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| Our hero, looking dainty, short and weak as ever | Some allies will go ahead and really work with you instead of doing the standard solo superhero thing |
For starters, FoF is not a sequel to the movies, nor is it a standard game. True, the ESRB rating is E+10 (ten and up); it is a children’s title. Once that is understood the simplicity and many oddities become quite understandable. No, FoF is not something the average-aged gamer would enjoy, but playing with your kid can be quite entertaining.
Don’t let the name worry you. FoF’s premise explains it all and is diabolically simple: Spiderman’s arch enemies have been captured and are under the control of some unknown evil who, as expected, found a way to take over the world. Spiderman has to free his enemies and, with their help, defeat this new evil to save humanity.
This plays into FoF’s biggest strength and weakness, cooperative play. At all times Spiderman will have a friend on the battlefield, meaning someone can pick up a controller and jump right into the action. Logging in isn’t necessary, just hit the A button and your friend is in. Obviously FoF can be played entirely alone, but even then the ‘friend or foe’ will still be there, controlled by the AI.
What it doesn’t have is online play. If your kid wants to play with a friend, they’ll need to be in the same room, physically. While it makes sense that this keeps parents at ease by not allowing their kids to play with random strangers, that’s really the parent’s responsibility, not the developers. Parental controls were put in place for a reason, and as long as I know who is on the other side of the line, online play sounds fine.
The PS2 graphics are equally unimpressive, and it’s almost sad how games these days on current-gen systems still can be PS2 ports. Current pricing is thankfully not the standard $60, but spending the extra money on both the PS2 and 360 seems ludicrous when the PC version is only $20.
As stated earlier, FoF is a kid’s game, though its combat system is surprisingly robust. Bear in mind that there isn’t a huge large set of attacks to perform, but the sheer number of special moves that are put into play makes battles a joy. Which is great, considering that fighting like that is all the gameplay there really is, save for finding hidden treasures.
Over the course of the game, upgrades to Spiderman’s web-based attacks open up through experience points gained on the field. There are 3 different web attack groupings: the web line, web shot and web stun. Web line is used for grabs and throws, web shot shoots web that causes damage to foes, and web stun ties up enemies for a short time. Only one can be used at any time, but switching between them is very simple and quick, and combinations using two or three of these groupings are tremendously simple to do, with a little practice.
Building up those skills takes a bit more time. Thankfully, gaining the experience points necessary to purchase whatever upgrades are needed isn’t too difficult. And because every new boss becomes another possible partner, there are 14 characters that can be upgraded for strength, toughness, health and a special ability so that anyone fighting beside Spiderman doesn’t fall too far behind.
This system is similar to Marvel: Ultimate Alliances, but toned down so that the average eleven year old can comprehend it without question. Controls likewise are simple to understand and use, and are just as smooth as the gameplay. At times, however, characters will walk off the edge of a building or cliff even though there isn’t anything to land on and the game prevents you from doing so accidentally.
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| Boss fights are all played alone unless you’ve got a second player | Enemies of different sizes will have strengths and weaknesses. In this case, the bigger they are |
For those looking towards rectification from the movies, this is not your stop. Spiderman: Friend or Foe is a children’s title that will put adults to sleep, either through the tedious battles or juvenile dialogue. Having play-tested what kids think of it, they love it more than other games, both for and, if you will, against their age. Just so long as they enjoy the ten or so hours and leave you alone, all the better.
Top Game Moment:
TOP GAME MOMENT
Throwing six consecutive enemies into each other, only to stun the whole group and take them all out with one hit.
