Spider-Man: Friend or Foe

Name: Spiderman: Friend or Foe
Genre: Action Adventure
System: Xbox 360, DS, Wii, PS2, PSP

Disclaimer: if you are a young child, or have a young child, then this game would probably suit you very well. However, for the purposes of this review, I’m going to go ahead and assume that you are over the age of 10 and don’t normally play children’s games.

I think some video game developers need to learn that there is a difference between games that are fun for all ages, and games that are only really fun for children. Spider-man: Friend or Foe could have been a fun game for any fan of the comic book web slinger. Instead, it was so simple and dumbed-down that it was almost insulting. For about the first ten minutes of the game, all I could think was, man, I wish I was playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance.

Instead, I was stuck going through redundant levels with near-useless sidekicks. You get to choose your sidekick and even switch to that character if you so desire, but there’s really no need to ever do that, since Spidey always has better moves and combos. Unfortunately, those also get a little repetitive after about ten minutes. Also, the game is short. You could beat it in a day, with little or no replay value, unless you’re really big on getting useless achievements for the 360.

The controls are easy enough to figure out without any explanation, especially since you’re going to end up doing the same button combos over and over again. I would tell you to rent it, but with all the great games that are already out or on their way, there’s no need to even waste your time.