Posted: Saturday 11th October 2008

By Jason Palmer

We at Entertainment Focus were spoilt last week. Not only did we get to try out the latest Bond game, we were also invited to a special sneak peek at the new Spiderman game; Web of Shadows. Made by Activision and developed for PS3 and XBOX 360 by Treyarch and Shaba, it follows the comic-book narrative of Spiderman rather than Sam Raimi's movie-inspired incarnation. There is an alien threat ravaging through New York. The deadly symbiote responsible for Spiderman's black suit as well as the hellish creature Venom is bringing total devastation across the city and it's up to Spidey to save the world.

We talked with Brian Morrison, the assistant producer on Web of Shadows at the press launch and he filled us in on what we could expect from such an ambitious project. Firstly the combat system is unlike any we've ever seen before. You can actually have a fight in the street, take it up the walls of a building and even carry it onto a rooftop. Such is the detail and smoothness of the rendering; the combat systems are flawless and make for great action sequences. The action shifts to slo-mo when you execute a killer combo which looks amazing onscreen. You can shift between Spiderman's quicker red suit or for brute power utilize Spidey's dark side and use the black alien suit. Both have their strong points so mastering which suit to use and when will be a major part of how well you do in the story mode. The suits also dictate how the story will play out. There are multiple endings that are a direct reflection of the choices you make in the game so there is a decent re-playability element to the game also. An interactive New York has been re-created across an 8 square mile radius that's free roaming and thrown in are dozens of character customisation options to allow the gamer complete control over Spiderman's abilities.

Spiderman: Web of Shadows is released on Playstation 3, XBOX 360, Wii, PC, PSP, PS2 and Nintendo DS on October 24th. We were quite simply blown away by this game. It looks amazing and the level of detail is astonishing. With a host of Marvel Comics most recognisable faces on show such as Wolverine, Black Cat, Moon Knight, Vulture, Luke Cage and Venom you know that fans of the genre are in for a great treat. With the plotline involving alien symbiotes I fully expect Carnage to enter the equation at some point too which is an enticing prospect for anyone familiar with the comics. Stay tuned to Entertainment Focus for all of the latest news on Spiderman: Web of Shadows and for our official game review coming soon.