Videogame Violence and Sex Reviews for Parents

Spider-Man: The Movie
for Xbox

By travis Meacham

It is no surprise to anyone that Spider-Man is a phenomenal success at the box office. Therefore, it should be no surprise to anyone that a video game based on the movie would be out at the same time. Activision brings you Spider-Man: The Movie, which is actually a game. Spider-Man: The Movie follows the origins of the character as the movie portrays them from the moment Peter Parker is bitten by the spider. The goal of the first mission is to avenge the death of Uncle Ben, and it lays the groundwork for the whole game. Not to say that the entire game is spent avenging the death of loved ones, but a large portion of the game is spent taking advantage of Spider-Man's speed and agility to defeat multiple thugs in hand-to-hand combat. There are other levels where stealth is the preferred attack, and there are several levels involving aerial combat with Spider-Man swinging thousands of feet in the air fighting his foes. All of the fighting is displayed in a sterile, comic book fashion with no blood and no one dying. Spider-Man merely knocks his opponents unconscious or ties them up with his webbing for the police. The focus of the game is not realism, but rather how much fun you can have as Spider-Man. Even the mood of the combat is kept light due to Spider-Man's constant wise-cracking and joking around. The player will be able to toy with all of Spider-Man's powers during the course of the game, which ranks him high on the "most fun character to play ever" scale.

The game takes some interesting departures from the story of the movie, giving the developers the opportunity to include some classic Spider-Man villains that were not a part of the cinematic experience. Such characters as Vulture, Kraven, Scorpion, and Shocker are given a level's worth of attention and mix up the gameplay nicely. However, the game isn't called "the Movie" for nothing, so eventually you will have to face the Green Goblin. Some of the levels feature some tense moments where the Goblin is threatening the well-being of the citizens of New York, such as when Spider-Man has to swing from building to building to disable a few bombs before time runs out. At its worst, the game features cartoon-level violence and mild destruction.

The ESRB gave Spider-Man: The Movie a rating of "E with violence". An E designates they feel the game is suitable for everyone ages 6 or older. I would be hard-pressed to recommend this game for a 6 year old. It does feature a lot of fighting and the Goblin might scare a child with an active imagination. In addition, as an adult veteran game player, I found the game fairly difficult in a few places, and the controls are pretty complex. I think a 10 year old gamer could pick it up and play it with some practice, but younger than that and the game just may not be fun for them. There is no harsh language in the game, and not even a hint of sexuality. This is a good game for young gamers, and a must have for Spider-Man fans.
 

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