Spider-Man: Web of Shadows

This is probably the most fun I've ever had with a Spider-Man game. This is the first time since Spider-Man 2 that I've really felt like Spider-Man swinging through the city, and the controls are vastly improved from that game. I do miss the Splinter Cell style missions from Spider-Man 1, but the free-roaming environment gives you plenty to do.

The controls are simple, anyone can do it. It's not like Marvel Ultimate Alliance where sometimes you have to perform combos to defeat enemies. You can, and it's fun, but if you don't want to you can defeat just about any villain with simple punches.

The graphics are pretty amazing. The Incredible Hulk game also uses this large sandbox environment. However, after about three blocks it everything disappears in this green haze. No loading time but no scenery. This game fixes that. You can see details all the way across New York. No haze/fog/mist/etc. And up close things look pretty decent too.

But there is a problem with the graphics, they use the same thing for the cut-scenes. Now, Gears of War can get away with that because their engine is so top notch it made it's own notch. Why didn't this game go the same route as MUA? MUA has spectacular cut-scenes. Sure the graphics are good, not spectacular, but what few cut-scenes they did use with the in-game graphics looked just plain awful. But those cut-scenes like the opening or Nightcrawler escaping just looked so theatrical and amazing. This game could seem far more cinematic if they did that.

I don't care for the decision making. It's too obvious. Either, red (good) or black (evil). They should have done like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic where you make a decision and then find out where it put you. This game makes it too easy to be either good or bad. There were times in KOTOR where I thought I was doing good but ending up with dark points because I didn't know how it would end. Any game that allows you to make decision and have multiple endings should do the KOTOR way, not this one. Because there's no surprise.

The story is lacking. True it's a video game, but in this day and age story lines are becoming more and more necessary thanks to Halo, Half-Life 2, KOTOR, and even MUA. Those games had great story lines where you almost couldn't put them down until you found out what happened. In fact you could enjoy those stories outside the video game medium. With the invasion, Venom, and the choices this could have been a huge, grand epic. Instead, if this was a comic book it'd be over in two, three issues like it didn't matter. You don't really feel the emotional impact from any of the characters. If you're going to make a comic book video game you should use a Kingdom Come or House of M sized story. Grip the audience and don't let go until it's over.

Now there are some glaring problems which also make this an annoying experience too.

The voice actors are just a pain to listen to. When I first started playing MUA, I did not like any voice actors except for Fury and Doom. I thought Spider- Man was too whiny, Thor had no command, and Wolverine was too gravely, etc. By the time I finished I loved them all. They just grew on me till I couldn't imagine anyone else doing the voices. This game does not do that. None of the voice actors fight the characters. If they had subtitles, I'd turn off the voices. The only one I like is Wolverine, because he's been doing Wolverine sine MUA. They couldn't do that for Spidey and the others from MUA?

Exploding cars are like the balloons from Spider-Man 2. It seems like every other battle I get in there's an exploding car. Unfortunately I'm always two blocks away fighting some goon. By the time I find out there's an exploding car, turn around, and get anywhere near it it's already over and I'm getting 10 black points for it all. Or what's worse is if the exploding car knocks you away and by the time your character gets up you're getting the black points. It's very frustrating if you're trying to be good.

Climbing buildings is annoying. Incredible Hulk was very simple: get near a building, press one button, and you're on it. It doesn't automatically make you jump up nor leap across the street. You just get on. This game uses one button too but it sends you running around the side for some odd reason. Sometimes I get on a building but I end up running in some odd direction. I don't understand why you have to get on and run too. Why not just get on and then some other button lets you to run?

I've been fighting the camera more than I have thugs. Especially on the sides of buildings. There are times when it glitches so bad that I'm either looking straight up or straight down (no in-between) and neither helps whatsoever. I had heard there were camera problems with Spider-Man 3 but I had hoped they would think about that before making this game.

If you bypass the flaws you'll have a wonderful time. At midnight I certainly am. Comic book-gamers should definitely play this. Casual gamers may be put off but should at least rent it. Those who loved Spider-Man 2 will certainly enjoy this. I'll eagerly await a sequel, but hope they learn from their mistakes.

This is the first time I've played a full one of these. I tried a demo of the original of them, and one narrated by Stan Lee, and that's it. This is free-roam, like the Grand Theft Auto games. You can go anywhere(except inside any structures) in New York(almost), and you can earn XP(for upgrading, unlocking new combat abilities) by taking out a number(that resets and increases whenever you reach it) of whatever type of group you've worked your way up to(starting with gangsters), saving civilians(pick 'em up, take them to a hospital) and the like, and your allies will give you missions(for some reason, they remain in place... this works better in GTA, because those who give you orders are higher up the chain of command, and don't go out themselves anymore), and, early on, train you(isn't it weird how other people always know more about your skills in these than you, yourself, do?). It really does have you feeling like you're swinging through the city(the horizon is well-done, and you can see fairly far; graphics and animations are smooth and well-done), and the fact that you trigger a new web-line by doing a downwards movement with the Wii-Mote makes it very immersive(you can also hold down C to do a Web Zip, that will swiftly send you... well, not always forward, you don't choose the direction, making it less dependable, still, it can be useful, even necessary). Doing one to the left or right will start a Web Strike, where you draw yourself to the enemy "tagged" by the web, and after attacking that one, you can go to the next one(you'll need to learn this, and I wish they had made it clearer how the timing is meant to work out, like the Speed Kills of Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones). Flicking the Nun-Chuk up or down will toggle the useful Target Lock(though going back and forth in it between the nearby foes is *not* something you're going to have time to), and left or right will switch between the two suits... in other words, for both of those, you will inevitably do them inadvertently. They should have been assigned buttons. You can climb any surface(and as with any other game that allows that, not everything is smart to attempt to crawl on), but attaching yourself(unless you can and do use the WZ) can be a little troublesome. It'll also often send you running around the sides for no reason. The camera can be such a pain in the ass that I thought I was at the proctologist. With that said, it can be immensely helpful. There is nice freedom to the fighting, and yes, you can, indeed, engage in it on the ground, on a wall, or in the air. In the last two you don't have many options(especially not early on), and I question the point of combos(that this, to its credit, never forces you to use) that, I kid you not, are *weaker* than the regular blows. I wish I was joking. Over and over, I was reusing the first three punches, before it gets into the useless faster ones that even push the opponent away(why would you want that? It will never kill them, and now you have to get into the position where you can hit them), and when you stop whaling on them... yeah, that gives them an opening. Dodging is good. Yes, you can switch back and forth between the two costumes(by the way, getting the extra six ones constitute the *only* replay value in this... you can't even continue after you've completed it, other than to do the last bit again) whenever you want, and they have distinct and unique styles of dispatching others, and are memorable and enjoyable to use. One has to wonder why, other than the coolness factor, since it doesn't have you decide between the sides, like you do(by your actions, as this claims to) in Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight. And yes, you can choose a path; however, every decision is Good(tm) or Evil(tm). No ambiguity. And this, too, has no impact(almost, other than changing what happens a little). Why bother implementing it? It's not like in Splinter Cell: Double Agent, where both options are potentially negative, weighing a sure thing against a possibility, and such(and where you have to serve two masters). If they're not going to have you stick to it, and have any consequences to them, it's pure wish fulfilment and escapism. Neither make for compelling story-telling. Is this medium losing its boldness? Jedi Academy did away with having your doings along the way affect the choice. Are they getting that afraid that the players will bail? While I can speak only for myself, I'll go with trying new things and taking chances any day of the week. At its best, this is intense. A bunch of the difficulty is for the wrong reasons. Most of the boss encounters are tests of endurance(especially physical) and patience, rather than of talent, and the last is probably the easiest of them all. You heal over time, so if you need a boost in that area, you have to avoid those that go after you for a while. That's as meandering as it sounds. The plot is OK, and the symbiote invasion does come off decently, with occasional awe-inspiring moments. There is nice cleverness to our titular hero's "material", his puns and the like, and this mocks several of the worst clichés(then again, it doesn't steer clear of them itself). The characters are largely true to their comic book counterparts(they seem to have forgotten that Wolverine has an extremely effective sense of smell, or maybe they're intentionally suggesting that it isn't up to par to with the Spider-Sense... I call BS on that), and the voices match. Acting and dialogues are above average. Designs... maybe they didn't have that much left to offer(in that department). I recommend this to any fan of Spider-Man. 7/10

Spider-Man Web of Shadows was the Best spider-man Game I have Ever played! and I had it on the wii when I was 7 years old in 2nd Grade I was so excited and glad I played and beaten the whole game and it was just amazing as well the storyline of the game is really good written. it's about Venom and somehow an invasion spreads all over of New York and it's up to Spider-Man to save the citizens of New York before everything gets even more worse. and you notice that there Fan-Favorite Marvel Heroes in the Game like Luke Cage Wolverine and Moon Knight. and also when finally reached to the End of the game you get to Fight Venom and end this when it got to the part when Brock and parker were trying to grab their hand. I choose the red path Good final choice so Venom sacrifices himself and ends the invasion and all what was going on in New York and then Spidey swings off and the helicarrier explodes and then after a few weeks later things started to go back to normal as always and Mary Jane comes and notice Peter narrating and then they swing off in good old happy ending. and It was Good game as well So you Should love Web of Shadows cause I did! and was the Best Spider-Man Game made! after Spider-man 2.

Spider-Man Web of Shadows was the Best Spider-man Game I have Ever played! And I had it on the wii and also the pc. I was so excited and glad I played and beaten the whole game and it was just amazing as well the storyline of the game is really good written. It's about Venom and somehow an invasion spreads all over of New York and it's up to Spider-Man to save the citizens of New York before everything gets even more worse. And you notice that there Fan-Favorite Marvel Heroes in the Game like Luke Cage Wolverine and Moon Knight. And also when finally reached to the End of the game you get to Fight Venom and end this when it got to the part when Brock and parker were trying to grab their hand. I choose the red path Good final choice so Venom sacrifices himself and ends the invasion and all what was going on in New York and then Spidey swings off and the helicarrier explodes and then after a few weeks later things started to go back to normal as always and Mary Jane comes and notice Peter narrating and then they swing off in good old happy ending.

And it's sure not the gameplay. Lets keep this review tidy, I will rate the game on each category:

Voice acting: Spiderman is a whining nerd and horrible to listen to. The other voices were fine Tricie Helfer is charismatic and interesting as Blackcat, and Vulture is spot on correct.

Atmosphere: Terrible, awful, definitely the thing that lets this game down is the terrible atmosphere. Ugh, it's horrible, TRULY HORRIBLE ughhh, usually the atmosphere in Spiderman games is a great one, but for this game it was just not doing it for me, it was depressing and bleak and miserable, in a bad way.

Gameplay: tedious and not enjoyable, Spiderman's fighting is totally messed up and easily the worst spiderman combat ever seen in a video game, why ? Because it's so exaggerated and unrealistic, totally messed up, you can actually stay transfixed in the air by performing Black suit spideys air upper-cut punch attack repeatedly, he will drift across buildings in the air, not falling. The rest of the unrealisticism is too complex and tedious to explain but all you need do is look up the reviews on youtube to see it.

The enemies are not the worst I have seen, but the electro symbiotes are lame, the Robot guys who sound like Gary Chalk when they yell "Awe !!!!" after they get hit are so annoying and the bad enemies really compliments the bad atmosphere of this horrible game.

Story: Bad

Overall, I may not be the most professional of reviewers but I would strongly advise you to avoid this game if you have to choose between this and any other Spidey games. You WILL be disappointed and probably come out of it HATING Spiderman, were as you come out of Shattered Dimensions loving him and liking the whole thing.

This game is just a bad representation of Spiderman and the Spiderman universe, get Shatterd Dimensions, the games of the movies instead. Ultimate Spiderman is better than Spiderman edge of time but I'm not as keen on that one.