Spider-Man 3: The Game - first look

Unless you've been in an underwater cave with headphones and a blindfold on, you're aware that Spider-Man 3 is on its way. Two months from now we're all gonna be buried in new Spidey toys, shoes, creams, underwear, toenail clippers, belly button rings, shampoos and of course, games. Makes sense that the game would be Spider-Man 3: The Game, slated to release just before the movie's May 4 launch date. As a straight sequel to 2004's Spider-Man 2, you can guess what the gameplay's going to be like.

The first glimpse we caught during Activision's big reveal was Spidey atop the Empire State Building - a familiar location for anyone who swung around the previous game's meticulously designed Manhattan. A quick dive and web-swing later, he's gliding through the busy New York streets, complete with bustling traffic, glowing neon advertisements and unaware pedestrians. Right away we were reminded of the 2004 game. Everything from the animations to the city's construction to the phoned-in voice work was right out of the older title, albeit with slightly improved graphics. Granted, this is a huge city we're dealing with, allegedly the largest, most complete version of Manhattan created thus far, but nothing in the aesthetic department will knock your spider-socks off.

What was refreshing, however, was Spidey's new Spider-Sense ability. Once activated, the power grays out the world except for immediate threats or interactive objects - these turn bright red, making it incredibly easy to pick out sneaky enemies from a distance (up to 1000 feet, actually). Then it's up to the game's new combo system to make sure the thugs don't come back for more.

Unless you've been in an underwater cave with headphones and a blindfold on, you're aware that Spider-Man 3 is on its way. Two months from now we're all gonna be buried in new Spidey toys, shoes, creams, underwear, toenail clippers, belly button rings, shampoos and of course, games. Makes sense that the game would be Spider-Man 3: The Game, slated to release just before the movie's May 4 launch date. As a straight sequel to 2004's Spider-Man 2, you can guess what the gameplay's going to be like.

The first glimpse we caught during Activision's big reveal was Spidey atop the Empire State Building - a familiar location for anyone who swung around the previous game's meticulously designed Manhattan. A quick dive and web-swing later, he's gliding through the busy New York streets, complete with bustling traffic, glowing neon advertisements and unaware pedestrians. Right away we were reminded of the 2004 game. Everything from the animations to the city's construction to the phoned-in voice work was right out of the older title, albeit with slightly improved graphics. Granted, this is a huge city we're dealing with, allegedly the largest, most complete version of Manhattan created thus far, but nothing in the aesthetic department will knock your spider-socks off.

What was refreshing, however, was Spidey's new Spider-Sense ability. Once activated, the power grays out the world except for immediate threats or interactive objects - these turn bright red, making it incredibly easy to pick out sneaky enemies from a distance (up to 1000 feet, actually). Then it's up to the game's new combo system to make sure the thugs don't come back for more.