This year’s take on the X-Men Legends/ Marvel Ultimate Alliance style of gameplay from Activision comes in the form of Spider-Man: Friend or Foe. The hook here is that famous villains from the Spider-Man universe actually fight alongside rather than against our hero. Unfortunately, while the premise is cool, the execution falters in several key areas. It can be fun, particularly in co-op, but it is too darn short and too easy to be worthy of anything more than a rental.
Quick Hits
- Title: Spider-Man: Friend or Foe
- Platform:Xbox 360
- Publisher: Activision
- Developer: Next Level Games
- ESRB Rating: “E” For Everyone
- Genre: Action, Beat-em-up
- Pros: Attractive graphics; mindless fun, easy 925/1000 gamerscore points; co-op
- Cons: Way too easy; only a few enemy types; very short; sidekicks aren’t nearly as fun to play as Spidey
Features
The story in Spider-Man: Friend or Foe is that an evil enemy mastermind is using shards of a meteor to brainwash villains in their own attempt to take over the world. You’ll fight against Doc Ock, Sandman, Rhino, Green Goblin, Venom, and more. And when you beat them, they join your side to take out the greater enemy that was controlling them. This is a cool concept that works fairly well here.
The story mode is pretty much the only thing on offer here. You can play local co-op with a friend, but there isn’t any online play. There is also a versus mode for two players, but it is pretty limited.
Gameplay
Activision
The gameplay is where Spider-Man: Friend or Foe ultimately falls, however. It plays like a simplified version of the X-Men Legends/MUA-type game where it is a brawler at heart but you also have all of your special moves to compliment the punches and kicks. You only have two characters in your party at a time, one of them always being Spider-Man. In single-player, you can switch between the two characters at will, but none of the sidekicks have the range of abilities or are as fun to use as Spider-Man so you’ll likely never bother. This creates some issues in co-op play where you can’t switch back and forth at will because it can be hard to find a character that is fun enough to play as for the second player. Another issue comes from the fact that the game is incredibly easy. The enemies are all pretty brainless and use the same patterns throughout the whole game, and even if you die you just immediately respawn with no worries. It also doesn’t help that you fight the same four enemy types throughout the entire game. They look different from level to level, but they are exactly the same enemies that are defeated in exactly the same way every time. The game is also very short, and you can beat the game and collect all of the hidden objects to earn 925/1000 achievement points in about 6-7 hours. Spider-Man: Friend or Foe is good for some quick mindless fun, but it is just too short and too easy to really be anything more than rental material.
Graphics and Sound
Graphically, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe is a nice looking game. It isn’t flashy or really “next gen” looking, but the artwork is very clean and attractive. The character designs look great and are nicely animated. The levels are somewhat bland, but other than an extreme excess of bridges, they are well designed and look good enough.
The sound is an area where the game is a definite success. Good music, decent enough sound effects, and some nice voice acting for all of the villains and Spidey really make the game a fun and funny experience. The comments do repeat fairly often, but the game is short enough you don’t really ever get tired of them.
Bottom Line
Activision
Ultimately, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe is a fun game that is brought down by a few key flaws. It is far too easy, far too short, and doesn’t pack the feature list we have come to expect from next-gen titles. I can’t recommend Spider-Man: Friend or Foe for a purchase due to these issues, but since you can beat it in 6 hours or so it makes for a perfect rental.
