GENRE
	Action
	DEVELOPER
	Next Level Games
	PUBLISHER
	Activision
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1-2
	WI-FI ENHANCED
	No
	DS COMPATIBLE
	No
	BUY NOW AT

Less than six months after Spider-Man 3 stumbled onto Wii, Activision is back with yet another title based on the Spider-Man franchise. Given what a rushed cash-in the previous wall-crawling Wii adventure was, it would be natural to approach this title with a certain amount of skepticism. As it turns out, however, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe is quite a different game than Spider-Man 3. Boasting a different developer from the Spider-Man 3, this takes a separate path from the movie tie-in in almost every way, and for the most part those changes add rather than subtract from the experience.

visuals

Friend or Foe’s graphics aren’t system pushing, but they aren’t the embarrassment of the last web-slinging title to grace Wii. Everything in FoF looks polished, from the smoothly-constructed heroes and villains to the intricate and varied backgrounds. The art direction waxes cartoonish, but it looks good and gives this game a sentimental atmosphere more akin to Saturday morning TV than a Hollywood blockbuster. That’s not to say, though, that there isn’t a bit of Hollywood production values in this game; the game uses some really nice cinematography to add intensity to the various combat sequences.

The graphics do come up short in a couple of areas. One, the framerate can dip a bit during high-volume action scenes, although it’s nothing debilitating. More pernicious, though, is the lack of variety among enemies. There are essentially half a dozen different possible foes; in later levels they may get a fresh coat of paint and some slightly different moves, but for all practical purposes, it’s either small phantoms, medium phantoms, large phantoms, extra-large phantoms or a couple of special models.

audio

The sound in Friend or Foe is outstanding. The music is a terrific selection of atmospheric and punchy orchestrated tunes, almost all of which hit the mark brilliantly. The voicework is a (welcome) departure from the Spider-Man movie franchise, instead employing a veteran cast of accomplished voicework artists, all of whom do their jobs quite well. Even the sound effects hit the mark, with a cacophony of authentic Spider-Man combat noises adding atmosphere to the action going on onscreen.

gameplay

Spider-Man: Friend or Foe is a game aimed at a younger audience. In practical terms, that means that the hardcore crowd isn’t going to find this game to have the depth, breadth or challenge to which they are accustomed. That’s not to say that FoF doesn’t hold some virtue to hardcore gamers; much of the humor, for example, is pretty funny but will go over the heads of the young ones. Even so, expect to find a gameplay experience a bit like LEGO Star Wars, with simple gameplay and absolutely no chance of dying completely. Also expect to find a short experience; Friend or Foe can be cleaned out in about 8 hours, give or take. While it lasts, Friend or Foe works pretty well largely because it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The plot is more or less an excuse to pair Spidey with his nemeses, and the rest of the plot is pretty pedestrian; but the game pokes fun at its own absurdities enough that the plot gets a pass.

The game structure, not surprisingly, is simple. The helicarrier of S.H.I.E.L.D. is the hub for all activities in the game. From there, a player can purchase character items and upgrades, view bonus content and choose which sidekick Spider-Man will be taking into battle. Levels are linear in design, although players can revisit old levels at any time. Upon arriving in each stage, the player progresses along a largely-linear path, obliterating anything that gets in the way. All of the enemy encounters are scripted (as opposed to random hordes of enemies, a la Gunstar Heroes), and all involve one of a handful of different enemy archetypes, final bosses excluded. Completion of a scripted battle opens a way to the next area, be it a switch, a bridge or a door. Upon moving on a bit, more enemies appear, and the process repeats itself. This has the unfortunate effect of making Friend or Foe a bit repetitive, although it also seems that the game was designed to be playable in small increments anyway.

With respect to control, Next Level Games took a less-is-more approach, opting to avoid motion control for all but a few special moves. As it turns out, this works just fine, and not just because the Wii Remote and nunchuck are a very comfortable setup just to sit with (which they are). In the case of this game, button mapping proves a better arrangement simply because it is more precise, something the various combos and attacks in the game sometimes require. By contrast, the few motion-controlled moves the game uses -- none of which are necessary to beat the game -- are rather hard to use with any consistency.

The controls, such as they are, are quite fluid and fun to use. The A and B button are mapped to melee and ranged attacks, C is used to cycle Spider-Man’s web powers, the d-pad activates special items, and Z is for jumping. Additionally, holding down A or B can, depending on the character, be used to trigger special attacks, while combinations of buttons can yield some rather acrobatic results. Spider-Man, for example, can perform a beautiful air slam throw with a simple press of the B button followed by the Z button. One downer for fans may be the fact that you can only web swing once before heading back to the ground, meaning that the wild web-slinging of Spider-Man 3 won’t be replicated here.

Because the game is aimed toward a younger audience, the game is forgiving with respect to button work. A young player could probably beat the game simply by hammering away at a few buttons. That said, the game has such a nice arsenal of attack maneuvers that just figuring them out and watching them in motion -- especially those that use Spider-Man’s physics-defying acrobatics -- is rewarding enough to warrant experimentation.

One of the main selling points of Friend or Foe is the cast of characters that joins Spider-Man. Some dozen allies are gradually unlocked during the course of the game, from several rather unexpected heroes to some of Spider-Man’s most heinous foes. (In the single-player game, the player can swap between Spider-Man and his current allies with a simple nunchuck shake.) Allies each have their own arsenal of attacks and range from heavy tank-style characters to agile ranged warriors. Each of them plays a bit differently than the others, and while some tend to emerge as favorites, all of them warrant at least a level of play.

multiplayer

The game features two player, drop-in co-op as well as two player versus by way of an arena. (Sorry, no online.) While the latter is a bit of a throwaway mode, the co-op is a nice touch, and the game is better for it. Beat-em-ups like this game are more fun with a partner, and while the AI does well enough in the single player mode, the co-op mode works even better. One caveat is that the camera stays honed in on player 1, so the second player can’t venture too far away without wandering blind. That aside, this game is a solid co-op game on a system that doesn’t yet have a lot of great co-op titles.

overall

Spider-Man: Friend or Foe is a surprisingly solid action game. The combat is fun, the plot is light-hearted, the production values are top-notch, and the co-op is as good as anything currently available for Wii. And unlike a certain other Wii Spider-Man game, Friend or Foe is no idle cash-in; it’s charming, funny and much easier to control thanks to the developer’s decision to resist tacking on half-baked Wii controls. While Activision’s last Spider-Man effort was rushed to make it out in time for the film, this game feels polished and as a result is a lot more fun. It’s an entertaining, accessible action masher that will, like a Bugs Bunny cartoon, enamor the young gamer with its almost-slapstick action and the older gamer with its wit and charm.

At the same time, the difficulty of this game is clearly aimed toward a younger audience, a decision that may turn off the more hardcore crowd. Another turnoff is this game’s brevity, as the entire plotline could easily be bested in a single rental. Ultimately, Friend or Foe will not be confused for an epic and will likely be soon forgotten among Wii titles, but it is nevertheless a decent beat-em-up and is worth a rental or a bargain-bin purchase for co-op fanatics or hardcore Spidey fans. It’s also not a bad choice for parents looking for a relatively clean-cut and accessible game for their kids.

7.0/10