STUDIO: Activision
RELEASE DATE: October 21, 2008
CONSOLE: PS3
ALSO AVAILABLE ON: XBox 360, PS2, PSP, Wii, PC, DS
DEVELOPER: Shaba Games - Treyarch
GENRE: Adventure
PLAYERS: 1
ESRB RATING: T (Teen)

I have a love-hate-love affair with Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. It's certainly not as horrendous as that ridiculous Iron Man game released earlier this year, but it also doesn't live up to the potential of a brand-new, from-the-ground-up adventure of one of the most popular characters in comic book history either. There are some elements - the voice acting, the script, the repetitive nature of the first few hours - that are just unacceptable in today's market. The gaming world has come far enough that we should never, EVER hear a whiny Spider-Man say "Be there or be square" to Luke Cage. EVER. But what's so startling about Web of Shadows is that every time that I was ready to write it off as yet another failed Marvel video game, something grabbed me and drew me back in, and, if you stick with it long enough, the final act is as interesting as the whole game should have been. The bulk of Web of Shadows is far from perfect and has some unexplainable storytelling and gameplay glitches, but it does just enough right that younger fans and nostalgic Spidey lovers may find a lot to love.

The plot of Spider-Man: Web of Shadows is, well, hard to recap. The game opens with another fight with Eddie Brock that causes part of the Venom symbiote to fracture and attach itself to Spidey again. As a result, throughout the game, you can choose between classic, red-suit Spidey or black-suit Venom Spidey, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. And you can choose different "good" or "bad" plot threads that affect the impact of the game, subplots that include whether or not to except Black Cat's busty advances or simply stay true to hot redhead MJ. But, beyond the choose-your-own-adventure story moments, the plot of Web of Shadows is incredibly cluttered. In the opening hours, as you learn the controls and develop your fighting skills, you'll face an odd series of missions with characters like Luke Cage and even the Kingpin, who are just the beginning in a series of oddly chosen minor characters (Moon Knight?) who show up in a story that would be laughed out of any respectable comic-book writer's room. Web of Shadows feels like a game written by people who were given a list of minor characters from the Spidey books, but who have never actually read a Spider-Man comic on their own. Actual screenwriting is becoming a more and more important part of quality gaming, so, when a big-ticket video game can't even craft a story that's as interesting as a below-average issue of Spectacular Spider-Man, that's simply unacceptable. The storytelling in Web of Shadows isn't consistent, or even memorable, until the final act when the Venom/symbiote plotline kicks in. Until then, it's a lot of thug kicking and wall-climbing. A LOT.

The script for Web of Shadows needs significant work (and the voice acting is some of the worst I've heard in years), but there's an infectious quality to the aerial combat that just can't be denied. Anyone who says they really enjoyed Web of Shadows will say so because of the fighting. That first hour of web-slinging and combat-learning makes the game hard to eject. The fight mechanics, which allow you to take your combo moves to the sky, are impressive and entertaining as hell in the beginning, but, unfortunately, they don't develop enough as the game progresses and soon start to become nothing more than button-mashing. The problem with Shadows is that it goes through the motions again and again. It not only needed a better writer but also a better editor. Every mission that should involve defeating X bad guys or saving X civilians should have had their X cut in half. Kicking thugs, bouncing off buildings, swinging around the city - it's all fun but insanely repetitive for at least the first two acts of the game. The fighting controls are interesting and enjoyable, but dampened by the fact that you'll have to use them over and OVER again. 10 Hobgoblin-esque enemies in a row? Fun. 50? Not so much. My love-hate relationship with Web of Shadows stems from loving each opportunity to use my new fighting techniques on a new enemy and then hating have to do it 200 times to move on.

The first two acts are a series of occasionally-interesting but mostly similar missions ("Web-swing into 10 thugs"), but the game really kicks into gear in the end when Venom takes over the entire city. The entire landscape changes (which, I should note, is well-developed and designed throughout the game), the missions become more intriguing, and Wolverine even makes an appearance (choose the "bad guy" road after the Wolverine fight for a plot twist that would make Stan Lee's jaw drop). Even the voice acting seems to improve as the game finally fulfills the potential of its high-altitude combat and original set-up. If you have the patience and don't mind a little square-triangle-square-triangle-repeat, there's enough about the first act and all of the second act to recommend WoS. It's almost like seven hours of training missions before the real game finally kicks in. The love-hate relationship you're likely to have with Web of Shadows will eventually pay off, but don't be surprised if you want to break up with it a few times before you get there.