25 Years Ago, A Spider-Man Game Traumatized A Generation Of Gamers

A lighthearted 3D Spider-Man adventure becomes a claustrophobic sprint for survival against Monster Ock's terror.

Published Oct 6, 2026, 11:01 AM EDT

Ewan is Deputy Editor for ScreenRant's gaming section. He still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase, and knows more about The Legend of Zelda and Doctor Who than is probably healthy.

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The original PlayStation and Nintendo 64 had their share of fantastic horror games. Resident Evil remains a stone-cold classic capable of delivering big scares. Nightmare Creatures had a bit of a Bloodborne vibe years before Bloodborne was ever a thing. Even The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask was genuinely unsettling. But the scariest video game released in 2000, at least to my generation? Spider-Man.

Released 25 years ago for the PlayStation, Dreamcast, and Nintendo 64, Spider-Man was the first big 3D Spidey game, and probably the first genuinely great 3D superhero game. Superman 64 limped so that Spider-Man could soar. This was an epic Spider-Man adventure with action-packed set-pieces and full voice acting. You could swing through New York, fight Venom, stop bank robbers, and even hang out with the Human Torch. It was a Spider-Man fan's dream come true. It was also not remotely a scary game. At least, not until the final level.

Allow me to just walk you, briefly, through the story. Spider-Man centers on a nefarious scheme from that old rascal Doctor Octopus, who has decided it could be a good idea to use cloned alien symbiotes to turn humanity into a hive mind of gooey slaves.

Obviously, Doc Ock doesn't want Spider-Man catching onto his plan too soon, and throws all manner of nonsense at him to keep him distracted. Diversions include using Mysterio to frame Spidey for a heist and turn him into a wanted fugitive, and sending Venom/Eddie Brock after him. All great, all very exciting. None of it any scarier than your typical Spider-Man story. After a long and winding road that involves taking down Scorpion, busting Rhino, and saving Mary Jane from Venom, Spidey forms an unlikely alliance with Brock and finally realizes the good Doctor Octavious is pumping out his own brand of symbiotes. Spidey and Venom find Ock's underwater base, where they discover the once-brilliant scientist has been working with none other than Carnage. We get a boss fight with Doctor Octopus, followed by a boss fight with Carnage, and it looks like things are pretty nicely wrapped up. Bingo bango bongo. Nothing that could be described as remotely terrifying. And then everything changes.

In a cutscene, the Carnage symbiote slinks off Cletus Kassady and wraps itself around a new host: the unconscious Doctor Octopus. A metal tentacle smashes through the floor, pulls Spider-Man down, and reveals a snarling, bloodthirsty Carnage/Ock hybrid known as Monster Ock.

Now, this in and of itself wouldn't necessarily be that scary. Marvel Comics has done the whole "what if this character bonded with this symbiote" so many times at this point that it's actually pretty dull. But imagine you're a young kid who's just played through a pretty light-hearted Spider-Man game. Now, just as you think you've finally beaten it, you're presented with a terrifying abomination that you don't even get to fight. Your job, in this last level, is to simply run as fast as you can and get the hell out before the underwater base blows up and/or Ock catches you and tears you apart.

Everything about this final level is stress the likes of which I'd never known as a child. Behind you, Monster Ock screams and snarls and tears through obstacles as he does everything he can to chase you down. The base is blowing up around you, with a handy time on the screen reminding you that it'll soon go critical. The narrow corridors and vents are a far cry from the more open levels in the rest of the game, meaning you'll constantly bump into walls or sharp turns while Ock edges closer.

I remember hating this level to the point that I couldn't actually play it for years. For context, I was seven when this game came out, so just young enough to be really messed up by the concept of an alien monster hybrid ripping my favorite superhero apart.

For the last boss in any video game to be one that you simply have to run away from is pretty rare. For such a thing to be the final boss in a Spider-Man game, of all things, is an absolutely wild turn of events. I suppose the fact nobody saw it coming is precisely why we still talk about it all these years later. I just wonder if my generation will ever truly get over the trauma of having Monster Ock quite literally dropped on us. The fact I'm writing about it 25 years later suggests probably not. Still, it remains a core gaming memory, and I wouldn't change it for the world.