Review #440: Spider-man - Web of Shadows(Wii)

 Wii of Shadows. 'Cause this version falls beneath the PS3 version's shadow!

 First of all, this game is almost exactly the same as the PS3 version I wrote about a few weeks ago, so here I'll focus mostly on what is different, what is better and what is worse about the Wii version. Web of Shadows was the best Spider-man game in the entire Spider-manathon, and as great as it was, it had a few flaws that kept it from excellence. The Wii version, naturally, adds tacked-on motion controls(No Classic Controller alternative!) and, obviously, has downgraded graphics. It also adds costumes.

 First things first, the controls are a step down from the PS3 version. I understand that the Wii remote+Nunchuck combo can be a bit awkward, and you end up missing a few buttons, so having to resort to motion controls is understandable, and to be frank, it works pretty well: You flick the nunchuck side-ways to switch between red and black Spider-man, or you flick it upwards to target enemies. As for the Wii remote, you flick it sideways to perform the web-strike or upwards to swing. Web zipping is done by holding C and shaking the Wii Remote upwards. Most of the time the controls work well, but there's a ton of button combos to remember, so it'll take a bit of time for you to really get comfortable with Spider-man's entire moveset. The nunchuck is a bit too sensitive, so expect to be accidentally switching costumes all the time, either when trying to toggle targeting or simply because you had to scratch your head. This also extends to swinging, sometimes Spider-man will throw kicks in the air because the game thinks you want the web-strike. Basically, I think they did the best they could, but it's still a huge downgrade from the PS3 version, you simply can't trust the game to read all your inputs correctly, but it's quite tolerable because the game is so much fun, the combat is still really good, and the swinging, when you get it going right, is still a dream.

 The ally system is gone entirely, while moral choices are still there to be made, and the Black/Red points system still exists, you won't be calling in assistance from other characters. Instead, there're 6 unlockable costumes, 5 for Spider-man(Iron Spider, Spider-Armor, Ben Reily Spider-man, Spider-man 2099 and Captain Universe Spider-man) while Black Spider-man gets Spider-Carnage. You can't mix and match, so you can only equip one costume and one costume only, so it's either Red Spider-man/Spider-Carnage or (Other costume)/Black suit. It's a bit disappointing, having extra outfits for Spider-man shouldn't be too hard since most of them are simply different textures, and not being able to have Spider-Carnage and another suit on Red Spider-man seems like a missed opportunity. Look, I wasn't the biggest fan of the Ally system, and I'll always enjoy bonus content, but the tradeoff is.. meh, I don't think we lost something of value, but what we gained doesn't have much value either.

 The thing I hated the most about Web of Shadows were its QTEs, and boy, is the problem exacerbated when they require motion input! They were bad before, they are slightly worse now. And the framerate will suffer, a lot. It's not unplayable by any means, and luckily it's not much of an issue when battling, but rather when you reach high speeds while swinging. I also had the game freeze on me a couple of times, and I did some research and it seems I was not the only one. There were also a few silly glitches, like Spider-man crawling a wall on his back, which were quite common but don't really ruin the game.

 If for whatever reason you don't have access to the X360 or PS3 version of the game, the Wii version is just fine as a substitute, but do know that it's a gimped game. Most of the game's problems stem from the fact that its running on weaker hardware, and this port's main gimmick, the alternate outfits, are little more than an afterthought. Still, I don't need to play the other Wii ports of Spider-man games to know that this is the best Spider-man game available on the system, just as it is on the other consoles.
 7.0 out of 10