Graphically, it features the same visual flair as seen in print, sketched and inked, except it's in motion and interactive and on your television screen. While cell-shaded graphics are a new (and welcome) look to Spidey-games, the free-roaming, city-wide gameplay is actually quite similar to the recent Spider-Man movie-based titles--no surprise since developer Treyarch is responsible for all of them.
Ultimate Spider-Man is ultimately easier, however, with simplified controls for fighting, leaping and web slinging making it all much more accessible to casual players while, perhaps, turning off a few of the seasoned ones.
Either way, dumbed-down action still leaves plenty of room for huge fun, because it's a rock solid production that allows you play as a caricature of Tobey McGuire in tights no matter how you prefer finesse your buttons. On occasion, you play as Spidey's nemesis, Venom, who controls pretty much the same except he can't spin webs - but he can eat people in his own unique sequences within the story. And story is where Ultimate Spider-Man really shines.
With guest appearances by many a Marvel character and drenched in the Spidey-specific comic tragedy of modern teen angst in an outlandishly dangerous city with our hero, the post-pubescent Peter Parker, churning out those ever-quotable quips and commentaries, Ultimate Spider-Man becomes even better than the comic on which it's based, because you're not just reading it, you're being it.
[TIP: In Ultimate Spider-Man for PS2 or Xbox, press Right, Down, Right, Down, Left, Up, Left, Right in controller setup options menu to unlock all characters.]
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