Wii owners have no doubt come to grips with the fact that most games developed for their waggle-loving console are mostly gimmick titles that do not take advantage of Nintendo's incredible motion-sensor technology. Spider-Man 3 for the Nintendo Wii is another entry in the "port and add waggle philosophy" that most third-party developers have already made a cliché so early in the console's lifecycle. The difference here is that there are some truly unique aspects that really show the game was designed with Nintendo's controller in mind; unfortunately not all of them are as fleshed out as you would hope.
The Nintendo Wii incarnation of Activision's latest wall-crawling simulator was actually developed by Vicarious Vision as opposed to Treyarch; the longtime vets of the series that developed the title for both the PS3 and Xbox 360. For the most part both developers have decided to keep the same core plotline and events, but Vicarious has added a few things here and there to separate their version from its big brother.
The biggest change and this is truly subjective as to whether it's better or not, is that you have access to the black suit much earlier in the Wii version. You can select the suit by simply tapping left on the d-pad which has obvious advantages and some drawbacks that make using it almost a moral decision. For instance you can level up your character via a skill tree within the game (more on that later) and donning the black suit completely stops all skill progression by eliminating experience points. Ultimately the red suit is much more powerful when fully upgraded, but you can access a bigger and badder Spider-Man simply by overlaying Parker with the black duds. Personally I like this small addition as it adds a choice for gamers and forces them to decide whether to be patient or go full out from the outset.
Another cool addition is that the longer you are wearing the black suit the more it tries to take over your body. Eventually black tentacles will begin to cloud the screen thus impairing your view. If you allow the suit to fully take over your view you will pass out and have to start over at your last saved checkpoint. This adds an entirely new dynamic and should have been in all the versions of this game. If you want to switch back to the traditional red costume you will engage in a sort of mini-game that focuses on Wii-remote motions. All of this really adds to the overall experience and creates a new dynamic that is both enjoyable and innovative.
As I mentioned earlier Spider-Man 3 for the Wii also adds a new character development tool that replaces that auto upgrades found in the other iterations of the game. Throughout the game, only when wearing the red suit mind you, you will obtain experience points that can be applied to different areas of everyone's favorite wall-crawler. This allows players to upgrade at their discretion, which is always a love or hate relationship as not everyone enjoys fighting with menus just to upgrade stats. This feature, while different from the other versions, just feels different for the sake of being different.
Of course the biggest difference from the other next-gen games is the control scheme. Let's all be honest here; for the most part most third-party Wii games feel gimmicky and tacked on. Replacing forward and back with motions is a lazy mechanic that most developers use just to include "Now Featuring Motion Control!" on the front of the box. Vicarious Visions has actually attempted something new and innovative with Spider-Man 3 that is ambitious, but at the same time not without a few hitches that keep it from being perfect.
You use both remotes, the nunchuk and Wii remote, to represent each of Spidey's hands. On the nunchuk you hold down the Z button and flick your wrist to send out a web and likewise on the remote but instead of Z you hold down the B button. You can control your direction with the analog stick on the nunchuk and also make quick cuts by aggressively flicking your wrist in the desired direction. While it all sounds simple in nature, the system is actually quite deep and honestly strays from the pick up and play mechanic that Nintendo has been striving for with their new console. It will take you quite a while to learn how to move Spidey gracefully throughout the city, but once you do it really is a rewarding and engaging experience.
Swinging about the city is truly the highlight of the game, just like its big brother versions on PS3 and 360. The combat system is where the game starts to suffer from the limitations of the Wii remote. Granted I have to give the developers credit for implementing the incredibly robust skill tree that allows you to upgrade your combos and moves as you progress, it's the actual combat that takes the hit. The first guilty party comes in the form of the camera system. I am sure if you have read any review of Spider-Man 3 for 360 or PS3 (including mine) you have heard of the wonky camera.
With the Wii version there isn't a second analog stick to control the camera so Vicarious took another route; and to be honest it really doesn't work on any level. The entire system is handled via the motion control on the nunchuk. Anytime you want to change the angle you have to hold down the C button and tilt the controller to skew your perspective. Not only is this illogical when in the heat of battle but to add to the nausea the controls are also very unresponsive and slow.
The actually combat also suffers from the motion aspect. Flicking both remotes to perform combos is simply not fast or responsive enough to keep up with the average player. You will often times find yourself finishing a combo gesture long before Spidey even lands his second punch. The collision detection is also subpar thus making combat the least attractive feature in this superhero package.
Now for the part you have all been waiting to send me hate mail about. There is a reason why the Wii and PS2 versions share the same developer; both games are almost identical when it comes to visuals. Spider-Man 3 for the Nintendo Wii is not a pretty game when compared to its rivals. Swing too high in the city and textures seem to disappear from building making them look like square clay blocks. Draw distance is also extremely limited; watching buildings and bridges create on the fly as you zip through the city is not an attractive sight in this day and age. All of this could have easily been overlooked if the frame rate was rock solid, unfortunately this is not the case as the game fluctuates so often you may begin to wonder if Spidey just gained access to some of Neo's powers to slow down time and space, yeah the frame rate can get ugly at times.
On a positive note the city is still gigantic in scale and you can traverse the entire map with absolutely no loading times. Once you master the Wii control scheme this is very much appreciated as most of the fun in the game comes from swinging about the city, even if the amount of pedestrians on the street make you wonder if you are in Nebraska as opposed to Manhattan.
It seems every time I review a game by the boys at Vicarious Visions I am impressed with what they tried to do with the innovative controls and Spider-Man 3 for the Wii is no different. The control scheme, once mastered, is the highlight here and extremely well implemented. While the learning curve may be a bit much for casual fans, those willing to invest the time to learn all of its intricacies will be pleasantly surprised at its depth and just how much fun it makes swinging around the city. The mission structure may be flawed, the graphics last-gen, and the combat still a bit broken the core game is still tons of fun, if for nothing more than just swinging around the city as your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
