Those who
remember the early Spider-Man games across consoles like Sega’s Genesis or even
the Dreamcast will remember it fondly. They were nowhere near is impressive as
some of the new games (like the fun Spider-Man 2 game) but they were fun
nonetheless. It’s these early attempts that partly inspire the Spider-Man: Web
of Shadows Amazing Allies Edition for the PSP. While it’s not a direct port of
the console version of Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, this portable game has enough
web-slinging action that’s just as entertaining.
Web of Shadows
Amazing Allies Edition does borrow the plot from the console version, however,
and it also includes the ability to make some choices along the way. The story
starts off, interestingly enough, with Spider-Man running into a reporter for a
rival newspaper looking for an exclusive. Whether you chose to stick around and
answer his question or blow him off, your day quickly turns sour when Venom
shows up. A fight erupts and Spidey wins but suddenly the alien symbiote
explodes and our hero wakes up with a headache and wearing the Black Suit once
again. Oh, but that’s not all, it seems like the rest of the alien mutated and
scattered throughout the city.
It is
S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury who wakes Spidey up and tells him that the alien
has become a threat to the city that must be stopped immediately seeing as it
has a corrupting effect any anyone it might come in contact with it, including the
city’s heroes and villains. With things looking bleak, the PSP version of Web of
Shadows introduces a number of favorite Marvel Comics good guys and bad guys you
can summon as allies in your fight to stop the alien menace (but I’ll get more
into that in a moment).
The game played
like a traditional side-scrolling Spider-Man game. You can swing around the
environment and you can always crawl up walls and ceilings as well. Spidey also
makes use of his acrobatic skills and incredible strength as well for when you
need to carry a civilian or two out of harms way. There is also the option to
change from the Red Suit or the Black Suit via the Select button. He even has
his Spider Senses but in this game it is uses to locate people in need of your
help or to seek out hidden threats. This is helpful seeing as there is a lot of
ground to cover even if this is a side-scrolling action game.
Along the way
you will encounter civilians in need of your help. A dialogue box opens up when
you encounter a civilian and there are basically two options you can make in the
game. You can take the good path by accept to offer aid whether it’s rescuing a
cat stuck on the roof of a building or carrying a whining socialite out of harms
way. On the other hand, if you allow the Black Suit to take a hold of you, then
Spidey can chose to leave said whining socialite to suffer her fate. Aside from
gaining a negative or positive reputation, the choices you make doesn’t change
the game completely but it does make for some truly funny situations and
conversations.
Switching
between the Red Suit and Black Suit isn’t just cosmetic purposes. Donning the
Black Suit allows you to knock enemies out with your web rather than disabling
them the way you would wearing the Red Suit. The Black Suit also allows you to
break through certain walls and you can web-zip a bit faster. Combat also
changes a little with each suit and you’ll find that the Black Suit dishes out
more damage than when you wear the Red Suit.
Speaking of
combat, the punches and kicks are handled rather well and you can always perform
the usual Spider-Man tricks such as jump kicks and uppercuts. There are a
variety of Power-ups that give Spidey extra strength or tougher skin for a short
period of time. The interesting power-up, however, is the ability to call a
friend or foe as an ally as a summon. Web of Shadows takes a number of
characters from the Marvel Universe to come to your aid. You can have Galactus
appear (well, actually his foot makes an appearance) to clear all enemies out of
your way or maybe have the X-Men’s Nighcrawler to teleport into the area to
knock everyone out. There are dozens of characters to use as summons so you will
find everything from Moon Knight to Wolverine.
You can also
learn new abilities as well as pick your summons and other power-ups before
starting a mission. This is great seeing as you will get into a number of boss
battles with familiar Spider-Man villains such as Shocker, Kraven the Hunter and
Mysterio. Unfortunately, Web of Shadows does come with its flaws. For one thing,
it gets old beating up the seemingly endless number of mindless thugs that keep
coming after you. Sometimes you get to fight robots but the change isn’t all
that different. Worst yet is the fact that there are a number of freezes during
the action. The freezes even happen during the most inopportune moments during
combat or boss battles and it hurts the game considerably.
Graphically
speaking, the game isn’t very pretty for a PSP title. In fact, the game looks
like a really attractive GameBoy Advance title. The only thing good about the
visuals is that the characters look great in action and during cut scenes. Its
backgrounds and visual effects, on the other hand, are too bland for a handheld
capable of displaying better than this. There’s an Ok soundtrack featured in the
game and it never gets annoying. This is joined by a decent voice cast that
should have been featured more than what is heard in this game.
Spider-Man: Web
of Shadows Amazing Allies Edition for the PSP is a worthwhile action game that
captures the spirit of the old Spidey games while spinning its own unique web of
fun. Adding a number of power-ups and the ability to summon heroes and villains
to come to your aid is a nice touch. I just wish the game contain too many
mindless thug beatings and constant framerate stutter. Still, there’s quite a
lot to like about this one and if you fancy a game with choices between walking
the good path or a bad one then this is one portable superhero game you will
most definitely want to play.
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Gameplay: 7.0
The fighting
mechanics feel like the old Spider-Man games and this isn’t necessarily a bad
thing at all. There are some interesting power-ups to mix things up during
combat and they don’t call it the Amazing Allies Edition for nothing. Plus, the
Black Suit lets you be deliciously bad.
Graphics: 6.5
Visually, Web of
Shadows offers some rather decent graphics … if this were a GameBoy Advance
game. Spider-Man and the collection of Marvel characters that make an appearance
are instantly recognizable but it’s just too bad that everything else looks
rather bland.
Sound: 6.5
The music is
passable despite the fact that it’s recycled throughout the game and the sound
effects are only minimal. At least the voices are handled well during cut scenes
and Spider-Man is often very witty and funny in this game.
Difficulty: Medium
It takes a number of
punches to bring down lowly thugs in this game but it’s nothing our hero can’t
handle. The real challenge comes from battling bosses such as Venom or
Hobgoblin.
Concept: 7.0
There are choices
that pop up the feel true to Spidey’s personality when he wears the Black Suit
and having a lineup of Marvel friends and villains as summoning characters is a
great idea that works well throughout the game. Who wouldn’t want to call up
Wolverine or Moon Knight to lend a helping hand when you’re outnumbered?
Overall: 7.0
Fans of the early
Spider-Man games will certainly get a kick out of Web of Shadows and, thanks to
a number of interesting features; it’s one of the better PSP games featuring the
Web-slinger. Still, there are some issues that do hold this game back from being
a truly amazing superhero game but what is here is still fun if you’re looking
for solid portable Spider-Man game.
