Secondary Fire Oddcast - Friday, October 31 2008

Instead of trick or treating with the other 12 year olds, Amrit and Jon wax about the upcoming Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard update. Along with the batmen, jokers, and other super heroes out and about getting candy, we also discuss our love for Spiderman Web of Shadows in great depth. We also debate the Wii’s role in the mainstream video game market, and shovel ware. Hold onto your nads, it’s a very serious podcast this week.

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows Review

I spent my first 30 minutes of Spider-Man Web of Shadows cursing my expectations and frustrated at the PSOne-worthy tutorial Shaba Games had implemented into what was supposed to be the ultimate Spider-Man game (no pun intended). In strict and regimented try-and-try-again segments, an all-too-stereotypical Luke Cage instructed me to learn my basic combos, walk on walls, and eat my vegetables, and there wasn’t gon’ be no dessert if I didn’t eat mah veg’tibles, knaw’mean??.

So I conceded. Enslaved to the ebonical demands of a Luke-Cage-cum-Soccer-mom, I followed every order. I played along with every little mission. I jumped through every hoop, I scaled every tower, I swing-kicked every thug to which he ordered me. And then, like a child with a box of crayons and blank white-washed wall, I was set free. I got to roam the city in any direction I wished. I got to swing to my heart’s content. I got to be Spider-Man. The veggies Mama Cage fed me were terrible, bland, and flavourless. They reeked of old generation musk. But the dessert, the dessert was delicious and decadent, and so, so, so worthwhile.

Web of Shadows is to Spider-Man games as Skate is to other skateboard titles, which is completely ironic in its own regard since developer Shaba Games has hand their fair share making Tony Hawk titles in the past. However, they’ve managed to produce a Spider-Man title that, aside from the tutorials and minor gameplay flaws, is fun and refreshing from typical Spider-Man titles. Web of Shadows does a lot right. The swinging mechanic of the game feels natural. That is to say, the swinging in this game actually feels like swinging. In the past, web-swinging was an automatic and nearly passive mode of movement, a simple button press. In Web of Shadows however, swinging requires timing, depth-perception, and rhythm. A conscious effort must be applied, since Spidey’s web must actually connect with a surface, so say goodbye to swinging from the sky. Players must be aware of and adjust their virtual speed and trajectory in order to zip through New York City precisely, a mechanic that has obviously been refined through many Tony Hawk iterations.

Another nod to the Tony Hawk games is the combat system. As Spidey levels up, you can purchase and unlock longer combos, combo-variants, and chains, allowing you to customize your combo strings, not so dissimilar to riding a unique skateboard line. With both classic and symbiote suits to switch between, the permutations multiply. I could feasibly jump into the air, web-strike an opponent, pulling myself to him, flip him off the ground, throw him into the air, switch to my powerful symbiote suit, leash a tendril to my now airborne victim, and slam him into the ground. That’s just one of the combos I’ve devised, and the damage and pain I’ve put this poor thug through matches my Spider-Man personality to a tee.

What’s my Spider-Man personality? Like most next-gen games, I’ve got the choice between being good or evil, or in this case, friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man or dark and vengeful Spider-Man (I refuse to equate Symbiote Spider-Man to a longhaired, tap-dancing, emo-fool-ass-hat). Throughout the game, I’m presented with forks in the road. The dark path, or the light path. Whichever I choose changes my mission objectives and pushes me closer to a respective side on the karmic spectrum. It sounds a bit black and white (or Black and Red/Blue) at this point, but it’s not so simple.

If you’ve ever read a Bible or have had the power of God threatened upon you, you’ll know, or at least have heard, that the path of evil is tempting one. I noticed myself falling into the dark path without even trying. I was ignoring helpless citizens, leaving them to the fates. I found myself using my black suit, and enjoying all of its power. I found myself using excuses to beat someone up if they so looked at me cockeyed. It all goes back to my childhood, as I’ve always had a thing for the Symbiote Suit. There was no Spider-Man more badass than that. But I digress.

To call Web of Shadows the best Spider-Man game ever would disservice past titles who have clearly paved a path for this very game to exist. Instead, I’d call this is an evolution of those Spider-Man games. Web of Shadows is definably “next-gen” in a lot of aspects. It’s very good looking, both Visually and physically. You can swing as far as the eye can see; buildings, cars, and newspaper stands are damaged with every hit; and the animations, textures, and poses are truly comic book-worthy. The game’s control scheme is a shining example that one needs not a gimmicky motion controller to attain that natural and organic feel. And while the game’s writing is a bit hokey, it’s easy to forgive, seeing that comic book writing is pretty cheesy in itself. But most of this stuff is icing on the cake. What we have here is a Spidey game that is as addictive to play as Skate, and imaginative as Amazing Spider-Man issue #300. But ultimately, what we have is the first chance to really feel like Spider-Man, and isn’t that what we all secretly want?