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发表于 2008-10-21 10:04 · 四川
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gamespot 评测全文
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows Review (360/PS3)
Posted by Adam Rosenberg on 10/22 at 07:37 AM
Remember Spider-Man 3 and Spider-Man: Friend or Foe? No you don’t. They were fun-hating, derivative experiences which did a disservice to the Queens-born webslinger. Praise Activision then for handing the Spidey license over to Shaba Games, whose just-released Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (360/PS3 versions reviewed here) makes it fun to swing through an open urban playground again. While there are echoes of the previous Treyarch-developed offerings in Web of Shadows, Spidey’s latest adventure is bolstered by a redesigned ability tree, a branching “good or evil” storyline and – best of all – all-new combat mechanics which perfectly capture the experience of fighting like a spider a can.
Click through for the goods.
What If? In Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
Although it is relegated to a position of secondary importance, the three-act narrative in Spider-Man: Web of Shadows plays like an increasingly crazed “What If?” scenario from Marvel Comics. Each act is a self-contained story arc, though there are a number of overarching elements which tie it all together. The writing is sharp and funny, serving up some great Spidey banter.
The primary arc of the story involves Venom and a symbiote invasion of New York City. A prologue tutorial shows the city in ruins, with S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers fending off unsettlingly agile creatures as Luke Cage, Mary Jane and Spider-Man are making their way to some evacuation point. A brief encounter with Venom teaches the basic combat and swing mechanics – nothing we haven’t seen before at this point – after which time winds back to recount the events leading up to Manhattan’s evacuation.
We’re not going to spoil what happens, but expect to see a mix of familiar and new (for Spidey’s video games anyway) faces as the story progresses. As times become steadily more desperate, Spidey will even add a number of the heroes and villains he encounters to his pool of allies. Allies can be called in to provide aid throughout the game, whenever the wall-crawler’s Special meter is filled.
Throughout the story, players will be faced with a number of morally oppositional decisions to make, realized in the game as Red or Black paths (for Spidey’s red and black suits, which can be switched between on the fly). This is simple, non-taxing stuff, but it adds a layer of choice which has previously been absent from Spider-Man games. The decisions you make do indeed have an effect on the outcome of the story, giving the fairly compact experience – less than 10 hours, certainly – some additional replay value.
Fun Rediscovered in Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
The high point in Web of Shadows is the retooled combat system. Central to this is a new move called Web-Strike, which allows Spidey to zip in close to an enemy for an attack and then bounce away to target the next baddie. It takes a little getting used to, as effective Web Strikes are all about properly timed button presses. But it is immensely satisfying to bounce around the playfield, stringing together massive combos without ever once touching the ground.
Spider-Man’s ‘Spidey Sense’ has also been tweaked a bit for Web of Shadows. Tapping the left trigger (on a 360 gamepad) will target the nearest enemy. Hold it down however to send out a sonar-like ping which identifies and color-codes (blue for allies, red for enemies) all beings of interest in the vicinity. This is realized in-game as a glowing aura which is visible even if buildings or other obstacles are obscuring your direct line of sight.
Clicking down on the left stick also allows players to switch between Spider-Man’s red and black suits, a seamless, instantaneous transition. While the main combat controls are the same for both suits, each has a separate ability tree of combos to be unlocked. The red suit is marked by faster combos with higher hit counts whereas the black is better suited to dealing heavy damage with only a few blows. Neither is really better than the other, as both have their uses in different situations.
Another improvement Web of Shadows makes over previous Spidey games is the improved leveling system. Spider-Man earns experience points for every bad guy he brings to justice of course, but greater XP rewards await for completing required and option missions received from the game’s quest-givers. These points are added to a pool which can be spent on unlocking new abilities, which are laid out in suit-specific branching trees. Additionally, scattered throughout the city are hundreds of glowing Spider collectibles; the more of these Spidey collects, the closer he inches towards upping his overall experience level.
Still More of the Same in Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
For all that Web of Shadows gets right and even nails perfectly, there are definitely some sticking points which prevent this good game from being a great one. The mission structure, particularly with regards to act-specific optional missions, is woefully repetitive. Save X civilians, destroy X of this enemy type, etc. Each optional mission is multi-tiered too; an initial challenge might call for taking out 50 enemies while the next one ups the number to 100 and then to 150 after that. Story missions fare better, but there’s nothing here that fans of the Spider-Man games haven’t seen many times before.
The camera controls also tend to be a bit funky and are occasionally far too sensitive (with no pause menu option for adjusting sensitivity). The new lock-on system takes some getting used to as well with regards to the camera, as the right analog stick is used to flick between different targets when a lock is engaged. Miraculously, the action is never made unmanageable by the touchy camera; web-strikes in particular are marked by sparingly used slow-mo moments which give the player plenty of time to reorient towards a new target.
The graphics are also generally underwhelming. While the superbeing character models and combat animations do look great, the nameless legions of drones, not to mention Manhattan’s pedestrian traffic and the city itself, leave a lot to be desired. Texture detail is surprisingly low on the city’s buildings and visual glitches pop up in a fairly steady trickle. The gameplay is enjoyable enough to eclipse the generally sub-par presentation, but it’s a problem nonetheless.
Lastly, can Web of Shadows please, please, please be the last Spider-Man game to feature asinine quick-time events? They are almost entirely useless as they are executed in this particular game. Each one features a pre-set, unchanging button sequence and most failures end in no worse penalty than having to start the QTE over. They are useless, burdensome additions to the game, especially since Spidey’s new moveset is so gloriously deep. Why not challenge players with pulling of a set string of combo attacks instead?
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows is a B-grade offering to October’s abundance of A-list releases and it will unfortunately suffer as a result. Those inclined to skip the purchase following Spidey’s more recent travesties should definitely consider merely putting it off instead. Web of Shadows is an excellent addition to the ever-growing array of licensed Marvel titles and is easily the strongest of the Spider-Man games. Shaba does the fan community a great service with their retooled take on the webslinger and we can only hope that they continue to improve on the base they’ve built for many years to come.
Gameplay: B+
Presentation: B-
Fun Factor: A-
Value: B
Overall: B |
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发表于 2008-10-21 10:05 · 湖北
