■ Video game reviews
‘The Suffering: The only agony comes in playing this game
'The Suffering: The Ties That Bind' is a lackluster
video game sequel to an equally boring original
BY ANDREW MCCOLLUM
PULSE REPORTER
Midway's "The Suffering: Ties
That Bind", a sequel to 2004's not
sequel-worthy "The Suffering," is a .
run of the mill third-person action
game that adds nothing to an al
ready overcrowded genre.
Players take control of Torque, a
grizzly inmate who has just survived
an invasion of demons on the
Alcatraz-like Carnate Island. As the
game begins we find Torque fleeing in
a rafttoward Baltimore, Md. But when
Torque gets to Baltimore, he finds that
the city is also infested with demons.
So what is our generic anti-hero to
do? Kill demons.
Combat in "Ties That Bind" is dull
and uninspired. Generally, Torque's
confrontations boil
down to strafing
around a room while
shooting enemies until
they stop moving.
Torque's arsenal is
made up of underpow
ered versions of ac
tion game staples: pis
tols, shotguns,
machine guns, rocket
StOTERING
MIDWAY
players are able to
press a button that
transforms Torque into
a hulking creature.
When in creature form
players can quickly
cut through hordes of
enemies, which would
be great if it weren't so
boring.
Level design is tin
launcners, eic. -
Wheneverthe on
screen "Insanity" meter fills up,
Courtesy
ear ana lies inat
Bind's" graphics aren't
anything special. The character
animations are decent and the ene
my design is interesting, although
many of the enemies are straight out
of "The Suffering." The game's plot
is confusing and uninteresting.
"Ties That Bind" isn't a horrible
game; it's just average in almost
every way. It does little to set itself
apart from other action games and
isn't worth its $50 price tag. Don't
waste your time with "The Suffering:
Ties That Bind."
amccollum@dailyemerald.com
‘Ultimate Spider-Man is an ultimately mediocre experience
The newest Spider-Man video game capitalizes on
the comic hook's freshness, hut lacks lasting appeal
BY ANDREW MCCOLLUM
PULSE REPORTER
There is one constant when it
comes to categorizing super hero
video games: Each game in the genre
is either great orterrible. For instance,
this year saw the release of the glee
fully destructive "The Incredible Hulk:
Ultimate Destruction," and the mind
numbingly vapid "Marvel Nemesis:
Rise of the Imperfects." But rules are
meant to be broken, as demonstrated
by Activision's latest super hero
game, the haplessly mediocre "Ulti
mate Spider-Man."
"Ultimate Spider-Man" takes place
in Marvel Comics’ Ultimate Universe,
which was essentially a continuity re
set of the story lines of previous comic
books. In the Ultimate Universe, writers
were allowed to re-imagine classic
Marvel characters without all the bag
gage of the standard Marvel Universe.
In the Ultimate Universe, Peter Park
er, Spider-Man's alter-ego, is a 15-year
old high school student who struggles
to deal with school, girls, a job and a
bevy of super villains looking to ruin his
day. The game's story was written by
Brian Michael Bendis, with pencils and
concept art provided by Mark Bagley.
They're the duo behind the "Ultimate
Spider-Man" comic book series. Play
ers who aren't familiar with the series
won'tfeeltoo out of place as the game
does a decent job catching them up.
The game kicks off right after Park
er and his childhood friend Eddie
Brock find a mysterious bio-engi
neered suit their fathers created that
was intended to be a cure for cancer.
Parker tries on the suit and it amplifies
his superpowers, but starts to drive
him insane. Eddie tries on the suit and
it turns him into the villainous Venom.
In the game, players can play as both
Spider-Man and Venom.
"Ultimate Spider-Man" uses a
modified version of the engine that
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powered its previous incarnation,
2004's free-roaming "Spider-Man 2."
The gameplay is essentially the same,
which is both good and bad. "Ultimate
Spider-Man" uses a simplified ver
sion of the previous game's excellent
swinging system. Swinging around
the city while playing as Spider-Man
is quite a bit of fun. Venom doesn't
swing at all; instead he leaps hun
dreds of feet in the air. The variety
provided by the different systems of
locomotion extends the playability of
the game. Unfortunately, the model of
New York in "Ultimate Spider-Man" is
smallerthan the one in "Spider-Man
2," which ultimately hurts the game.
The best aspect of "Ultimate Spi
der-Man" is its exceptional presenta
tion. The biggest difference between
"Ultimate Spider-Man" and "Spider
Man 2" is the former's excellent use
of cel-shading. The game looks like it
popped right out of a comic book, and
when looking at screen shots, it's
hard to tell what was drawn and what
was rendered by the game. The
game's cut scenes are smooth and
use panels and frames straight out of
a comic book. "Ultimate Spider-Man"
is the best video game rendition of a
comic since Sega's "ComixZone."
Unfortunately, the "Ultimate Spider
Man" story mode is short. Most play
ers will be able to finish the game in
about six hours. Of course, there are of
plenty of things to do outside the story,
such as racing around the city and
hunting for hidden icons, but that
grows stale after about an hour. Com
bat in the game is drab. In the end, it is
really just a button masher, although
each characterfights a little differently.
If you are a fan of Spider-Man, I
would suggest renting "Ultimate Spi
der-Man" instead of buying it. Fifty
bucks is a hefty investment for six
hours of gameplay.
amccollum@dailyemerald.com
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