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Spider-Man: Web of Shadows Review for Nintendo Wii

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows Review for Nintendo Wii

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows is Activision’s latest entry into the franchise, the last two installments, Spider-man 3: The Movie and Spider-Man: Friend or Foe have been less than stellar, but this latest entry is definitely an improvement over the last two. This a better game, but it does fall short in many areas, especially graphics and sound. The gameplay, on the other hand, makes this is a semi-entertaining addition to the franchise.

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows screenshot

Web of Shadows’ is unrelated to the movies, and it features a unique storyline. The game starts out with Venom attacking New York City. Spider-Man is caught fighting Venom while trying to save Mary Jane. During the fight, a part of the symbiote binds with Spider-Man and reunites him with the Black Suit. The suit increases his strength, allowing him to throw heavy objects such as cars. Using the suit, Spider-Man defeats Venom as well as saves Mary Jane, but Venom escapes. After saving MJ, the plot falls apart. Spider-Man joins Luke Cage, a member of the Avengers. Together, players will fight gangs and robots, Spider-Man will join Felicia Hardy as well; they work together to foil the kingpin’s evil plans. He then discovers that Vulture is also involved and confronts him in an epic aerial battle. Eventually, you will join other Marvel characters such as Wolverine and Moon Knight. The story continues on like this. It is somewhat incoherent. I was really hoping for a decent storyline, but I guess that is what the comics are for. One good aspect of the game is that it has multiple endings, and Spider-Man’s choices will determine which ending players will see.

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Gameplay is a mixed bag; swinging around the city is a blast. Flicking the Wii-mote forward will shoot a web and stick to any building facing Spider-Man, pressing the A button will make Spidey jump (you can also double jump by tapping the button twice). Holding C and flicking the Wii-mote will make Spider-Man cast a web-zip. Tapping the + button will turn on Spidey’s spider-sense, flicking the Nunchuck down will lock on to enemies, and flicking the Nunchuk left or right will change Spider-Man’s suit. You can also run along walls, fight off enemies on walls, and he can perform some flashy acrobatics while swinging. Also, the camera is controlled by the D-pad. Unfortunately, the lack of analog control is frustrating because the D-pad is not precise, and so it can be difficult to adjust during combat.

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows screenshot

The combat system can be fun, repetitive, and irritating all at the same time. The system is based on a linking attacks together, so when Spider-Man is airborne, players can flick their Wii-motes either left or right, and then flick it back, this action will make Spider-Man fire a web, take out the enemy, leap again, and take out the rest. This will continue until players defeat the entire group of enemies. This attack is very helpful when chaining multiple moves together, but it was painful on my wrist after prolonged playtime. There are also times when the motion controls do not function correctly. This becomes irritating, especially when fighting bosses or many enemies at once. For example, you can accidentally cast a web and start swinging away from the fight or you might accidentally break a chain of attacks because the Wii-mote did not register correctly. The combat becomes repetitive because players will find themselves pressing the same button (usually mashing the B button (punch) or swinging the Wii-mote repeatedly). In fact, the entire game becomes repetitive because all the missions are very similar, and you will find yourself defeating all the different bosses in the same way.

You receive your missions from the characters you join during the adventure like Luke Cage, Black Cat, and Wolverine. There are mandatory missions that will move players through the story and there are optional missions as well. This is a step up from the previous game, where you were forced to take on annoying tasks in order to move through the story. When players complete missions, they will be awarded experience points. The points can be used to unlock new attacks; you can unlock ground, air, wall, web, and special attacks. You can also unlock spider suits like the Ben Reilly Suit or the Cosmic Suit. Players can also swing around and collect Spider Collectibles; they increase Spider-Man’s swing speed and the size of the health and special meters.

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows screenshot

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Web of Shadows’ visuals on Wii are terrible, the textures are ugly and blurry, and the color pallet is awful (it seems the developer is fond of the color brown). The H.U.D looks blurry. The city is plain and empty, and there are jaggies everywhere. When you are swinging around New York, you will notice a maximum of three maybe four vehicles per street, sometimes the streets are completely empty. New York City is supposed to be a thriving metropolis, the city that never sleeps. Yet it is completely barren; the city feels dead. I never felt like I was playing Spider-Man, so something is clearly missing.

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows screenshot

There are also many pop in issues and the frame rate dips quite often. One positive aspect of the visuals is Spider-Man’s animations. It seems the developer was able to bring over animations from the X360 and the PS3. There are some cool freefall and combat animations; they look great. I was happy to see there were no load times and that the engine had no issues while streaming the large environment.

The sound is ok, but it is nothing special. The city sounds are very similar to the previous games. There is some street noise as well as pedestrians screaming for help. Music is rather limited. The voice acting is terrible; Spider-Man’s voice is irritating, and the other characters’ voice work is also bad. There are times when players may need to repeat a mission multiple times, and each time you start over, you have to listen to the awful voice work and awful dialog. There are some weird lines such as “I’ll momentum them into next week;” hearing that about five times can make a person go crazy.

I was really looking forward to Web of Shadows. I had high expectations for this game, but they were obviously not met. I feel like this franchise is in a rut, Treyarch needs to go back and fix the many issues that plague the Spider-Man games. On a positive note, they have the swing system down. It works and is a lot of fun. The combat system is also a good start, but the combinations need more variety instead of repeatedly mashing the same button. They also need to design a control scheme for the Wii instead of mapping buttons to motion swings because the controls feel tacky. Spider-Man: Web of Shadows is retailing for $49.99, but I highly recommended you rent before you spend your hard-earned money.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 2.8 Graphics
Empty New York and blurry textures hurt the atmosphere of the Spider-Man Universe. Animations look good. 3.0 Control
Swinging around New York is fun, but combat gets repetitive. Motion controls do not always work very well. 3.0 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Everything is there, thought it is not exceptional. Voice work is bad, especially Peter’s voice. 2.8

Play Value
Web slinging is fun, so there is potential to go back and have complete some optional missions. But the overall experience is rather crude, so you likely won’t.

2.8 Overall Rating – Average
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • Overhauled Combat System Provides Deepest Arsenal Ever: A reengineered combat system fuses Spider-Man’s speed and strength to create deadly new attacks and combos. For the first time ever in a Spider-Man game, players can take the fight vertically and combat foes on city walls, where only Spider-Man holds the advantage.
  • Gamers Control Their Fighting Experience: At a moment’s notice, gamers can switch between the agile grace of Spider-Man’s Red Suit and the savage power of the Black Suit, creating some of the most devastating combos ever seen in a Spider-Man game.
  • Players Can Customize Their Ideal Spider-Man: Players earn experience in multiple combat disciplines, allowing them to custom-design their ideal Spider-Man. Points awarded during battle can be used across unique paths to upgrade the Red Suit and Black Suit, allowing players complete control over the style and moves they take into combat.
  • Every Choice Counts: Dependant on the gamer’s actions and decisions, a morality meter will gauge whether citizens cheer Spider-Man on or run away in fear. Spider-Man’s actions as hero or vigilante, based on choices at key points in the game, will affect how the fate of New York vs. alien invasion ends.
  • Side With Marvel’s Greatest Heroes and Villains: Luke Cage or Vulture? Wolverine or Electro? Gamers can control who will ultimately aid them in the fight to rid New York of its alien symbiote. Alliances with Marvel’s greatest heroes and most notorious villains hold consequences, as heroic and vigilante paths hold different destinies. Call upon your allies with the push of a button to combine forces for epic Hero Strikes!

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    We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
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