It seems that comic book licenses are a permit to print money these days. Even if the comic books themselves don't quite have the mass appeal they once did, the characters are American icons guaranteed to generate sales. Look no further than the recent success of Ghost Rider for proof. It almost goes without saying that the upcoming Spider-Man 3 movie will have videogames released on nearly every conceivable platform to accompany it. We recently had the opportunity to see a guided demo of the hi-def iteration running on Xbox 360, courtesy of publisher Activision and developer Treyarch. From the looks of this first in-game demo, Spider-Man 3 appears to be a refined version of the last movie-inspired Spidey game, capitalizing on its successes while scrapping some of the more ill-conceived ideas.
As the demo opened, we were given a rooftop look at the new and improved vision of Manhattan that will serve as your playground. Running in HD, this is easily the best looking Spider-Man we've seen on a console with a nice draw distance and slick animations. Spider-Man himself is looking good, especially in his black suit and Treyarch did a good job modeling the villains to look just like their movie counterparts. The city looks crisp, though we were a little let down at the lack of visual tricks such as the windows not having reflective surfaces. Still, the transition to new and more powerful consoles looks to be a smooth one.