"Spider-Man: Web Of Shadows" (Nintendo DS) Review

The Good

Great combat system, a free roam environment, good music.

The Bad

Save points, An unoriginal story line.

The Review

In the modern world of video gaming, side scrollers are usually worse than their console counterparts. The reason being for this is that it is harder to create the same level of action in a 2D world as there is in the 3D version. This is why Nintendo Wii, X-Box 360 and Playstation 3 versions are selling better than their counterparts on the Nintendo DS.

"Spider-Man: Web Of Shadows" is a suprising hit. Whilst critical reviews of the Wii, Playstation 3, and X-Box 360 counterparts have been towards negative, critical reviews of the Nintendo DS versions have been positive. Though websites like Gamespot talk out of their back-side when reviewing, they did manage to get this review right.

"Web Of Shadows" has a simple fighting system- press Y for attack, B for jump and web-swing, A for speed-dash and web, and X for web zip. If you notice, Y is the only attack button, but when combined with the other buttons, you can get more complicated- and visually interesting battles. However, as you upgrade attacks, these simple chain commands can unleash devastating attacks, the likes of which I have never seen on a side-scroller. Web attacks are also intriguing, but most of the fun comes with punch-and-kick attacks.

The story is simplicity itself- A symbiote invasion has attacked New York City, and it's Spidey's job to stop it. But not before he is once again bonded with the very suit that nearly destroyed him years ago. His objective is to help people along the way, defeat obsticales, help superheroes, and find the ever-elusive Venom. The only problems with the story line is that it is too short, and that the story line has already been used in Kaare Andrew's Spider-Man graphic novel "Reign".

Also, something that is a first for a Spider-Man side-scroller, is the fact that the game is free-roam. You can roam all of New York City (Residential, Downtown, Pier and Sewer areas) whilst collecting upgrades and defeating symbiote-infected citizens. The only criticism I have of the free-roam style is the fact that you have to travel to save destinations to save your game, instead of being able to do it from the menu.

Even if you are not a hardcore Spider-Man fan, you should still pick up this video game. If you are one of these people who just care about the graphics, this is not the game for you (nor any other Nintendo DS game), as the graphics are simple, cartoony, but very fluid.

Overall

Combat System: 10/10

Locomotion System: 10/10

Maps: 7/10

Music: 8/10

Story: 9/10

Graphics: 7/10

Extras: NA

Overall: 8.5/10