[Toptube]

Okay, so this game comes out tomorrow. Since I did a discounted pre-order through Toys R Us dot com, I won't have it likely until about Friday. But there seems to be some other people here who are interested and will play this game.

If you dunno what is going on, look here:

[Broco]

Looks like they reused the Spiderman 3 engine and much of the city, and mainly revamped the combat system to make it (hopefully) not tedious.

[HJProject]

I watched like two videos of this and it looked pretty great. I'm going to give it a go and if it manages to not become tedious and the combat isn't broken I'll enjoy it. I kind of like how you aren't fighting common criminals as the normal enemies. Those symbiotic things should put up a better fight.

[Leau]

[Marshmallow]

Yeah, I'm getting this. Has everyone seen the SHIELD trailer?



Most Spider-Man games have been great, but Spider-Man 3 was a pretty big letdown. This one looks like it's going to take what worked in the second game and fix some of the shit that didn't. Hopefully MOST of the shit.

[analogos]

What the fuck? Damn. For a technical fighting/action game mechanics nerd, I found that surprisingly pleasant. The only worry is that, well, if the whole game is essentially made up of what would be a Finishing Move in any other game, I'm not sure it could keep from getting obtrusively/repetitively flashy pretty quick. But toward the end some of the actions actually looked more physically contextual and intuitive, acting based on speed or position or whatever. If that's the case, I can see a pretty respectable flow developing.

I'd say, at worst, it'll end up being a QTE system without on-screen prompts. I could probably live with that a lot more than I could that piece of shit Ninja Blade.

[Broco]

[Toptube]

Yeah, I could give a rip if the engine is re-used, I'm sure it probably is. It doesn't look crazy good, but its solid and slick enough.

also, just noting that Spider-man here looks more like he did in his original appearances, rather than a variant of the McFarlane version, or even the movie.

[Marshmallow]

I'm really interested in seeing what they do with the mission design. If combat is made more interesting (though I liked the combat in the second game) and the web slinging is still awesome, the mission design is the only grip I'll have left, really. Maybe they'll just have a huge city filled with chaos that you have to contain! I'd be done with that.

[Tlon]

i like the combat and the web-swinging and i love most spider-man games BUT i'm not a fan of the aesthetic. i prefer old school 60s Spider-Man who is all about the quipping and the joy and personal problems not the 90s Venom/Carnage bullshit
but assuming the PS2 version isn't too crippled i might buy it since i love Spider-Man
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Someday somethings coming
From way out beyond the stars
To kill us while we stand here
It will store our brains in mason jars

[Toptube]

You still get sort of the old aesthetic with this. I think its a good compromise. Though, I do sort of prefer the newer, bolder McFarlane influenced style. I also like the Ultimate Spider-Man aesthetic a lot.

I find the symbiote stories rather compelling as far as Spider-Man stories go. The symbiotes are very powerful and have consuming emotions and personalities making them pretty dangerous. Therefore its not something Spidey can handle on his own. Having all of the other superheroes around really helps to pull me into what's going on.

This game also musters some nostalgia of days playing Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage and Spider-Man and Venom: Seperation Anxiety. The general concept of Web of Shadows is pulled from the same storyline as those.

[Tlon]

yeah i grew up with those storylines but i still don't dig it. i prefer stuff like Sandman and Doctor Octopus and the Sinister Six
i like Spidey to be a bit more down to earth
_________________
Someday somethings coming
From way out beyond the stars
To kill us while we stand here
It will store our brains in mason jars

[Toptube]

I just checked my Gmail. Toys R Us says my pre-order is backordered.

I'm fucking done with pre-orders. I knew I shouldn't have done it. The two times I pre-ordered games at other places before this I had trouble as well. I should have just went to fucking Wal-mart and grabbed one of 30 copies off the shelf instead of trying to get a discount or pre-order bonus.

So I probably won't be playing this to late next week, at soonest.

[Tlon]

man if i had the money i'd get this and LEGO Batman and have my own company war
_________________
Someday somethings coming
From way out beyond the stars
To kill us while we stand here
It will store our brains in mason jars

[Marshmallow]

LEGO Batman isn't that great. Get this instead, assuming it doesn't suck.

LEGO Batman is kinda fun actually, but it's also so damn frustrating at the same time. You'd think they learned things from the previous games... it's been fun co-oping with my lady friend, though.

[Tlon]

half the reason i buy games like this is for the fanservice and the characters. i just bought Marvel Ultimate Alliance and its a bit meh... hopefully this will scratch the itch
but i'm pretty protective of Peter Parker so yeah NERD RAGE if they mess up Web of Shadows
or i can just not play it. but it sounds like it will be fun
_________________
Someday somethings coming
From way out beyond the stars
To kill us while we stand here
It will store our brains in mason jars

[SuperWes]

So, this game comes out today and still no reviews. 95% chance it's going to suck total balls.

-Wes
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[Toptube]

Looks like the game got pushed to the 23rd or 24th, as Toys R Us is now listing it as expected for the 23rd and Amazon says it will be in stock on the 24th.

Though I'm sure there are probably several B&M shipments that made it and are being sold on time.

[Toptube]

The wikipedia page for this was updated today and now says that the PS2 version is in fact a 2.5D sidescrolling action game. Likely a port of the PSP version.

[SuperWes]

IGN gave it a 5.7 citing the completely banal tutorials and repetitive missions that last way too long. I know we don't like IGN, but when you think about it this game is made by the people who replaced the people who used to make the bad last-gen ports of Tony Hawk games. I'd be surprised if they're wrong despite a few cool-looking videos.

I bought it yesterday but didn't open it. I think I'll be returning it ASAP!

-Wes
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[Tlon]

[Marshmallow]

god damnit >:(

[sawtooth]

toptube quit trying to viral market shitty things around here
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(  (  

[HJProject]

This game is kind of ridiculous. Like story, character, and dialog-wise nothing makes any sense at all. It is just fun to swing around the city and go on a giant easter egg hunt for the spider tokens. I did that for about an hour yesterday. I haven't played the game proper.

[Tlon]

[Tlon]

found this on the Penny Arcade forums re: DS version

[Ashura]

Seriously on the voice? He sounds.. I dunno, but best Spidey wasn't my first choice.

I think the dude who plays Peter in Spectacular Spider-Man (he's also Ocelot in MGS3, and that's not as hokey as it sounds) is the only one who's REALLY nailed it so far.

I will say that the trailer makes it look fun even if it looks like the combat could just get super repetitive. Force Unleashed was fun in that kind of way.

[Martial Loh]

played the DS version on the ol' R4 yesterday!
Animation is very fluid, and combat is fun albeit repetitive as hell.
Spidey's run cycle bugs me - it feels as if he should be moving a bit further with each stride. Perhaps he has the anti-Belmont stride. Hmm.

I want to like this game, but it lacks the certain spark that keeps me from playing through it, as I would with the equally repetitive Castlevania games!

[Tlon]

i haven't played it yet but i'd like to! i remember everyone was going nuts over the Spyro game when it came out but i didn't get far enough into it to love the combo stuff
any confirmation on the PS2 version? i'll buy it if its a 3D game but if its 2D thats what my DS is for
_________________
Someday somethings coming
From way out beyond the stars
To kill us while we stand here
It will store our brains in mason jars

[Toptube]

[Marshmallow]

so have you played this yet or what

[Tlon]

i've played a bit of the DS version. i'll play more fully once i beat Castlevania. the combat is really really fun and the web swinging is fun and the crawling is fun but the graphics are a bit lame
_________________
Someday somethings coming
From way out beyond the stars
To kill us while we stand here
It will store our brains in mason jars

[Toptube]

STILL have not received my pre-order copy from Toys R Us.

I am never ever pre-ordering shit again ever ever.

**shipment tracking says its been in Anchorage since the 29th!!!

[Toptube]

I finally got this in the mail. Played it for a bit though not too much yet.

Before I get into this, It is worth noting that I have not played a Spider-man game since the one on PS1, by Activision I thiiiink.

The Graphics are a mixed bag, though I like them overall. Spider-Man looks excellent. animation is smooth. Strangely, the explosions and resulting physics for cars is really cool. The game officially supports 1080p and actually seems to run a little more consistently!? There is some occasionally horizontal tearing in both 720p and 1080p, nothing major. Oh and I've seen a few textures freak out.

Spider-Man's voice actor sounds fucking stupid. Every word of the script so far has been absolutely terrible. Spider-Man has cracked a couple of jokes which were only funny because they were hilariously bad. I expected the story and script to be terrible, though. I wasn't expecting Spider-Man to sound like an 11 year old little shithead.

Anyways, the early part of the game is boring, you are basically doing stupid shit to earn enough points to get all of your moves before the real stuff starts to happen. It would have been nice if they would have just given you your moves and showed you how to use them right away, instead of padding the game like this. The combat gets better and better with each new move and chaining the suits is easy as chaining weapons in DMC3, so things are all good with that. I'm just looking forward to when I can start stomping some symbiotes.

Controlling Spider-man is quite a joy overall. From what I've heard about Spider-Man 2, it seems like they melded that with Hulk: Ultimate Destruction to create the movement controls here. I say this because you can run up buildings like Hulk and do aerial recovers and move cancels. Pretty neat. Oh, you can also do a double knee slide up the side of a building which is pretty sweet.

[Toptube]

Boss Fights in the is game are totally sweet! They are looong, and the bosses put up a good fight. So you are constantly moving from rooftop to side of building to ground, into the air, back to the rooftop, etc etc fuck yeah! The combat is radical, and they've done a good job of balancing the cool moves between suits so I find myself switching all the time. its too bad they weren't able to keep the production values as high in other parts of the game.

The story is still terrible, but Spiderman started telling some decent jokes. There were some QTE's with Black Cat. Failing them resulted in funny slapstick results.

Another positive is that the camera does a pretty good job of keeping up with everything. You are also able to grab control of it quickly in case it isn't framing your view the way you want. For the very occasional times it does get "stuck" there is a button to automatically snap the camera back to center.

[manmachine plays jazz]

boring fanboy thread

[negativedge]

Yes, come now, boys. Put on a show for joe, here.

[Toptube]

[manmachine plays jazz]

guys this game is so cool look at my avatar and sig that i've been using to advertise this game for months this game is so awesome fuck yeah just like maximum carnage so cool who needs real critical discussion???

[Jam]

Shut up Joe, he's being more informative than you and I'm still on the fence about buying this game.
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The King of America

[manmachine plays jazz]

toptube reads like EGM circa 1995.