Spawn by ZIO Interactive, Price: $29.95
Reviewed January 2003

Based on McFarland’s long-running comic series, ZIO has brought us Spawn, a super hero combat game for the Pocket PC. ZIO announced the development of this game at the last E3 show and promised to produce a fun and beautiful game. True to word, Spawn for the Pocket PC captivates you with non-stop battles, smooth 3D movements and wonderful graphics with the original comic book’s style.

The core of this game is its combat system, and you can expect some thumb numbing action. You, as Spawn, fight the bad guys in different locales to clear the levels. Each level has different theme and enemies, but you will meet a tougher boss before you clear a level. You will fight anybody from street thugs with baseball bats, smugglers with machines guns, aliens who have invaded Nevada, to stationary security guns installed in HQ buildings and much more. As the body count goes up, Spawn will gain levels as well as some infamous armor. So at the end of the game, you will have much tricked out Spawn suits and capes and everything that’s cool! There are plenty of bonus items to pick up along the way to saving the world. Some of the items are laid in plain sight, some you have to find by knocking down walls or obstacles. Always look around at the end of a level when you fight the big boss. There are usually some goodies available in case you need more time or health. Once in a while you will save some innocent civilians begging you to beat the bad guys. You’ll probably wonder why you would risk your life to save drunkards with empty liquor bottles and hang out in dark alleys.

The game is played in 3D, and you can control the movement with either the D-pad or stylus. In addition, you will use the hardware buttons for Jump and Fight. While the Fight and Jump controls feel right on target, the movement control feels like it was really designed for a joystick. I find that D-pad is better for traveling long distances while the stylus is better when you are fighting close encounters. Even though the controls never become second nature in this game, I did get used to them and got pretty good at it by level 5.

The graphics are some of the coolest I’ve ever seen on a Pocket PC. Not only do the title screens of each level feature some McFarland style work, even some of the in-game animations are down right comic book like. ZIO has done a great job at keeping the authenticity of our hero and his environment. 3D movement is very smooth; you will not see any delay or frame drops. The structures like the buildings feature transparency, which means you can see through the structures if your character is behind them. The AI feels right on target. The enemy AI upgrades nicely with each level advance, presenting you with more challenging fights and more difficult puzzles.

There are plenty of sound FX throughout the game, accompanied by action style music. The action sound effects are realistic and the bad guys’ screams make the victory extremely satisfying. We tested Spawn on both ARM and Xscale processor Pocket PCs, and it ran great on both.

Spawn will not only satisfy gamers with sense of nostalgia, it will also attract newcomers who are looking for a game with intense combat action and great looking graphics. While the awesome 3D environment will impress your sense of style, the intensive fighting, dodging and exploring will leave you breathless. So what are you waiting for? There is a world out there needs to be saved!

Playing Hints and Tips

Watch the bad guys’ life meter on the top left hand corner. Don’t stop hitting until the meter is empty. Hit them hard when they are down on the ground. Hey, there are no rules in this fight. After all, there are millions of them and only one of you.

When you fight a tough opponent, don’t stand right in front of him, but to the side a little bit. You can still hurt him from this position, but their moves might just miss you.

When you explore, look behind the walls. You will find plenty of hidden items in buildings, houses, shipping containers, etc.