Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (Xbox 360)

Boss fights are long winded affairs that might be a little too long for some people, multiple stage chases across New York City are common here and the combat however makes it extremely satisfying, the aerial combat especially so when you master the various tricks and realise that you have near complete freedom in how you take the fight to the enemy (boss or not). The first big long fight and chase elicited a great sigh from me until I realised that for once, it was actually possible to catch up to the target with very little trouble thanks to the excellent control and flawless context sensitive web-slinging system.

To go along with the great web-swinging and combat you have some extremely well created animations. Spider-Man is fluid and his moves are beautifully crafted. Web-swinging is a joy to watch and they seem to have captured the elegance created from some of the finest comic panels and certain movie scenes. He really does flow from one motion to the next, whether triggered by the player or part of his own context sensitive reaction to the environment, you’ll be able to chain together an impressive looking swing across the city.

In combat Spider-Man’s moves are just as good, with a wide variety of reactions if you’re knocked down, swing or leap into a wall. Perhaps for a moment Spidey might attach himself to the wall before he leaps off again towards the bad guy to deliver a ferocious and well animated kick to the face.

The graphics are nicely done; New York City is big and well rendered/designed. Spider-Man in both costumes looks the part and the various heroes and villains you encounter are likewise well designed and animated. The game has very little pop-up and pop-in and the frame-rate stays rock-solid throughout even when a lot is going on around Spider-Man.

The music is of good quality, it kicks in when it needs to and provides a suitable backdrop for Spider-Man’s adventures. The sound effects are solid and they’re effective, the web-slinging and the sound of a punch have all been crafted with a decent attention to detail. The voice acting varies from character to character with Peter Parker/Spider-Man sounding suitably cocky and Mary Jane as whiny as ever. There are some familiar voice actors from the various Marvel games who reprise their roles alongside some new talent.

The enemy AI does what it has to and it’s nothing amazing in that respect, it provides a decent enough challenge.

All in all Web of Shadows is one of those games that you’re going to probably love or hate. I don’t see there being much middle ground here, which again is how it was with Assassin’s Creed, people either loved that or despised it. There is replay value here since you can adjust the story based on your actions in the world and trying to play the true hero is extremely hard when civilians get caught in the crossfire and you have to break off beating up bad guys to save their ass. Still, it provides a great deal of fun and web-swinging action for a Spider-Man fan and with the non-movie storyline you can expect to be entertained on the game’s own merits, the lack of stars like Tobey McGuire and so on only serves to elevate the game from the mire that Spider-Man 3 was and if you’re looking for a solid dose of action as one of your favourite Marvel heroes, then you really need to look no further than this one.