Spider-Man is one of the most iconic superheroes of all time, yet when it comes to video games he never can seem to get it right; at least until now. Developer Shaba Games and publisher Activision got together to bring not the Spidey movies but to develop an entirely new story to the Xbox 360 gaming console. The name of the title is Spider-Man: Web of Shadows and we were surprised to find that we enjoyed almost every minute we spent playing it. It easily could have used another month or so of bug testing and polish but the final product is fun, deep, and imaginative; something most Spider-Man games are not. A deep storyline with plenty of branching side-missions make up well over twenty hours of gameplay, just enough superhero action for the price.
The story for Spider-Man: Web of Shadows is something totally original, and follows the web-slinger as he attempts to fight crime and save the city of New York from alien life forms. Fortunately this game features one hell of a twist, something gamers are not used to seeing in these types of games; the ability to choose a path, right or wrong. Whatever choice you make will change the story arc as well as alter whether or not certain computer-controlled characters will be made available to help you. Each and every character from the Spider-Man universe makes an appearance in Web of Shadows, from Wolverine to Luke Cage to Mary Jane. Some of these allies can be called upon to help you in certain sticky situations, as long as you continually make “good” decisions.
There are also tons of villains in Web of Shadows that, once defeated, can be used as Spidey’s allies throughout the rest of the game, as long as you are making “evil” decisions. The game features two unique and totally different Spider suits, the normal red suit and the much cooler black suit. Each outfit has it’s own set of strengths and weaknesses, including different move sets, combos, and special attacks. The story will arch and change depending on how you go about completing your tasks as well as what choices you make when it comes to the villains in the game. For the most part the story played out just as we expected it too, with a couple twists and turns straight out of the comic books.
The controls in Spider-Man are simple yet complicated, allowing for both simplistic gamers and those wanting to get into the intense combo/timing scheme the game provides. Shaba Games uses the classic third-person camera system and it works quite well, with one big change. Because so much of Web of Shadows involves multiple platforms of gameplay, left/right and up/down, the developers had to come up with a way to solve the camera issues it caused. They did this by pinning the camera to Spider-Man’s person and then allowing it to lock onto enemies (with a flick of the RB button) no matter which direction they move on, the camera always stays the same.
Web of Shadows features a massive re-creation of New York Shadow, one of the largest we have seen this side of Grand Theft Auto. There is a lot of emphasis on “vertical gameplay” throughout the title and for that reason buildings are tall, drops are long, and the entire city just feels real. Swinging is done by pulling the right trigger and using either the A button or the LB button to perform different acts while zipping through the air, gamers can also attack in the air by pressing the X button. Other than vertical gameplay (combat on the side of buildings) Web of Shadows also includes “air combat”, which ends up being one hell of a great time. This combat changes again during the fifteen or so boss battles; culminating in one of the best final boss fights we have played in a Spider-Man game to-date.
Graphically Web of Shadows is more good than bad. It has some major clipping and lag issues during later parts in the game (when the more graphically tough enemies enter the show) but the draw distance in New York City is great as are the character models and lighting effects. For the most part during our entire play through neither graphics nor the audio made a big impact one way or the other. Both did their job but not without it’s share of problems. All of the staples for a Spider-Man game were present and that was all we were really hoping for, it would have been nice for the game to be pushed off until the start of 2009, allowing for more time to polish and bug test the game into clearer waters.
We came into our review with Spider-Man: Web of Shadows with only one hope, that Shaba Games would provide us with a great time playing through the Spider-Man game we have always wanted to experience. While we can’t honestly say that it was a total success what we can say is that the good times far outweighed the bad times. More than once a large smile crept across our faces as we swung through the city, raising and dropping with insane amounts of speed and aerobatics. Once completed we cannot really see any reason to go back for more; Web of Shadows is one of those games perfect for a rainy Sunday, when there is nothing else to do besides pop in a 360 game and enjoy some old-school action fun.
