Review #427: Spider-man - Web of Shadows Amazing Allies Edition(Playstation 2)

 Comes back in black... never to return again...

 This is it. Spider-man's final outing on the PS2. And... it's a glorified handheld game. I mean, it really is, this is a port of the PSP's 2-D sidescrolling action-platform imagining of the Web of Shadows game. But despite its origins, despite how they opted to port the PSP version and not the Wii's version... it's not that bad of a send off.

 For the third time in a row Symbiotes take center stage in the plot. After tussling with Venom one more time, the symbiote infects Spider-man... and the rest of New York. And outbreak of Venom-like symbiotes infects the city and it's up to Spider-man and Nick Fury to stop it. And no, it's not a reimagining of Friend or Foe, don't be alarmed. One thing to keep in mind is that the presentation is very underwhelming, there're no cutscenes, instead you'll be stuck reading textbox after textbox after textbox. The dialogue is very cheesy and over-the-top, the writers certainly weren't taking the story too seriously, so your mileage may vary on the game's delivery. Oh, and the game's ending? There's none. You defeat the boss and a pop-up tells you that you unlocked New Game Plus. Fun.

 'Moral Choices' were a big thing at the time, and they somewhat implemented in the game to varying degrees of success. Throughout every stage you may come upon NPCs, most which will taks you with a quest, and all of them will bombard you with text and multiple choices, depending on your choices you earn Black or Red reputation points. As far as I know, these only affect which 'Summons' you get, but they also affect which skills you can buy. Mind you, earning Red points doesn't gate you out of Black points and skills, and vice-versa, reputation points only accumulate. Quests are very simple 'find this stuff for me', 'take me there' or 'defeat all enemies', and a very few have different outcomes, which was kinda interesting.

 While this is a 2-D side-scroller, things are rarely linear, making the most out of Spidey's abilities, you'll be able to stick on walls and ceilings, as well as swing with your web through the air or pull yourself with it against a surface. Spidey can punch and kick, and by pressing select you can switch between red and black costumes. Each costume has three exclusive unlockable moves, which were rather... bland. They don't combo to well between your punches and kicks, but they are fun to use every now and then. As for the combat itself, it's relatively fun, the web-head is fast and hitting enemies feels good. You'll also be able to find power ups, such as temporary strength enhancement or even summon enemies and allies(It's not Friend or Foe, I swear) to perform an attack and help you out. I felt it was a bit gimmicky and lame, I never really summoned them and they weren't really needed. Bosses will eventually take out about half of your entire health bar(Even when you bought all four HP increments) with a single hit, but they are very easy to figure out.

 I don't know if it's due to the nature of it being a handheld port, but I felt like graphics were a bit ... I wouldn't call them blurry, not necessarily, but not well defined, if that makes any sense. A few stages, particularly the Luke Cage one felt a bit sloppy, like the camera swinging to fast or finding Spidey apparently teleported elsewhere. IT was mostly a rare occurrence though.

 Spider-man: Web of Shadows Amazing Allies Edition(I hate the title) was not the ideal way to end Spidey's run on the PS2, but at least it wasn't a terrible game. I'm sure most people will find the game too underwhelming to give it a chance, but if you're willing, it just might surprise you.
 6.0 out of 10