Spider-Man: Web of Shadows for Xbox 360 Reviews by Gamers

I've been reading some reviews for this game, and while many reviewers say that they were impressed by some aspects of it, they all gave it fairly low ratings because of its minor flaws and because it doesn't compare to Spiderman 2. Let me disagree with them all and say that this game, despite its small flaws, is the first game I've yet to play which really nails the idea of Spiderman.

The game's plot is, luckily, entirely original, meaning that it isn't based on any of the movies. It deals with the symbiote invasion, and quickly unravels into an apocalyptic scenario in which all of Manhattan has been quarantined to deal with the threat. Spiderman, along with many other Marvel characters, is stuck in the middle of this struggle, and he fights to defeat the ever-growing tide of attacking symbiotes.

The game follows in Spiderman 2's wake in that it's a free-roaming game and the missions are spread out along the massive Manhattan backdrop. Where it doesn't follow in Spiderman 2's wake is in the combat. For those of us who played Spiderman 2, we will all remember how cool it was to swing around and upgrade your abilities, but we also remember taking out the same baddies over and over with incredibly clunky combat and repetitive and frustrating tactics. In WoS, the combat is an extension of the web swinging. You can fight your enemies on the ground, on a wall, or hundreds of feet above the streets, as happens in one breath-taking and epic boss battle with Vulture, and you will always feel like you have absolute freedom of motion. One of the sleekest things you can do is start climbing a building, then zip along it, sliding on your knees, to shoot over the top and begin attacking the baddies. Attacks are fluid and visceral, and the enemies towards the end of the game are relentless.

One of the flaws I have heard about is Spiderman character, and i can assure you he is a whiny teen, but isn't that who spiderman is supposed to be?

I highly recommend.

this is the closest they've ever gotten to actually playing the game like spidey would. they should make a sequal. nuff said

The game was pretty good. The only issues that kept it from a 7 were the camera hiccups and the slow down. Sometimes while in the middle of air battles, the camera will suddenly go insane and its tough to recover. The targeting system has the same freak out issues sometimes. Also near the end of the game I experienced some frame rate issues.

To sum up this game, it's the best super hero game to date. The game does have it's flaws, as well as some bugs, so it's not perfect, but close enough.

Web of Shadows is more or less, a button masher/hack and slash. So don't kid yourself there, and it's mostly all repetition. You will do the same thing, over and over again, with either a different objective or enemy.

The role-playing aspect of the game, comes from choosing to be good or bad. Red suit = good, Black suit = bad.

Pros

Decent combat system (though some signature moves are left out)

Definite difference between the suits fighting styles
(this is a pro and con by the way)
Graphics are pretty good

All VO work, there is no "just text" aspects of the game (all but Spider-Man VO is done well for the most part)

Some VERY good cut scenes

Cons

The is a big balance issue between the 2 suits.
(black is straight up damage, with massive area potential, w/out using special meter)

Boss fights using button inputs during the cut scenes
(I hate this, since it distracts from what's going on)

Way too easy to be juggled later on in the game from enemies, with on way around it

Targeting system is horrid
(being able to target civilians to save them is aggrivating at best. Needed to be a mapped button that only targeted them, not how it is in game)

Game+ mode is glitchy to start
(have to watch the credits after you beat the game, then hit continue, watch them again, and hit continue again, and you should be able to play game+ mode)

Some glitches are drastic and will stop you from being able to complete a mission. Luckily it usually only happens on "optional" ones, not main quest.

Overall, it's a good game, and the best comic based game to date. (yea, I know it's not saying much is it?) At most, it's a rental, but still fun to play.

Web of Shadows is a pretty fun game but I don't see why some reviewers are calling it amazing. The storyline isn't bad, the combat is fun, and swinging around is always a joy.

As you progress through the story, you'll find a certain repetition in the story. First, you find a new ally. Then, you'll work with this ally to complete several missions. During this time, you'll fight a certain set of enemies over and over. Then you'll run into a boss battle. When you defeat that boss, you'll start the process over again.

The combat in this game is fairly good for a Spider-man game. For once, it isn't all just a simple, repetitive three hit combo over and over again. There's plenty of room for power-ups and new moves as well. The system is actually very similar to the more recent game PROTOTYPE if you've played that game yet.

The storyline is pretty decent and there's plenty of allies and villains you'll encounter and work with along the way (depending which way you lean, black or red, you'll get to play along with them) with great voice actors.

The thing that bugged me the most was that Spider-man was not voiced by the usual Tobey Maguire but instead some weird person with a light voice. I didn't mind it when I got farther and farther into the game, but it's something that really bugged me.

What I also didn't like was the lack of having to stick to actual surfaces to web swing. I understand this was probably intended, but it reminded me of the lame first Spider-man game in which you swung from the sky regardless of any buildings being near you.

To recap:

The good:
Good, original storyline
Combat/Upgrade system is elaborate
Voice acting / Spider-man lines are actually funny sometimes

What you might not like:
Missions can get repetitive
Small bugs in the game
Getting knocked down can get annoying

This game is definitely worth a rent. I would definitely recommend it as something you should at least try if you're a fan of the Spider-man franchise.

When they released Spiderman 1 they brought in a new generation of spiderman games.When they brought in spiderman 2 they gave the power of "free-roam" to the players.And then there was spiderman 3 which was an incredible game
But SMwos was in my opion the best. Being able to switch suits whenever you want was purely intense plus the choice system is also very nice to choose to bad or good.I think the story line was also very nice not being based on a movie gave them the freedom to do whatever they wanted. The combat system was nice to. It took away classic button mashing and replaced it with timed atacks and other very cool attacks like choking eneimes, skateboarding them, and ground slaming them from as high up as you can get them i personally enjoyed this game very much but then again im not you.

I was close to giving up gaming because I felt I had seen it all. Spiderman cured me - this game is the absolute perfect story based game. There are some glitches late in act 3, just reboot the xbox and you'll be fine. That said - great storytelling, amazing graphics and gameplay. I can't get enough of webslinging through New York. This game for me was the equivalent of the rare occurence of that book you stay awake all night to finish. Wasted a perfectly good sunny weekend on nothing but playing this, and it was worth it.

Best in class, and the best game I have played on the 360 yet.

This game beats Shattered Dimensions 100 to 1 ! Great story great moves the fact that you can use the black suit at any time is awesome. Not only that but the black suit enhances everything noticeably. The web slinging is the best its ever been. I have no clue as to how they could follow up Web of Shadows with that disgrace Shattered Dimensions is beyond me but, don't waste your money on it !! But Web of Shadows ...... AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME !!

...although,to be honest,i've yet to see him drink the fluids of one of his victims he wraps in webbing...just sayin'.
i'm gonna start by sayin i have an issue w/the other reviews of this game. plz don't hate me for sayin this,but have u guys realy PLAYD this game? let me xplain myself.
1 of the reviewers said it was "the best/most realistic spidey game yet",others said it was "great" and "good because it wasn't based off of a movie".now i will review this game and tell u the pros and cons so u may fully undrstand this game.
PROS:
1.decent graphics.i'd like to see better,but i wont complain too much.
2. concept.they had a GREAT idea,letting u switch between black and red suit at will. also,the "choice" system is realy cool. it changes up the story giving the game decent replayability.
3.combat.this is where the game shines.there is a realy cool new combat system that allows u to dispense badies pretty much any way u want to.sure,it is BASICALLY button mashing,but if u want to make it look stylish,memerizing different chain attacks isnt that hard.
4.wall climbing. it takes a while to get used to,but the new style works, and it works well.
5.allies.u will meet different characters throughout the game,good and bad,who after u meet,u can call on to aid you in combat.
CONS:
1.DETAIL!this game is good,but it isn't as good as spiderman 3. it isn't FAR worse,but detail makes a difference.in spiderman 3,u can shoot webs from whichever hand u want with the triggers,allowing u to swing perfectly.the new 1 buton system ruins this.also,in SM3,u saw EXACTLY where ur webs stuck to for u to swing from. now,the mysterious air hanging webs are BACK!u cant control the hight of ur jump anymore,its the same hight no mater how long u press A,and u can only jog and run,no walking.
2.GLITCHES!during side missions(which r 90% of the game,btw)u use spidey sense to lock on to foes, to bad some of the foes glitch into the buildings.
ths game is a 7,good.not VRY good or prfct.

The storyline is a bit weak and the dialog and character actors could definitely use an upgrade, but if you've ever wanted to BE Spiderman, this game is really, really fun. Web-slinging has finally been properly achieved in this title. You can soar to astonishing heights and swan dive into a death-defying sweep through the city streets below with more control than any Spidey game before it. My girlfriend and I spent hours shooting through the air at the area on the map with the highest skyscrapers. It was incredible. It was also fun trying to unlock all of the fighting combos and moves. Again though, not the best game ever over-all, but a lot of fun to play.

ive read alot of reviews for this game. some good some bad but to me it was a really good game now granted ive never played any of the previous spiderman games so i have nothing to compare it to, everyone talks about how it doesnt messure up to spiderman 2. well i cant comment on that. the game does have a few flaws based soly on gameplay such as sometimes when your web sliging around town it starts to wanna freeze on you and he goes slow lol and twice in the game when he landed from a web sling he landed on his head and floated around the screen for a bit like that wich was wierd lol but if little things like that dont bother you like for me they dont since it was a small part of the game that was a affected and didnt last long its a great game solid story line not based off the movies good fighting and you gotta love web slinging and pulling combos from that and the suit changing is awesome and you can make cool combos switching back and forth from red to black suit mid combo so thats awesome plenty of other heros come into the game it was just good fun if your a fan of spiderman or comics i cant wait for shattered demensions now lol now would i buy it maybe not but only because im one of thouse people who once i beat a game i may not play it again for a long while but if you like to replay games alot then yes id buy it but definetly rent it if your a fan of these types of games and of spiderman

The no stop action is what makes this game so appealing to many.
But ive have to say the graphics are very good also (4/5). In Web of Shadows you will be assisted by many of spider mans allies like Wolverine, Cage, Black Widow, Black Cat, and many more... If I had to sum this game up with a few words they would be... "epic"... "fun"... & "dramatic".
The hateful truth...
Although this game was extremely fun, and the boss battles were eye popping! It did lack in the story line... I just wished there was more cut screens, and with spider mans personality, who whouldn't want that!? Also
In the end Web of Shadows is a great for thoughs who luck to get pure action out of games.

My Rating: 8.0

prototype and spiderman web of shadows where both made by activision and after playing both you can tell the similarities in both. they both take place in nyc, the town gets taken over by viruses that progressivly changes new york and you upgrade your abilitys with the exp. you get from missions. unfortunatly spiderman web of shadows was the weaker game. it wasnt verry fluid switching from web swinging to climbing on walls or vice versa, i found many times that i fell all the way down a building trying to get spiderman to grab the wall and would fall all the way to the ground. another complaint i had was the camera was realy hard to controll and would sometimes be impossible to controll being stuck looking up at the sky or down at the ground while trying to fight an enemy. ingnoring the negatives this is by far the best spiderman game out there and is defedently worth the rent.

This is the best Spider-Man game ever released. With that said, it has some major flaws that can frustrate, mostly centered around the camera. It can get downright buggy at times. Still, it's a fun game and worth renting (but not owning). Enjoy.

I had a lot of fun with the game, both the web slinging and combat are top rate in this game. The game looks gorgeous as well, though another reviewer said that the web is mysteriously floating again. Which is true in a sense it doesn't stick EXACTLY to the buildings but it still needs them for you to swing through the city. The webslinging is still fun and easy, there's even thousands of collectable tokens to make the already speedy spiderman swing through the city faster by leveling him up as you get more and more.

The combat is fluid and fun, as you kill enemies and complete objects you learn more complex and deadlier moves. With the black suit and Red suit easily switched on the fly you can mix and match combos seamlessly. My favorite part to the combat is air combos where you can leap from enemy to enemy.

Unfortunately...
There's not a whole lot of story in the game you'll spend most of your time killing the same enemies over and over, and saving citizens. I realize that's what Spiderman does. He's a super hero, but 90% of the game has you doing this over and over and over. Luckly the games boss battles break up the repetition and lead to new allies.

Allies, which for the most part are useless. Although you can call people like Black cat and even Wolverine to your aid. Calling them means you're giving up your special meter which allows you to pull off devestating attacks to get you out of some sticky situations. Your allies can't be used during boss battles, they don't seem to follow you around while swinging through the city for more baddies and they're not particularly powerful.

All in all, it's the best Spiderman game I've ever played. The combat is fun and fluid and the web slinging is better than ever. The graphics look phenominal and the story is decent. The game does get repetitive but breaks it up with boss battles and more story. Not neccessarily a buy but a game I would recommend to anyone who just wants an enjoyable experience.

Once you get the hang of the controls this game is alot of fun
Swinging from building to building to bad guy is cool
its like GTA

I just got the game today in the mail and have been playing it since then. It's a very good title and representation of what a Spiderman game should be. The only problem that I have with the game is that sometimes the camera angles on roof tops isn't so great at times. The button layout is just fine and Spiderman's moves aren't difficult to pull off. I have already recommended this game to all of my friends and to anyone else thinking of picking it up.

I wanted to give this (extremely shiny and pretty good looking) game higher marks, but leveling up using a token collection system instead of actual story progress, a lack of any side diversions or mini games, poor camera during combat, and said combat's ability to be extremely easy and then very frustrating at the flick of a wrist, pulled it down.

I played Spiderman 2 four years ago and while the core story/mission were terrible, the swinging around the city was incredibly well done. It took four years and some bad games in the middle, but this version of the webslinger is almost as good as Spiderman 2 was. The core mechanics are much better than that game, but Web of Shadows has gone back to the approach of Spidey attaching his line to mid air to swing from (at the oddest moments) rather than a fixed location. The camera also gets rather twitchy when the game is trying to guess which surface Spidey is standing on - ground or wall.

The biggest problem with the game is that the player does not have "spider sense," but the game does and it does a poor job at deciding which enemy is closest for targeting and attacking purposes. Said targeting involves the camera, which is spastic if Spiderman is switching between ground, air and wall combat. Combat is extremely smooth to instigate, but often I find myself attacking enemy after enemy that I never saw (all the while timing extremely touchy button presses) because the game does all the work for me. I very much want a static camera that sticks to spidey's back - others may disagree but I like to look at what the character is looking at and that doesn't happen very often during the game.

This game is almost there. Rent it, like it, and send it back so another can be Sidey for a few days. Swinging around the city is still a lot of fun.

The Good
Better combo system, you can seamlessly switch from black to red spiderman with no problems. Calling for help from the people you meet in the storyline (basically the same as you did in maximum carnage for SNES).

The Bad
If you played one spiderman game you have played them all. this is a way better game than spiderman friend or foe but still worth the play after all that is what gamefly is about. The graphics are less than spiderman 3 but still doesnt take that much away from the game.

The Ugly
glitches, sometimes enemies are stuck between buildings and sometimes you cannot get to them.\

Overall the game is good and worth playing. XBOX and PS3 seriously need to re-think selling games for 60 dollars. It has to be hurting them.

for all those spidey fans such as myself this is one for the ages. mid-air combos, special attacks and switching from red to black suit in the blink of an eye creates an intense fighting display. you can spend hours on end just webbing through the city.

the best spider man game ever

This is the first spider-man game I've played and I had a ton of fun. The game lacks a compelling and fluid plot, but the concept and the game play is awesome.

Pros:
-Swinging around new york feels fluid and intuitive, and once you have the other movement controls down, it feels more exciting than flying.
-The combo system works well and allows you to change from ground, to wall, to air, giving you the ability to juggle an enemy, or a group of enemies easily.
-The two suits allow for a variations of of combos that make a certain suit better capable to handle certain occasions (example red for single targets and black for multiple.)
-The concept of Venom's symbiote reproducing itself and devouring the city--turning citizens into Venom clones--works great for increasing the level of difficulty of enemies as the story progresses.
-Boss fights are a lot of fun. Durring the game you fight other mutants to get them to concede to you, and later on fight the same mutants after their combined with the venom symbote.

Cons:
-The game is remarkable similar to Prototype. The feel and look of the enemies, and even the moves, gives you a feeling of deja vu. Although, I do have to admit that Spider-Man's web flinging, and combos have a much more fluid feel to it. Prototype can often be frustrating moving around the city and escaping enemies.
-The plot often feels like large chunks are missing from it. Dialog especially points this out because there are parts where it seems that people are responding to questions never asked.
-The morality choices feel shallow and only seems to change a few cut-scenes and whether you can call on heroes or villains to assist you. At the end you also have to make the choice to not wear the black. which effects the ending.
-The game is too short of an open world game.
-The skill tree is pointless as most gamers will easily buy all skills by the end of the game.

Rent, don't buy. There's little to no replay value, although its a ton-o-fun.

Finally after spiderman games from the movies they made a spiderman game worth playing and im not being funny infact if they didnt make this game they would never have the money to make the next spiderman game which is coming out next week on tuesday. The story kind of fealt like they made a sequel after spiderman 3 the movie only they made it better infact they stayed true to the fans of marvel.The gameplay is an example of what spiderman can realy do rather its based on the reguler spiderman or ultimate spiderman.The characters in the story fit well in the story and the game exept for one the rhino why every time i call for his help i have to ride on him like im heman his the only partner i dont want to fight with if i have to say gity up rhino and i bet the real rhino would not like that.The would be much more fun if it had a difficulty setting but above all i recomend playing this if you like spiderman or marvel for that fact.

As a long time Spider-Man fan, this was one of the first games I put on my game queue when I signed up for Gamefly and I finally got to play. It certainly didn't disappoint. Swinging around Manhattan as red or black suit Spider-man is just fun. The missions are fun, but can get a little repetitive. For instance, the game will ask you to beat up X amount of gang members and certain moves are just so overpowered you end up using them instead of anything else.

Still...as a game based on a comic, it's pretty good. It's got a fairly original story for being a Spider-Man game, it shows off a good deal of Spider-Man's rogue gallery, and some of the boss battles are rather epic, such as fighting the Vulture on top of a building.

It's worth checking out if you like Spider-Man, but I can't see non-fans enjoying it all that much, though if you like sandbox games, this would be a good one to try because it gives you something to do rather than just stealing cars.

Also, I want to mention the camera. Most of the time it's not a big deal, but if you get your spider senses stuck on a bad guy, the camera keeps trying to point in that direction, even if you're fighting someone else in the other direction.

And I've had problems with the game freezing. Neither of which are too terribly bad, but worth mentioning.