Fans of the Stan Lee comic can breathe a welcome sigh of relief, as Activision injected Spider-Man: Web of Shadows with a couple of great new twists, making it fun to swing through the streets of New York City. The web-slinger intends to mount a comeback later this month.
In the game, you can switch between the traditional red Spidey suit and an "evil" black symbiote suit anytime you want; simply click in the left analog stick. Both suits come with powerful attacks to help Spider-Man battle the Kingpin's super-armored forces, as well as the ever-changing symbiote organisms taking over the city. Stick with the red outfit to utilize web attacks and up-close punches and kicks. Go evil with the black symbiote skin and you'll be able to throw cars at enemies (handy for taking on Kingpin's super-mech soldiers), along with using stretchy arms to whip enemies into shape. The decisions you make between the red and symbiote suits also play out in the game's story. Stay "evil" for too long and your friends, including your beloved Mary Jane, will take notice.
No matter which suit you prefer, you'll be able to use a couple of nifty new attacks. For instance, Spidey now walks along walls, Prince of Persia-style. Some enemies do it too, so you'll find yourself battling on the edge of a skyscraper several times, throwing foes to the street below or slamming them into the side of the building. The combo system is effective, as you perform powerful roundhouse kicks and slam attacks with correct button combinations. Spidey also does an awesome web grab in mid-air, shooting a string from a distance on a targeted enemy and reeling himself in. If you press the coordinating attack button just right, you nail the enemy with an energy-reducing strike. Mess up, though, and they'll either bounce you off or throw you like a Frisbee.
Along with combat scenarios, there are a couple more gameplay features that deserve praise. Combined with the wall-running techniques, the web-swinging system feels more natural this time around. . Finally, the superhero's Spider Sense is more helpful this time around, since it's easier to see where enemies are. Not only do you have a compass in the corner of the screen to rely on, but also heat sensors show you exactly where they're located.
diving off buildings and recreating the street swing from the films feels great, barely avoiding the ground as you shoot your web string at just the right moment. You might want to make sure you have buildings around to grasp onto, though.
Passerby and traffic look just like real New York inhabitants, right down to honking taxicabs and fearful pedestrians. What's cool is how the city changes over the course of time. As the symbiote forces settle, they leave big glops of goo across the sides of buildings as citizens also start crawling the walls like spiders and attacking you.
Thus far, the only recognizable voice is Tricia Heifer's, the hot blonde Klingon from Battlestar Galactica. Here, she voices Black Cat, as Spider-Man pursues her through the city, occasionally running into her airborne agents before facing off against her in a boss battle.
Based in an open world, you'll be able to complete missions at your leisure, whether it's saving a group of cops from a gang fight or creaming Kingpin's army with your Spider powers. There are also several familiar faces from the Marvel universe that show up, including Venom and X-Men's own Wolverine. Unfortunately, when we tried to go into the Wolverine story to see how he ties into all of this, Activision said it wasn't available yet.
Overall, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows is a huge leap forward for the webbed wonder, thanks to an original storyline that clicks and plenty of chances to kick symbiote butt. We'll be back with a review of the game when it ships later this month. In the meantime, keep those Spider senses tingling.
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