Spider-man: Friend or Foe – NDS – Preview 2

When I heard that Activision is releasing a new
Spider-man game less than six months after Spider-man 3 hit store shelves, I
obviously had my doubts. However, Spider-man: Friend or Foe truly surprised me
by offering an engaging and easy-to-grasp co-op experience. The game was on-hand
at a recent event held by Activision, and was geared towards a younger, more
casual audience. However, that wasn’t to say that the game didn’t have anything
to offer hardcore Spidey fans or those who’ve played through the games based on
the film trilogy. Friend of Foe is a simple and fun game that should be a blast
for the younger set.

Spider-man: Friend or Foe presents a storyline
that features a bevy of famous villains from the comics, done in a slightly
cartoonish manner, but with a look that is familiar to the way the characters
appeared in the films. Spider-man’s “rogues gallery” has gone a bit crazy, and
seem to be all seem to be under the power of a nefarious force, and Spidey must
intervene to defuse the situation before it gets out of hand. You’ll travel to a
variety of locales like Cairo and Tokyo, fighting with the possessed baddies and
freeing them from their possession. Once you’ve beaten them and freed them, you
be able to have them fight at your side.

The DS version of the game is done a little
differently than the Spider-man 3 game that released earlier. Whereas that game
was done on a two-dimensional plane, Friend or Foe will be fully 3D and will be
controlled almost exclusively with the D-Pad. You’ll be able to team up with
other characters in the Spider-man universe. In order to operate objects like
doors and switches, you’ll need to push an icon that will pop up on the touch
screen. There are also some mini-games that occur when you need to use your
teammates’ abilities. For example, when Black Cat is in your group, she’ll be
able to pick locks through a stylus-based mini-game.

Spider-man: Friend or Foe will offer a casual
action experience that will feel right at home on the Nintendo DS. Look for it
later this fall.