Spawn: Armageddon Review

Developer	Point of View
Publisher	Namco
Genre	Action

The legendary comic book series created by Todd McFarlane, Spawn, receives its first video game recreation since the glory days of the Dreamcast. The latest title, Spawn: Armageddon, places the player into the life of Al Simmons, a former assassin reborn in hell to work for those that preside in the furious pit. As the story goes, “Spawn” chose a different life, working as a sort of vigilante, not choosing a particular, distinguished side (good or evil).

That is, however, the well-known “back story” so to speak. Spawn: Armageddon takes on its own unique story, greatly influenced by the comics themselves. Developer Point of View mirrored other games in the genre, mainly Devil May Cry, which certainly set the standard, hoping it would achieve the same level of respect. And while Armageddon has its finer aspects, in the end it just seems like more of the same; only this one comes with a supreme badass.

Gameplay - Spawn: Armageddon certainly sounds enticing on paper; plenty of unique weapons, a storyline that stays closely knit to its origin, varied enemies, and twenty different levels are all included. Sadly, it does have some downfalls, and they are indeed major.

Armageddon starts off with a relatively “cool” intro, and then suddenly falters. Apparently, a giant green beam just shot down into Central Park, and Spawn takes it upon himself to find out just what that was. As he progresses through each level, the story slowly unravels, revealing the true scheme: renegade angels are trying to destroy hell by a direct attack. The bad part is that a huge hole is now presented in hell for demons to escape to Earth. Though it certainly isn’t terribly interesting, it provides a solid basis for a game based on this series and gives Spawn reason to unleash some of his anger.

Right off the bat, miniature demons attack the character, leaving Spawn with nothing but his renowned chains and an axe. These two weapons by themselves prove to be quite effective, even if primitive compared to what the game offers later on. After destroying particular bosses, new, mostly fictional guns are available to the player, such as a sawed-off shotgun, semi-auto pistols, and a mini-gun. After those comes even better artillery, including two weapons designed by angel scientists to harness energy from the imprisoned demons.

As everyone will most likely realize, the more advanced weapons are rendered pretty much useless. The chains and axe, or Agony, as it’s called, are perfectly fine to beat the game with, at least on two of the three difficulty levels. The SMG provided works for the most part, along with the shotgun, but when the chain can wither down any enemy, the only thing that’s really being lost is time. Although, the mini-gun is pretty cool, especially when two can be used simultaneously.

The base of Armageddon lies on a substance called Necroplasm, the energy Spawn needs to perform his “hell powers”. This energy source is collected much like in DMC with the red orbs; they are available after successfully defeating an enemy. Spawn’s Necroplasm meter will deplete after the usage of several attacks, so be on guard. There are five different powers he can use, with the most notable being the “Hell Speed”, where Spawn is moving at such an incredible rate the enemies cannot keep up with him. This does, however, bring up controversy; if they are soldiers of hell, why is it the enemies do not possess similar powers, or at least the ability to keep up with Spawn?

In order to progress to the next area, players have to destroy all enemies, which greatly vary from Imps, who are very unintelligent, to many other oddly designed creatures. Like the Imps, nearly all adversaries lack any knowledge whatsoever, and defeating them is simple. Once all the creatures are dead, “guardians” restrict Spawn from going into the next area unless he destroys it. These “guardians” are extremely like those found in DMC, only these cannot harm the player like that devious hand.

All of the famous characters are mentioned and included, among those being the gruesome Violator, and Spawn’s former employer, Jason Wynn. The Violator serves as a boss early in the game, and after his defeat, leaves Spawn with the words “we’ll meet again”. One very interesting boss was that of Cu-Cor, a giant robotic ape that seemed immune to all firepower, and the only effective weapons were the chains and hell power. Each boss features very unique distinctions, and all have a downfall in which Spawn can use to his advantage.

Spawn can also collect the tormented souls of the demons he’s killed, which appear in a “blue globe”. They accumulate into a type of currency; Spawn can use these souls to purchase and upgrade weapons, as well as improving health and Necromancer levels. Ammunition can also be obtained by bartering the souls.

There are several techniques or maneuvers one can do in Armageddon. The game really has platform-like features. For instance, the ability to double-jump is presented, and is required to reach certain areas of a level. Also, when jumping from rooftop to rooftop, Spawn can “glide” with his wings to reach an impossible destination. The chains can also serve as a grapple to get from one point to the next in a quick manner. The grapple can also be used to latch on and fling Spawn over a high wall.

There may be three difficulty levels, but all three are relatively easy. Of course, the hardest of all is slightly difficult, but for average gamers, it shouldn’t be a problem. One thing that really sticks out is the lack of consequence for dieing; there aren’t any “lives” like in other action/adventure games, so a player can simply hit “continue” and move on from there.

Graphics - Spawn: Armageddon features a decent graphics engine with cleverly designed bosses, moderately scary enemies, and of course, a well-designed Spawn. When the cape opens up to glide, it really is quite beautiful. The firing of the weapons fails to impress, though. There should have really been something awesome to provide a certain “wow-factor”. Sadly, not even the “Angel-Engineered” weapons do anything special.

The textures, while poor with jagged edges, help give off the “dark” feel to the game with their grimy appearance. Out of the twenty levels, each has its own look to it, and there is a good variety of indoor and outdoor environments. Central Park looks disturbing once it’s reached, with trees that are crooked and mountainous ground. Overall, the graphics are definitely above par, but aren’t the best the genre has to offer.

Sound - While there aren’t too many songs, what is offered sounds totally spot-on. Still, there is a lot of repetition with the sound effects. Certain noises remain throughout the entire tenure of the story, like the “howling” in the background. At certain parts there is hideous laughter in the distance, used to intimidate the player before he reaches a certain spot. The voice acting was done by the same people who provide their talents for the HBO comic show, and they do a marvelous job.

Bottom Line - Spawn: Armageddon, while a pretty good game, is marked with one major criticism; its striking resemblance to Devil May Cry. There is only one mode of play, which may throw off certain people looking for extra value, such as a gauntlet mode or something of that nature. For the die-hard Spawn fans, there are comic book covers that can be collected, as well as volumes to an encyclopedia, which goes into detail about Todd McFarlane’s story. So, with that being said, the game only lasts around four and a half hours. The replay value isn’t all that hot either, and the game is not completed unless it’s beaten on all three difficulty levels, totaling around fifteen total hours. For Spawn fans, this is a great game. For regular gamers, it could fit into a game collection, but try before you buy.

Review by Brian Williams