Spawn, like most superheroes, hasn’t quite gotten a proper treatment in the medium of video games.  His titles root back to the 16-bit era, but not one game released with his likeness has really been worth his salt..  However, Namco and Point of View are looking to change all of that with the release of Spawn: Armageddon.  The latest game featuring the former Al Simmons has him hacking up demons in a noted homage to Capcom’s hit action game, Devil May Cry.  However, whereas Devil May Cry’s main character hacked away at demons with a sense of style and finesse, Spawn’s latest adventure feels cumbersome and boring thanks to camera problems, overall bugginess and repetition. 

Spawn: Armageddon’s plot follows the beginning of Todd McFarlane’s comic series pretty closely.  Issues 1 through 99 were the inspiration for the game, and as such, Spawn fights a variety of his foes like Violator, Jason Wynn and the Angels through a bunch of different settings, like New York City, Hell and the Angel Space Station.

As I said earlier, Spawn: Armageddon’s gameplay borrows quite liberally from Devil May Cry.  Spawn can use both melee attacks and guns, similar to Dante in Devil May Cry.  Spawn performs combos with his axe Agony, double jump, float with his cape and use his chains to pull himself to higher areas.  Also like Devil May Cry, you can purchase new items, weapon upgrades and other things in-between each level.  Aside from a few key differences (aside from your chains, all long distance ammo is limited for one), the gameplay in Spawn: Armageddon follows Devil May Cry extremely closely.

Spawn falls prey to quite a few problems.  For one, the game is very short and very easy.  Granted, in order to get 100 percent in the game, you have to complete the game with every difficulty mode, so it makes sense for the game to be so short.  However, the weapons and Necroplasm powers are very unbalanced for the gameplay, and cause the game to be far too easy.  The chains are probably the best weapon in the game, meaning that the chain-gun, rocket launcher and others are practically unnecessary.  Plus, the chains are unlimited, adding to their advantage over other weapons.

The camera also poses a big problem, constantly getting stuck up on objects and making high intensity combat sequences frustratingly difficult to see.  Plus, this version of the game falls prey to a host of bugs, as more than once the game locked up and showed only a black screen. However, the most glaring problem with the gameplay is repetitive enemies and linear progression.  You run from point A to point B fighting hordes of the exact same enemies over and over again, and the whole experience just feels boring and repetitive.

The graphics in Spawn: Armageddon are a mixed bag.  Spawn looks great, better than ever and a lot like his on-page counterpart.  However, the animations are very stiff and robotic, the environments are muddy and the enemy models look like they were pulled off of a Dreamcast game.  The framerates do manage to stay pretty constant throughout.

The sound effects are pretty good.  The voice acting is very well done, giving each character an appropriate sense of personality and mood.  The music is also pretty nice, although the heavy metal grinds that occur whenever Spawn engages an enemy can grow pretty repetitive after a while.

Is this the best Spawn game ever? Well, yes, but the point is pretty moot.  Spawn: Armageddon succeeds in being Spawn’s best console adventure, but it’s certainly a far cry from being a great game.  This one’s for hardcore Spawn fans, as anyone else might not enjoy the extreme repetition and overall lack of polish.

Gameplay: 7.0
Spawn: Armageddon draws heavily from Devil May Cry, but fails to offer much more than a rehash with very repetitive and linear design.  The camera angles are pretty annoying, and the overall feel of the gameplay is very unbalanced and unpolished.

Graphics: 7.5
Spawn looks very good, but is animated very robotically.  The environments are muddy and the enemies look like they were pulled from a Dreamcast game.  The framerates are pretty constant, however.

Sound: 7.5
The voice acting is very well done, bringing to life the characters in the comic very well.  The music sounds pretty good, although the heavy metal loops whenever Spawn engages an enemy can get pretty repetitive.

Difficulty: Easy

Concept: 6.5
Since so much of the game is pulled from Devil May Cry, I can’t really give them high marks for concept.  The game does do a good job of representing the comic through the cutscenes and storyline, however.

Overall: 7.0
Spawn: Armageddon starts out pretty good, but ultimately falls prey to repetition and nasty camera problems.  Hardcore Spawn fans should at least give it a rental, but everyone else could probably do without.