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| By Brad Cook Aspyr Media president Michael Rogers has a question. “Wouldn’t everyone love to be able to swing from building to building, keeping the world safe?” he asks. |
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 Spider-Man and the Black Cat confer in eye-popping 3D.
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Sure. Wouldn’t you? Throw in the proportionate strength of a spider, heightened senses that alert you to danger, the ability to cling to walls and shoot webbing, and a cool red-and-blue suit, and you’d be, well, the one and only Spider-Man.
A Compelling Story
Of course, Rogers understands that only Daily Bugle news photographer Peter Parker can be Spider-Man, so he decided to offer you the next best thing: the chance to pretend you’re him in the 3D action game Spider-Man. All you’ll need to take on the bad guys and save the world are your Mac (running Mac OS 9 or Mac OS X), the game, and a sturdy gamepad or joystick.
Swing from building to building!
Rogers recommends that you upgrade to Mac OS X version 10.1 before playing Spider-Man. “It’s a compelling story to me as a gamer that I can see better game performance with my existing set-up, just by running Mac OS X version 10.1,” he explains.
How does the latest version of Mac OS X make a game like Spider-Man even better? Using the same 3D graphics “engine” that drives the intense action in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, the game takes advantage of advanced Mac OS X graphics features such as blazing-fast OpenGL and anti-aliasing to make Spidey’s web slinging exploits more fluid and realistic.
Spidey isn’t the only one who can take to the air.
Look Out, Here Comes Spider-Man
The arachnified action in Spider-Man takes place in 34 levels that span “banks, sewers, subways, the Daily Bugle, a technology company, an underwater lair, and, of course, the rooftops of Manhattan,” according to Activision senior producer Marc Turndorf. Your goal is to stop the scheming Dr. Octopus and the vicious Carnage from infecting the people of New York with symbiotes (alien creatures that take over a person’s body; Carnage was Cletus Kasady before he was infected with a symbiote).
The story opens at a press conference being held by Dr. Octopus (real name: Dr. Otto Octavius), who is showing off his latest invention. Suddenly, Spider-Man bursts into the room, steals the device, and easily escapes. The only problem is that Peter Parker is already there, covering the conference for The Daily Bugle. His Spidey sense begins to tingle, and he knows that a Spider-Man imposter is on the loose.
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Spider-Man Performance Patch This patch fixes issues in Spider-Man including better support for ATI graphics cards and compatibility in 32 million color mode. |
Parker quickly changes into his Spider-Man costume and takes to the rooftops of Manhattan. He tries to foil Dr. Octopus’s evil plans while also searching for the imposter, who may play a part in the Doctor’s scheme. Along the way, he battles other villains, such as Rhino, Scorpion, and Venom, and his pals Daredevil and the Black Cat drop in to offer advice.
Each level contains power-ups that restore lost webbing fluid and health and enhance Spidey’s costume, as well as helper icons (they appear as floating question marks) that offer hints for solving puzzles. You should also keep an eye out for comic book covers scattered around the city; you can collect them and look at them later for interesting details about Spider-Man’s history.
One of the Better Superheroes
“In my opinion, Spider-Man is one of the better superheroes,” says Rogers. “He’s got great powers, but he’s still vulnerable. He can usually take out all the bad guys in the room, but he’s just as likely to hang out and listen to get the info he needs.”
Climb through Manhattan’s skyscraper canyon.
Both tactics will serve you well in the game. Spider-Man has a wide variety of combat moves and web-based weapons at his disposal (see tips and tricks), but sometimes he also needs to sneak around and eavesdrop on the bad guys. If you need practice before you start the game, there are five training modes that will help you sharpen your skills, and, if the action gets too intense, you can choose one of four difficulty levels, including a special Kid Mode aimed at little ones.
Turndorf says that the focus of the game’s development was “on what makes fun gameplay — immersive level design and always remembering that we were making a game and not a Spider-Man simulator.”
“The game sounds just like the old cartoons,” adds Rogers. “It’s more like a show that you control, with all the action and involvement of a game.”
One bad dude: Venom
Spider-Man is swinging your way now, true believer, so train your Spider-senses on the Apple Store, a Apple retail store, or an Apple authorized reseller at a friendly neighborhood location near you.
Learn more about Spider-Man and the characters he interacts with. Also, check out the tips, tricks and cheats! 
  
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