Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (Wii) - Review by jofra01

Introduction

For the past few years we have seen the release of many Spiderman videogames with very proving to be of an outstanding title. Treyarch's and Activision's latest Spiderman title however, 'Spiderman: Web of Shadows', seems to be one of those few that stands out.

When you first starting playing the game you will find that Spiderman is walking across the top of building with chaos happening around him. Although you don't really know whats going on you will soon realise there are two ways this could have occurred, and that depends on how you play. The opening sees you thrown into a fight against many Symbiote creatures, that represent some notorious villains from the Spiderman seriesm and then the big guy himself Venom is thrown at you.

Throughout the game you will come across many familiar faces such as Wolverine, Moon Knight, The Vulture, Rhino and a few others. The catch is though with this game is depending on how you have played and what moral decisions you have made, whether it be ignore a civilian in need or help them, these characters may help you or try to kill you. Having played this game through twice myself, experiencing both the side of normal Spiderman and Symbiote Spiderman, I found that both other different mechanisms of how the game does work out each having their positives and negatives along with different endings.

Gameplay

For a game that offers very repetitive gameplay it is somewhat enjoyable. Throughout most of the game you will find that you have to swing around the town on your web finding some bad guys to kill. Of course this does sound fun at first but after a while it does get somewhat tedious, and this is mostly due to the camera within the game which will get in the players way quite a bit.

Other than that however the real main part of the game is when you are either Symbiote Spiderman or Normal Spiderman as each does play differently, and with a flick of a nunchuk you can change to either one. There will come times within the game when someone needs to be taken to the hospital, saved from a creature or whatever but you have a choice, a moral choice at that, which will affect the outcome of the game depending on how you go about with those kind of things. There will also be times in the game when you come across a main character, whether you just defeated a boss or someone wants you to do something, you then have another choice and such an example would be do you cheat on Mary Jane with the Black Cat or not.

Boss fights in the game are a strong point in this game as you will find that some don't actually limit you to where you do fight and you could be swinging around throughout the city fighting your boss. Some boss fights do prove quite frustrating, particularly the Electro boss fight, due to their actual abiliities and where you do fight. However there are some notable characters you do get to fight, such as Wolverine, and depending on how they go you could be somewhat eviler or nicer.

Controls

Using the WiiRemote and Nunchuk players will find that depending on whether they are Symbiote Spidey or Normal Spidey the gameplay controls will play out differently. Using buttons themselves for mostly offensive attacks motion controls are really kept for swinging around the city or towards the end of a boss fight where you must do certain motions to come out on top.

However a flaw within the game is the fact that the controls aren't always responsive and are sometimes broken within certain parts of the game. This will cause grief for some players depending on what form of situation they are in, whether it be controlling the great Rhino or trying to avoid the Vultures swords, it could cost them the very life of Spiderman himself.

Graphics

Web of Shadows won't win any awards within the graphics department as really the graphics aren't overally that great. Characters like Spiderman, Wolverine and other major Villains and Heroes will be the ones standing out with this game having more work done on them. The city itself, which you can pretty much go around on your own, is somewhat dull with very minimal color to be found anywhere, the trees aren't even green.

The cut scenes however will gain the players attention, most particularly the opening sequence, due to the detail gone in to them and the visual greatness they put out.

Sound

It really seems nothing is left out of this game as not only does it have a soundtrack, that would suit Spiderman fans, it contains voice acting that isn't really that horrid. The voice acting is good to see within Web of Shadows as it does really add emotion to the game, this depending on who you are, and you can really hear how other characters feel towards you depending on the choices you have made.

Final comments

Spiderman: Web of Shadows can go either way with people who pick up this game. Fans of Spiderman themselves, even some Marvel fans, will absolutely enjoy this game as it does provide them with what they need. Repetitive gameplay and a camera that sometimes gets in the way is a letdown within this game but there are some instances where you won't even care about that due to the actual story the game is providing and how you can determine the outcome from moral choices.

Pro: Choices Affect Game, Voice Acting, Good Story, Notable Boss Fights, Unlockable Costumes
Con: Graphics Dull, Repetitive Gameplay, Camera Doesn't Always Work
Final score: 7.2

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