This past week we were given a chance by Activision to check out the latest build of Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, coming to the Xbox 360 later this year. The developer, Shaba Games, are most famously known for extreme sports games (Tony Hawk, BMX, and wakeboarding) and will be bringing everything they have learned in the past to the development table. From the moment we arrived in the studio there was one enhancement the people behind Web of Shadows wanted us to focus on, the problem with previous Spider-Man games was the camera system. This isn’t exactly untrue; does anyone remember playing the games based on the trilogy of Spidey movies?
Because of the way Spider-Man moves through Manhattan he creates more than a few problems for game developers when it comes to using either a stable or free-moving camera. Time and time again we see these superhero games coming off the assembly line with their sub-par graphics and under-performing gameplay mechanics. Shaba Games is prepared to change all that, and from what we have seen (and put our hands on) so far things are looking up for the newspaper photographer in the red tights.
Web of Shadows has something else going for it from the start, the game is not tied to any particular storyline; it comes from the general information made available in the Spider-Man comics but for the most part the entire plot is original. One of the best parts of the story is that it involves almost every major character in the Marvel universe coming to the aid (or the destruction) of Manhattan. We saw Wolverine, Venom, Black Cat, Luke Cage, Nightcraweler, and many more of our favorites. The basic premise is that Venom has taken over the city with a large army of symbiotes and it is up to Spider-Man to save Manhattan. Considering we only got to see a small fraction of the game you will have to wait until later this month to find out the entire scoop.
Back to the much talked about, pesky camera issue. The way Shaba has gone about fixing this comes straight from their previous experiences with extreme sports games. Thanks to a 360 degree revolving camera system that attaches (by pressing one of the trigger buttons) onto whatever bad guy the player is targeting Spider-Man is able to flawlessly swing anywhere in the city without causing the user any problems. This works amazingly well considering much of the gameplay takes place either in mid-air or on the side of a skyscraper. Because so much action happens in environments where gravity is not a factor gamers will have to focus their attention around Spideys entire body, not just in -front or behind him.
Describing the main city of Manhattan, where the entire game takes place, as a massive place would be a definite understatement. It’s many times larger than any previous Spider-Man game and the sheer number of missions to complete is overwhelming. Obviously there are certain tasks that progress the main storyline but some of the others are just as interesting to complete, while not exactly mandatory. Our hands-on sessions started right at the beginning of the game and allowed us to play through the first boss fight with villain Black Cat.
