The story of Web of Shadows actually starts off by showing the chaotic mess New York City becomes towards the end of the game before flashing back four days earlier, to show all of the events leading up to that very moment, and for the most part, itвЂ™s an effective way to start the game off. Thankfully, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows does this, mostly while itвЂ™s not a perfect game, itвЂ™s easily one of the best games based on the wall-crawler ever made, and is a fabulous example of a GOOD licensed game. The feeling one got from these two games was simple: the concept had become stale and needed an overhaul, one that stripped away the tedious and frustrating elements of the games and replaced them with simple, easy to use combat mechanics and a lot more Spider-Man personality. I loved Spider-Man 2, for example, because it combined everything great about Spider-Man with everything great about Grand Theft Auto into a mostly enjoyable game (and it featured the Black Cat, which is always awesome), but while Spider-Man 3 had missions involving Captain Jean DeWolff (which gives me hope that Spider-Man 4 will feature The Prowler, if nothing else), that doesnвЂ™t change the fact that it was a fairly god-awful game, and Ultimate Spider-Man wasnвЂ™t all that much better. Now, in fairness, more than a few of the terrible games based on the character were thanks to Acclaim, but even after Activision picked up the license, a few stinkers hit the ground running. For every Spider-Man Versus The Kingpin or Maximum Carnage (I liked it, shut up) there is an ArcadeвЂ™s Revenge or Spider-Man (the game based on the animated series) ready to make you miserable. The sad thing, unfortunately, is that most videogames based on the web-swinger arenвЂ™t particularly good.

Joe Everybody in crazy tights? THAT I can deal with. BatmanвЂ™s a good dramatic character, SupermanвЂ™s a world-saving juggernaut, and WolverineвЂ™s an ass-kicking badass, but itвЂ™s hard to empathize with a crazy rich dude, an alien who wears a human costume, or an ancient angry guy who pretty much canвЂ™t die. ThatвЂ™s Spider-Man: a good guy with an occasionally crappy life who gets to run around in his pajamas beating up bad guys.

You job stinks, you donвЂ™t feel like youвЂ™re doing good in the world, your life feels like an endless cycle of repetition and tedium intermixed with failure from one day to the next, but at the end of the day, you can see the smile on someoneвЂ™s face who youвЂ™ve done right by and know youвЂ™ve done alright for yourself in some form or fashion. To me, the character, in simple terms, represents the Charlie Brown of the superhero set his life isnвЂ™t always perfect, and he has to deal with the same stupid stuff everyone has to deal with in addition to his superhero problems, but in the end, heвЂ™s something of a normal guy, and the reader can identify with that. Still, IвЂ™m a a fan of the character, and I probably always will be. I donвЂ™t read the comics anymore, and actively refuse to do so until this вЂњSame Old Editorial Mandate Masquerading As A вЂњГ‹Е“Brand New DayвЂ™ CrapвЂќГ‚Вќ goes the way of the dinosaur.

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