Beware of 'Spider-Man 2' for the PC

[CRASHER]

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Reuters) - Spider-Man has been accused of a lot of shady things, mostly by skinflint newspaper publisher J. Jonah Jameson. But who would have thought the action hero would be caught up in a controversy over his computer game?

At issue is the new "Spider-Man 2" game from Activision. The version for the PC has essentially the same packaging as those for the big game consoles, but players have been complaining that it offers significantly less versatility when it comes to swinging through New York. That's one of the highly-touted features of the game.

Publishers of GameBoy Advance programs have gotten away with this type of thing for years, using cover artwork similar to their console cousins. But even the most brain-dead consumers realized long ago that no GameBoy Advance game is going to look anything like the other versions.

But customers have come to expect PC, Xbox (news - web sites), GameCube and PlayStation-2 games with the same title, box art and release date to be essentially similar.

With "Spider-Man 2," that would be a bad assumption. Some PC owners have been screaming about it, and rightfully so.

You have to compare the fine print at the back of the boxes to discover that the console versions were developed by Treyarch, while the PC product was made by the Fizz Factor Game Studios.

The ratings provide the most noticeable clue: the PC product (subtitled "The Game") is for everyone, while the console titles are for teens.

I gave the Xbox version a spin, and the web-slinging hype is accurate. Manipulating the thumbstick and trigger button are all you'll need to have Spidey shoot out webs and swing above the sidewalks of New York. The game also has a harder web-slinging option that makes it easier to gain altitude as you swing.

As in the great Spider-Man adventure created as a tie-in to the first movie, players can climb walls, hang from the ceiling, and make other Spidey moves. Besides fighting the evil Dr. Octopus, players can take on such villains as Lizard and Mysterio, who aren't in the movie.

"Spider-Man 2" is $50 for the consoles and $30 for Windows, N-Gage and GameBoy Advance.