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Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Shaba Games/Treyarch
Genre: Action
Release Date: October 21, 2008
Platforms: Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Playstation Portable, Nintendo
DS, Wii, Xbox 360, PC
Reviewer: Eric
 Activision
has single handedly made the Spider-Man franchise a worth while gaming series
and at the same time they ruined it. Spider-Man 2 was one of the best games when
it came out that year, but Spider-Man 3 took everything that was good and threw
it again. Friend or Foe didn’t help either so now we are left with Web of
Shadows, the latest adventure from Spider-Man and Activision.
Spider-Man: Friend or Foe tarnished the Spider-Man series and now we are left
with Web of Shadows. Saying that this game doesn’t have to do much to be better
than Friend or Foe is true, but this is still not as good as a game that came
out quite some time again and that game is Spider-Man 2.
Web of Shadows sounded cool and everything. To think that a story like this
could be incorporated into a video game is astonishing. When you start playing
the game you are going to be looking for the remote. Eddie Brock is Venom in
this game and the story has Spider-Man facing his worst nightmare again, picking
between good and evil, while Venom is on the prowl.
The voice acting in Web of Shadows is bad. Spider-Man sounds like an 11 year old
that is ready to hit puberty and the rest of the cast sounds like they don’t
care. There are also numerous parts in the game that piss me off to high heaven.
Both Mary Jane and Spider-Man are talking to each other about their normal lives
while others are around. Next scene later you can tell that those same
characters from before do not know who Spider-Man is. This annoys me; something
like this should have not made it into the final product.
All if the controls in the game feel right again. No longer will your fingers
get tied up like they did in Spider-Man 3. Moving through New York City feels
fun again; Web of Shadows does one thing right. Now the new battle system on the
other hand needed some fine tuning before release, you can find a lot of
problems with the games biggest assist.
 Fighting in Web of Shadows can happen in the air, on buildings, and on the
ground. Fighting any where is a problem because of the targeting system, if the
camera slightly turns there is a chance your target will not longer be your
target. If you don’t kill that enemy on the first try then you are going to have
to fight with the camera until that enemy is in sight again.
Combos in the game are way too easy; Web of Shadows is a button mashing game.
Sometimes when you do some of the new combos you unlock they will cause more
problems, making fights last a little bit longer, which is torture in this game.
Most of the games missions are simple, kill all the enemies on the screen, run
to some enemies to kill, learn new attacks, or find a new location, then kill
enemies. It is the same thing the series has seen since day one, back then it
was fine. Now the series is looking real stale. Certain new move missions are
the biggest pain, mainly since the game fails to give too much description on
what to do. It is annoying and I for one am sick of seeing the Try Again screen
in this game.
The biggest seller in this game is the chance to play as normal Spider-Man and
his symbiote forum. You can change between the two whenever you want, unleashing
some big combos if you choose. I stuck with the symbiote forum most of the game,
mainly since it could actually kill enemies unlike the normal Spider-Man suit.
Throughout the game you will get to pick from good and bad choices. Cut scenes
will change depending on your choice. Most of the time the decisions you pick
don’t make too much of a difference, at the end of the game you will see a real
big difference. It is easy to see both paths, mainly since Web of Shadows
doesn’t take too long to beat.
 Web of Shadows also promises the biggest cast of characters in any Spider-Man
game. There are just way too many characters in this game and it shows early on.
Luke Cage seems to serve as a teacher that is trying to play peacekeeper while
Wolverine asks you questions when you battle him. The biggest hero in Marvel
asks Spider-Man questions when they fight? If you don’t know anything then
you’ll be playing one long battle so you better do a little research.
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows also suffers from small time delays during battles
and whenever you swing around too much, looking for those damn spider symbols to
advance levels. Boss battles seem to lag the most, when I fought Vulture I had
to replay one part almost 10 times just to get it right. Was this lazy
programming or should have the developers ignored all those tiny details in
certain objects?
Final Verdict
When it all comes down to it Web of Shadows is a disappointment to the
Spider-Man game franchise. This game is better than the last two Spider-Man
games but that really isn’t saying a whole lot. For the asking cost this title
is way too much, wait for this one to go down in price before you think about
picking it up.
Rating
5.75 out of 10
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows Trailer
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