Spider-Man: Friend or Foe

Spider-Man: Friend or Foe is a 2007 action-adventure beat 'em up video game based on the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man. It also borrows inspiration from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, with Spider-Man and his villains having their designs based on said films. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation Portable in October 2007. It features two player co-op gameplay, where one player controls Spider-Man and another one of his allies, heroes and villains alike. The game's plot sees Spider-Man and his unlikely allies travelling to various locations across the world in an attempt to stop asymbiote invasion plot orchestrated by Mysterio.[2]

Spider-Man: Friend or Foe
Developer(s)Next Level Games
Beenox (PC)
Artificial Mind & Movement (NDS, PSP)
Publisher(s)Activision
Composer(s)James L. Venable
Platform(s)
ReleaseMicrosoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, Wii, Xbox 360
  • NA: October 2, 2007[1]
  • AU: October 10, 2007
  • EU: October 12, 2007
PlayStation Portable
  • NA: October 2, 2007[1]
  • AU: October 31, 2007
  • EU: November 2, 2007
Genre(s)Action
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

According to the company report, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe is a unique take on the media franchise. Based in the styling of Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, and Spider-Man 3, this action game reinterprets big-screen moments and battles with a humorous twist. Players team up with famous heroes from the Marvel Universe to combat villains in epic boss battles, whom they then convert into sidekick allies to aid them for the rest of their journey.[3] Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, along with most other games published by Activision that had used the Marvel licence, was de-listed and removed from all digital storefronts on January 1, 2014.[4][5]

Gameplay

Functioning as a classic 3D level-based beat 'em up, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe has Spider-Man and his allies enter world levels via the Helicarrier, which serves as the main hub. Player will primarily control Spider-Man, though they are able to switch to the sidekick accompanying him. A second player has the option to join in and play as the sidekick. Each character has their own unique combat style. New sidekicks are recruited as the story progresses, and may be either heroes or villains, the latter of whom need to be defeated in a boss battle first.

The player can acquire tokens for upgrading combat abilities, power-ups that can temporarily enhance the player, and DNA Helix collectibles that unlock additional content, such as character bios. and additional bonus. In addition, the player find secret rooms throughout the levels that, once cleared of enemies, can be used as battle area settings in the two-player versus mode.

All characters can be upgraded via a technology tree. Spider-Man himself has the most extensive upgrades to his combat abilities, with three entirely separate interchangeable web modes that can be unlocked and utilized (web line, web shoot, web stun etc.). Each other character has one unlockable special move. Spider-Man and his allies can also perform Hero Strikes that wipe out entire waves of enemies, each Hero Strik is different depending on the used ally, though the effect is the same. Hero Strikes can only be performed after being purchased from the upgrade store.

Plot

The game's opening cutscene shows Spider-Man fighting the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, and Venom, with assistance from the New Goblin. After the villains are defeated, they are attacked by a number of symbiote-like creatures. Before they get the chance to fight them, the villains and the New Goblin are teleported away by an unknown force, while Spider-Man is rescued by S.H.I.E.L.D. and brought aboard their Helicarrier. There, he meets director Nick Fury, who explains that the creatures which attacked them are called P.H.A.N.T.O.M.s (Perpetual Holographic Avatar Nano-Tech Offensive Monsters), and are combination of symbiotes and holographic technology. He then reveals that the meteor which brought the Venom symbiote to Earth broke into multiple shards in the planet's atmosphere, which landed in various locations across the globe. Reportedly, someone already retrieved some of the shards and used to create the P.H.A.N.T.O.M.s, so Spider-Man is now tasked with recovering the remaining shards before they fall in the wrong hands.

Spider-Man is given several S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives to aid him in his quest, starting with Prowler and Silver Sable. In Tokyo, the web-slinger encounters Black Cat, whom S.H.I.E.L.D. sent ahead to investigate, and Spider-Man convinces her to join forces. He also finds Doctor Octopus at his secret lab, where he is attempting to recreate his fusion power experiment, and the Green Goblin at the Oscorp Tower, who has already retrieved a meteor shard. Since both villains were placed under mind control by the P.H.A.N.T.O.M.s' creator, they now seek revenge against them, and reluctantly join forces with Spider-Man after he defeats and frees them from the mind control. On Tangaroa Island, Spider-Man rescues another S.H.I.E.L.D. operative, Iron Fist, from P.H.A.N.T.O.M.s, and defeats a mind-controlled Scorpion and Rhino, retrieving a meteor shard from the latter, while persuading both of them to join his team. In Cairo, Spider-Man encounters the Lizard (portrayed here as an antihero), whom he also recruits, and defeats a brainwashed Sandman, who hands over his meteor shard and agrees to join forces. In Transylvania, Spider-Man finds Blade fighting P.H.A.N.T.O.M.s while hunting something and recruits him. He later discovers that the creature Blade was hunting is a mind-controlled Venom, whom he defeats, while retrieving his meteor shard. Afterwards, Venom recounts that the person who brainwashed him has a "bubble for a head", and is recruited into the team, despite Spider-Man not being very keen on the idea.

Although Spider-Man's team was able to retrieve all the meteor shards, the P.H.A.N.T.O.M.s have been shown to be growing stronger with each location they visited, to the point they now resemble symbiotes, without any sign of technology in them. In Nepal, Spider-Man's search for the final meteor shard leads him to encounter the P.H.A.N.T.O.M.s' creator: Mysterio. Claiming that he wants to conquer the world with his army and that he needs the meteor shards to make them stronger, Mysterio then steals most of Spider-Man's shards and escapes, leaving his P.H.A.N.T.O.M.s to fight Spider-Man. Outnumbered, Spider-Man reluctantly crushes his last shard in his hand, leading to the recreation of his symbiote black suit, which enhances his powers. Fighting his way thourgh the last remaining P.H.A.N.T.O.M.s to reach Mysterio's hideout, Spider-Man ultimately defeats the villain and claims back the stolen shards. Upon returning to the Helicarrier to hand them over to Nick Fury and have his black suit removed, Spider-Man is thanked for his help and returns home. Fury later analyzes the shards and, believing that Mysterio was on to something, decides to further study them, telling his computer to initiate "Project Carnage." After the completion of the story, the New Goblin is also unlocked as a playable character.[6]

PSP differences

In the PSP version of the game, Transylvania is replaced with an unnamed island in the Mediterranean Sea, featuring city ruins and catacombs. While Spider-Man still recruits both Blade and Venom here, he also encounters a mind-controlled Electro, whom he defeats and recruits into the team. In addition to Electro, this version also features Carnage as a playable character, and lacks Silver Sable, Scorpion, and the Lizard.

Development

Spider-Man: Friend or Foe was originally announced via a promotional page on the back of the Spider-Man 3 video game instruction booklet. The teaser stated that the game would be "A new twist on the legend. A new take on the movies". The game's website shows a few screenshots of the game and the Green Goblin makes an appearance.[1] The game has a very different engine and style as compared to the previous official film tie-ins. It was developed by three different companies depending on the console. The Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 2 versions were created by Next Level Games. Beenox developed the Windows edition. Artificial Mind And Movement developed the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable versions of the game.[7][8]

Reception
Reception
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings(PS2) 63.64%[9]
(Wii) 61.52%[10]
(PSP) 60.80%[11]
(X360) 60.35%[12]
(PC) 59.62%[13]
(DS) 55.04%[14]
Metacritic(PS2) 62/100[15]
(X360) 60/100[16]
(Wii) 59/100[17]
(PSP) 58/100[18]
(PC) 57/100[19]
(DS) 55/100[20]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Eurogamer3/10[21]
Game Informer4.5/10[22]
GamePro[23]
GameRevolution(X360) C[24]
(Wii) C−[25]
GameSpot7/10[26][27][28]
GameSpy(X360 & Wii) [29]
(DS) [30]
GameTrailers5.8/10[31]
GameZone(PS2) 7.9/10[32]
(DS) 7.5/10[33]
(PC) 7.1/10[6]
(PSP) 6.9/10[34]
(Wii) 6.5/10[35]
(X360) 6.4/10[36]
IGN4.9/10[37][38]
OXM (US)6/10[39]

GameRankings and Metacritic gave it a score of 55.04% and 55 out of 100 for the DS version,[14][20] 59.62% and 57 out of 100 for the PC version,[13][19] 63.64% and 62 out of 100 for the PlayStation 2 version,[9][15] 60.80% and 58 out of 100 for the PSP version,[11][18] 60.35% and 60 out of 100 for the Xbox 360 version,[12][16] and 61.52% and 59 out of 100 for the Wii version.[10][17] IGN gave the game a score of 4.9 out of ten, complaining of how incredibly easy and repetitive the game is.[37][38]

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References
  1. "IGN: Marvel Nemesis and Fantastic Four Return". Retrieved 2007-05-18.
  2. "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe Company Line – Xbox 360 News at GameSpot". Activision. 2007-05-15. Retrieved 2007-05-21.
  3. "Avatar, Digimon, Horse Life, Hot Wheels & Help GamerDad!". Kidzworld. Retrieved 2009-04-05.
  4. Chieng, Kevin. "Deadpool Currently Delisted From Steam [Update: PSN, XBL too; Includes Activision Marvel Titles]". GameTrailers. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  5. Futter, Mike (January 1, 2014). "[Update] Deadpool And Other Marvel Games Disappear From Steam, Xbox Live, And PSN". Game Informer. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  6. Aceinet (2007-10-09). "Spider-man: Friend or Foe – PC – Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 2009-02-02. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  7. Brice, Kath (September 26, 2007). "Talking Spider-Man: Friend or Foe on DS with developer A2M". Pocket Gamer.
  8. "Beenox" Archived 2012-01-21 at the Wayback Machine. IGN. Retrieved February 26, 2012.
  9. "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe for PlayStation 2". GameRankings. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  10. "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe for Wii". GameRankings. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  11. "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe for PSP". GameRankings. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  12. "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe for Xbox 360". GameRankings. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  13. "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  14. "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe for DS". GameRankings. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  15. "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe Critic Reviews for PlayStation 2". Metacritic. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  16. "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe Critic Reviews for Xbox 360". Metacritic. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  17. "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe Critic Reviews for Wii". Metacritic. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  18. "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe for PSP Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  19. "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe Critic Reviews for PC". Metacritic. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  20. "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe Critic Reviews for DS". Metacritic. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  21. Reed, Kristan (2007-10-23). "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe Review (Xbox 360)". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2014-01-24.
  22. Reiner, Andrew (November 2007). "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe". Game Informer (175): 144. Archived from the original on 2008-01-14. Retrieved 2014-01-24.
  23. Tae Kim (2007-10-02). "Review: Spider-Man: Friend or Foe (X360)". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2007-10-05. Retrieved 2014-01-24.
  24. Damiano, Greg (2007-10-31). "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe Review (X360)". Game Revolution. Retrieved 2014-01-24.
  25. Damiano, Greg (2007-10-31). "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe review for the WII". Game Revolution. Archived from the original on 2007-08-24. Retrieved 2014-01-24.
  26. Provo, Frank (2007-10-12). "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe Review (DS)". GameSpot. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  27. Davis, Ryan (2007-10-04). "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  28. Davis, Ryan (2007-10-09). "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe Review (PS2)". GameSpot. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  29. Theobald, Phil (2007-10-08). "GameSpy: Spider-Man: Friend or Foe". GameSpy. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  30. Theobald, Phil (2007-10-08). "GameSpy: Spider-Man: Friend or Foe (NDS)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  31. "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, Review (X360)". GameTrailers. October 31, 2007. Retrieved 2014-01-24.
  32. Bedigian, Louis (2007-10-07). "Spider-man: Friend or Foe – PS2 – Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  33. Sandoval, Angelina (2007-10-07). "Spider-man: Friend or Foe – NDS – Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 2008-11-04. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  34. Romano, Natalie (2007-10-07). "Spider-man: Friend or Foe – PSP – Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  35. Zacarias, Eduardo (2007-10-03). "Spider-man: Friend or For – WII – Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  36. Valentino, Nick (2007-10-03). "Spider-man: Friend or Foe – 360 – Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 2008-12-31. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  37. DeVries, Jack (2007-10-11). "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe Review (NDS)". IGN. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  38. Geddes, Ryan (2005-10-05). "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe Review". IGN. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  39. "Spider-Man: Friend or Foe". Official Xbox Magazine: 62. December 2007.
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