Spider-Man: Web of Shadows

The Good
After the campy showing of the Raimi films in Friend or Foe, Shaba and Treyarch made it up with creating a proto-Prototype game (2nd after Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction) where Peter Parker for reasons unknown gets a part of Venom after 20+ years. In 3-4 chapters, NYC goes from a peaceful metropolis plaqued by gang banger drive by's and shoot outs to a full on symbiote infested cesspool. Taking a page from Neversoft's game, the developer put a little treat for Marvel fans in form of supporting characters such as Mary Jane, Luke Cage, Black Cat (3rd best in gaming) and villains like Kingpin, Vulture, Electro etc. For those that did not enjoy the tech demo feel of Treyarch's Spider-Man 2 movie tie-in, this one brings a clear redesign of NYC.

The Bad
Since this is a PC port, the main issue derrives from FPS and sometimes the camera. The plot, while an interesting concept (looks like Neversoft is the core inspiration) needed more time in the kitchen with the pacing and better explanation for certain plot points. Keith Arem, the VO director did what he could with the dialogue but certain voice actors shouldn't have been casted (Vaughn as Spidey, Atkin Downes as Moon Knight and O'Brien as Electro). A future remaster might fix some of the camera and FPS issues.

The Bottom Line
Despite being better than Friend or Foe, this game deserved more time spent on polishing certain aspects before release.