A wicked web of wonder?It always baffles me why super villains decide to set up shop in New York City. According to Marvel every other person in the city that never sleeps is a super hero. Some are very territorial like Daredevil and Luke Cage and some use it as a base to save the world like the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. There is even the odd vigilante in the mix too (the Punisher) and Charles Xavier's School for the Gifted is just up the road as well. You would think then, that such a concentration of heroism would prove be a major deterrent to any criminal mastermind's estate agent?
Never-the-less, there always seems to be trouble in New York and usually there is one little man in red and blue right in the thick of it. Yes, Spiderman is back in another game that reads like Manhattan's who's who of Marvel super heroes. This time the city is threatened by the race of symbiotes that produced Spiderman's black suited incarnation, the crazed Venom and don't forget Carnage as well. This time they are bonding with the good folk of New York City and it's up to good ol' Spidey to stop them - with a little help from his friends of course.
So, we revisit a sandbox New York crammed to the brim with heroes and villains and a sinister plot to take over the city. Unsurprisingly the symbiotes use Venom as their pawn to help them absorb the city's good citizenry. It is good old fashioned comic book fun with plenty of thrills and spills to boot.
This time though there is no film to ruin the game's release with unnecessary demands on its development time and script constraints. And there's been plenty of hope that this game would not be as downright awful as its cinematic predecessors.
And indeed there is plenty to get excited about. Several Marvel favourites including the ubiquitous Wolverine make guest appearances and can even be called upon to aid Spidey when he gets in over his head. There are also plenty of familiar villains like Electro and the Vulture to remind us just how dastardly the underbelly of New York is.
The real interest though, is generated by your ability to switch between normal and black-suit Spiderman. This is more than a cosmetic change as each suit has different strengths and moves associated with it. Also, who comes to your aid depends entirely on which suit you have equipped. With the black suit you might find that villains like the Vulture or Black Cat will be ready to help you where as your squeaky-clean red and blue suit will attract help from the likes of Moon Knight or Luke Cage.
The choice of suits also introduces a moral theme running through the game as your decision making affects how you are seen by civilians and the police. There are even certain points where you will be asked to choose the dark or light path to follow and this has an effect on how the story will play out.
You also level up the suits separately so if you decide to play the game through entirely as one Spidey or the other you could have the suit maxed up in no time. It is beneficial to power up both suits as there some occasions where enemies can only be defeated by using a particular attack unique to one of the suits.
They game itself plays fairly well. It is a joy to web-sling your way from Central Park to Downtown down 7th Avenue, though there are a few glitches that start to niggle at you after a few hours of play. There doesn't seem to be any smooth transition between swinging and climbing up walls and too often you end up in the street instead of on the roof of the building you were aiming for.
There are some problems with the camera too and again they usually manifest themselves when trying to run up the side of a building. The camera locks itself and forces you to run sideways instead of upwards. It can also lock into the overhead position when you reach a rooftop and you need to jump off the building in order for the camera to start behaving itself again. A little more time to polish off the camera mechanic would've helped greatly and could also have helped free that game from the anonymity it experienced being released on Hallowe'en alongside Quantum of Solace and only a week after Dead Space and Fable 2.
Spiderman: Web of Shadows is not a bad game. The bugs are somewhat annoying but there is nothing that is so devastating as to make it unplayable. Marvel comic buffs will enjoy the ability to immerse themselves into the New York that the comic giant has created and it is really good to see some of Marvel's less well-known characters like Moon Knight and Luke Cage getting a run out alongside the big hitters like Spidey and Venom. This is arguably Spiderman's finest outing yet and camera issues aside it is an enjoyable romp. It probably won't take much time away from the AAA titles this Christmas season but the for Spidey fans it can't be beat.
Bungie vows never to follow the Activision route and charge extra for online multiplayer
(1) (30/07) 
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#1 - NewYork - on 18/11/2008 at 23:31 wrote:
Geddit? Lawls!
#2 - HairyArse - on 20/11/2008 at 08:13 wrote:
Anyone else got so many games to play they spend all night deciding what to play and then play nowt?
#3 - peej - on 20/11/2008 at 11:48 wrote:
Last night was a prime example. Couldn't get anywhere with Mirror's Edge so ended up playing BK for a bit then switching off. Despite having Far Cry 2, Fallout 3, Fable II, Midnight Club Los Angeles, Motorstorm 2, LBP and christ knows how many others still vying for my attention. It's like a bloody illness, it really is.
#4 - NewYork - on 20/11/2008 at 18:00 wrote:
Thank God I'm not into FPSs, eh?
#5 - eviltobz - on 21/11/2008 at 14:20 wrote:
#6 - NewYork - on 22/11/2008 at 10:20 wrote:
#7 - HairyArse - on 22/11/2008 at 11:16 wrote:
/fires jizz everywhere
#8 - TarantulaBoy52 - on 25/11/2008 at 00:58 wrote: