Using a well crafted comic book style, this game portrays Spiderman as still an adolescent superhero, and focuses on his battles against his arch-enemy (apologies to the Green Goblin), Venom. Actually, die-hard comic book fans will immediately say, "Hey, that's not how it happened!" as the game begins by giving a background as to how the symbiote known as Venom came to be Spiderman's toughest opponent. I won't ruin it for anyone, but if you read the Secret Wars series, you will know what I am talking about. The game runs through this background, and then you begin with some modified storyline/tutorials that help you figure out how to use Spiderman's powers like web slinging and wall crawling.

The game uses a fairly solid storyline, and includes various Marvel characters, both good and bad. I won't play spoiler, but you will get to battle other traditional enemies of Spiderman, as well as interact with some well known Marvel heroes. I liked this touch, and thought the additional characters were well placed. The game is mission based, while adding additional basic side missions to play. As with most games, each of the major missions ends with a battle against a level boss which was very fun and challenging. Additionally, you will also have some opportunities to play as the Venom character, which was pretty cool, as you get to do some nasty stuff to the citizens of NYC. The game has a real comic book structure and feel to it, which I really found enjoyable and which set the mood for the game.

The gameplay is very easy to pick up, and allows you to play Spiderman using some very basic moves and actions which I believe helps you enjoy the story and game much more than if it was too complicated. The action isn't too clumsy, and flows real well whether you are battling a small-time thug or somebody like Venom. You will likely find some basic moves to use that tend to be effective against each criminal. The real key is to be like Peter Parker and use your wits. Spiderman can't stand toe to toe with many super criminals, and always relies on his brain as much as his powers. Spiderman's spider sense is very helpful, even when fighting Venom (I know comic fans, his spider sense doesn't work with Venom … but in this game it does, so enjoy it). Web crawling is very easy, and the web slinging is really effective and fun once you get a feel for it.

The game environment is well detailed, and isn't too huge even though you are in New York. I thought within the scope of the game that Activision did a really nice job with the characters and the general game environment. The character voices were fine, and there were no glitches or odd dialogue that didn't fit. Some areas of the game seemed a little dark at times, so I just adjusted my television so I could see better.

I really enjoyed this game and had a lot of fun playing it. I was able to finish it in roughly five hours, and did enjoy every minute. If you are a comic fan, then this game is a must play. If you are not a comic fan, you will still enjoy the game for the solid storyline and easy to play but solid action. Excelsior!