Chameleon, the Vulture, Sandman, Mysterio, Electro, Scorpion, the Rhino, Shocker, the Hobgoblin, the Lizard, the Kingpin, Kraven the Hunter and Hydro-Man - have never appeared in the same game together? The closest we got to having a lot of classic bad guys together in the same room were the Sega CD "Spider-Man vs. the Kingpin" game and the Super Nintendo/Sega Genesis released "Spider-Man: The Animated Series" game. Granted, it'd be a debate whether the final boss of the next Spider-Man video game should be Doc Ock, Green Goblin or Venom (and as much as I love my favorite Spidey villain Doc Ock, I must admit that Green Goblin would be the most logical choice), but who WOULDN'T want to see them all in the same game? Imagine chasing down the Sandman to a beach level and, once defeating him, you'd suddenly be attacked by Hydro-Man for your next boss battle. Or maybe you have to chase after the Hobgoblin by swinging past the skyscrapers of Manhattan, only to find your web suddenly sliced by the Vulture and you'd have to deal with him in-between your next boss fight. Better yet, once you've defeated Doctor Octopus, he could smile and say he's pulled one last ace up his sleeve - revealing that he's secretly summoned the entire Sinister Six and then you have a six-way boss battle to go through that no game player would likely forget! As a bonus, you could even trick the Six's own attacks into missing you and hitting another Six member instead (like dodging one of Sandman's sand-mallet hand punches and have it hit Mysterio in the gut instead of hitting you, etc.). Besides, if you can get Deadpool and Juggernaut into a Spider-Man game, you can darn well find a story that weaves all of Spidey's foes into appearing in the same game, right? But one thing's for sure: as much as I love Mysterio, don't make him the main boss again. He's had his turn twice with "Friend or Foe" and "Shattered Dimensions" in terms of multi-platform Spidey games. Include him in the game as one of THE bosses for the game, but for the FINAL boss, it's someone else's turn to challenge Spidey.
1. BACK TO BASICS. Let's face it. Recent comic games like "Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions" were good, but recent comic games like "Batman: Arkham Asylum" are better. In that game, you felt like you were Batman. When you played the PS1 "Spider-Man" game and the multi-platform "Spider-Man 2" movie game, you felt like you WERE Spidey. Why not give that feeling back to game players? To date, most people say that "Spider-Man 2" is one of the best, if not THE best, Spider-Man games they've played and that's thanks to the gameplay and especially due to the fun you had with web-swinging controls, soaring over the city from one web-rope to the next. Why not just do what made "Spider-Man 2" great by bringing those aspects back and then improve upon them? What would really help make a truly great Spider-Man game would have the gameplay like "Arkham Asylum" (hmm... well, in the Spidey comics, Marvel DOES have their own specially-guarded prison like Ravencroft that Spidey's bad guys are kept in... just sayin'), make a game that's not too long but still not too short to complete either, don't make some of the levels too frustrating (I'm looking at you Noir universe and your "stick-to-the-shadows" instructions), and for the love of Steve Ditko, FIX THE CAMERA! "Shattered Dimensions" has frustrated fans with the bad camera angles, like when Spidey is wall-crawling or trying to keep an eye locked on an enemy. Nobody wants to have a frustrating time playing a Spider-Man game, they want to have a FUN time playing a Spidey game. Can anyone honestly say that they had as much fun playing as Spidey in "Shattered Dimensions" than they did swinging as Spidey in "Spider-Man 2"? Exactly. Like the old saying goes, "if it ain't broke..."
Well, that's it. Those are the Top Five things I'd like to see in a Spider-Man game, what I feel would make it go from being a good game to a, pardon the pun, Amazing one. What do you guys think?