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They
spend their lives tucked away in dark corners. They prefer to live in sheds at
the end of the garden or that seldom used cupboard under the stairs. But as
soon as they raise their tiny little heads from the plug hole in the bath or
they scamper across the carpet when you are watching TV, they appear to grow
ten-fold. "It was the size of my fist" you brag to your mates, but
you sorted it out, didn't you. Yeah, you and a baseball bat.
You play
the part of a scientist who is working on a project to create a thought
controlled cybernetic spider weapon. Late at night, the door bursts open and
all hell breaks loose. A rival company have sent a strike force to steal your
work. In the struggle, you are shot while wearing the mind transference helmet
that was linked to the cybernetic test spider. Instantly your mind was
transferred into the spider and you become a man trapped in the body of an
insect!
All your notes are stolen, but fortunately for you, they didn't
notice the spider.
To return to normal, you must track the strike
force back to their lair and reverse the experiment.
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Spider
is a platform game that has many similarities to Pandemonium. The way that the
camera spans the 3D graphics, the fact that Spider is played entirely on rails
and even the control of your character works in a similar fashion.
You
must guide the spider across the games 30 rooms as you set out on a mission that
has a duel purpose. Collection of the microchips will allow you to advance onto
the next level, while you eventual aim is to recover your human body from the
abductors and return to your former self.
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The
opening levels are set in a darkened environment which fail to do the game any
justice. However if you persevere to the third level, the graphics begin to show
their true splendor. Here your spider must leap from platform to platform that
appear in the form of suspended packing crates. You can crawl all around the
outside of these highly detailed crates which are over run with an assortment of
deadly creepy crawlies. This area is bright and colorful, but as you move
further through the game, there will be many shadowed corners where enemies will
leap out at you, when least expected.
The street levels will see Spider
scurry along the sidewalks avoiding the pistol packing grasshoppers, slimy slugs
and swooping kamikaze bees. Once again the scenery is superb with the rainwater
pipes looking the size of a gigantic tunnel and a flight of stairs appearing the
size of Mount Everest to the tiny creature.
The street levels will see
Spider scurry along the sidewalks avoiding the pistol packing grasshoppers,
slimy slugs and swooping kamikaze bees. Once again the scenery is superb with
the rainwater pipes looking the size of a gigantic tunnel and a flight of stairs
appearing the size of Mount Everest to the tiny creature.
The game is
dispersed with some quality FMV sequences that explain the story as it unfolds.
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The
sound effects are well chosen. If you jump your spider in the air, the sound of
it's eight legs landing on the surface will have you checking around your room
to make sure its not about to crawl up your leg!
The weapons have the
usual crash, bangs and wallops to accompany their contact with the enemy.
The
music compliments the action superbly. On one of the street levels you must
guide your spider up the face of a multi-story building by jumping from one
ledge to the another. One slip and it's a deadly drop to the ground. The music
that accompanies this tension packed level is 'almost' the theme tune from
Mission Impossible. It's not, but it is very close. There are other 'almost'
recognizable tunes, including a guitar solo that is very close to the Neil Young
classic, Southern Man.
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Although
there is no adjustment to the difficulty setting there is the option to begin
with up to five lives and three continues. The game can be saved after each
level is complete by using a memory card or taking note of the twenty digit
password code (whatever happened to the brief passwords that were available in
Doom).
Your journey between the lab and Microtech spans six worlds,
each containing five sub-levels. Your spider is initially armed with a simple
slash-weapon, which is only useful in close leg to leg to leg to leg combat.
Weapon upgrades can soon be found lying around the game in the form of
cybernetic limbs.
Other weapons include:
Guided missiles that home-in
on the closest enemy target and then blow them to pieces. A flame limb will
shoot a long stream of fire out in front of you. Strap on a poison leg and
spray a green mist of toxic mist that will down airborne assailants quicker than
a whiff of Fly Killer. A Smart Bomb is a one off explosion that will destroy
everything on screen. Mech-mines can be dropped behind you when those enemies
try to sneak up behind you. Electro omits a lightening rod that will fry
anything that comes in contact with it while a Boomerang will slice up any
creature it connects with.
Weapons appear in two forms, defensive
which fit to the back legs and offensive which are connected to the two front
limbs.
The control pad is simple enough to operate with two fire
buttons, a weapon select button and a jump button that is used in conjunction
with the directional controls. Moving your spider around is easy. When walking
along the floor you must press "up" to scale the wall and when
reaching the ceiling, moving "left" or "right" will take
your spider across the upper surface. If you press the "jump" button
while the spider is upside-down, then he will spin a web and quickly lower
himself down to the surface below. This feature can also be used to swing to
previously unreachable platforms.
The levels are all vastly different
in appearance with each having up to four different endings. For example when
you are in the garden you will notice a number of holes in the ground with each
leading off into different directions. You will need a return visit to each
level to complete the game properly.
The enemies are a wide range of
creepy crawlies and vermin:
Spiders will drop right down in front of you
when you are least expecting them. Rats roam the sewers and shoot little green
pellets that will kill you on contact (so a blast with your Electro will turn
them into a "ratatouille"). Bats will drop mines on you from above
and the wasps will fire a sting from their tails. There are slugs, grasshoppers
and stinging scorpions, while the end of level bosses are a mixture of
mechanical creatures and frightening monsters that will take you quite a while
to defeat.
The usual platform game rules apply with an extra life
awarded for collecting 100 DNA strands, or a little blue spider.
So
the next time you are going to put your size 10 shoe on top of a poor
defenseless creature, -STOP- and think!
It may be Spider armed with an eight pod missile launcher!
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Spider
is an very playable platform game that has a smart graphical content, cool
music, and challenging gameplay.
If you enjoyed Pandemonium, then I
would recommend you try out this game. The ability to climb walls and cling to
ceilings, adds another dimension to games of this genre.
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MARTIN |
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GRAPHICS: |
Good |
I
was hoping that Spider would make full use of the 3D environment and allow the
player to explore the entire room, but unfortunately the game is played on rails
forcing the creature to follow a predetermined path.
However this does not
spoil the enjoyment of this challenging platform game. |
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SOUND: |
Average |
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PLAYABILITY: |
Good |
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VALUE: |
Good |
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OVERALL
8/10 |
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JIM |
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GRAPHICS: |
Good |
A
nice progression from Pandemonium. This platformer retains all of the addictive
qualities that any game of this genre should have and will keep you coming back
for more until you have finally completed the game. |
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SOUND: |
Good |
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PLAYABILITY: |
Brilliant |
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VALUE: |
Good |
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OVERALL
8.5/10 |
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