LogFAQs > #934079084

#60. Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage


This is my favorite beat-em-up ever, but I might be somewhat biased because Spider-Man and Venom are two of my favorite comic book characters. At the same time, I think this game actually got me somewhat interested in reading Spider-Man comics. I ended up reading the actual Maximum Carnage saga after playing this game. Im certainly not a comic devotee, even of Spider-Man. I follow enough to know the major events related to him, but I havent read a lot of comics. Probably the only actual arcs Ive read to a significant degree besides Maximum Carnage are the Clone Saga and Kravens Last Hunt, the latter of which is absolutely worth reading if you consider yourself a Spider-Man fan (you can buy compilations on Amazon), and the former is worth reading if you enjoy seeing what a glorious mess comics plotlines can be sometimes (also Scarlet Spider is totally rad).

Anyway, I think Ive discussed enough comics to appease Zen and/or scarlet, so lets move on to the actual game! In Maximum Carnage, you can play as Spider-Man or Venom, and they largely have the same movesets with their own flair on it. The only real difference is that Spidey is lighter and faster, and Venom is stronger but slower. Most of the bad guys are generic mooks, as youd expect, but itd fun being able to swing around, climb on the walls, and even using your webbing to slam two enemies together who are standing on opposite sides of you. If you go long enough without getting it, you can basically build up to a critical hit thats extra powerful. At the end of each stage, theres a boss, and its often one of Carnages crew of Shriek, Demogoblin, Carrion, or the Doppelganger (and occasionally more than one at once), and they can all be tough but fun in different ways.

I like how the game tries to stay true to the comic roots of the story. In between stages, youll have animated comic panels that keep the story moving, and you also have the BAM, POW, BOOM visual effects that pop up next to bad guys when you attack them, which is a cool little touch. Also, I like how Spider-Man and Venom have different story arcs. They share some stages in common, but they also have a lot of stages that are unique to them, which incentivized you to play as both of them. Maximum Carnage was also a huge crossover event, and the game makes use of that. You can find special icons that will let you summon a particular hero who can knock down all the enemies on screen for you if youre feeling overwhelmed, and some of them are effective against certain bosses (Firestar is really effective against Carnage, for reasons that should be obvious if you follow Spider-Man). Youve got a pretty solid cast to choose from, like Captain America, Iron Fist, Black Cat, and Morbius, among others. Its a really fun game, but dont let it fool you into thinking you want to play the sequel, Separation Anxiety. That game is not good.


---

http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/080/145/638.png
https://imgur.com/WqDcNNq