Spider-Man: Web of Shadows

Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360

At specific points in the story, various choices appear that have the player choose between the Red Path or the Evil Path. These choices influence the story, the way other characters see Spider-Man and even the ending of the game. In addition, there is a feature called the "reputation bar", which becomes red when the player chooses the Red Path or prevents various crimes around the city, and starts turning black when the player chooses the Evil Path or causes mayhem and destruction in the city. The player also has the ability to summon various allies that will help him during fights: if the reputation bar is red, the player can summon heroes to help him out (Luke Cage, Moon Knight and Wolverine), while if it is black the player can summon previously defeated villains for help (Black Cat, Vulture, Rhino and Electro).

The player is able to switch between Spider-Man's traditional red and blue costume and the symbiote suit at any time during gameplay.^[5] Chris Scholz from Shaba Games also commented that the developers "worked on really separating the black and red suits to give the player a different feel." For example, red and blue-suited Spider-Man is fast and agile, while symbiote Spider-Man is stronger and more destructive. The mini-map on the screen is also different from the style used in previous Spider-Man games. The traditional 2-D overhead view has been removed, replaced by a new 3D map with an "X", "Y" and "Z" axis which shows the player's position in three-dimensional space (north and south, as well as vertical position). Also, as a Wii exclusive, there are 6 alternate costumes (Spider-Carnage for the black suit, and Spider-Armor, Ben Reilly, Spider-Man 2099, Cosmic Spider-Man and the Iron Spider suit for the red suit).^[6] Although the player is unable to free-roam after the storyline's completion, there is a secret code: watching the credits, selecting continue, watching the credits again and selecting continue. If the code is done right, the player can replay the game with all of their previous upgrades already made.

PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable

The PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable versions were released as Spider-Man: Web of Shadows - Amazing Allies Edition and are drastically different from the main console and PC version. This version of the game doesn't feature an open world and is instead a 2.5D side scrolling brawler, featuring 10 different levels that take place in various locations such as the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier or the Fisk Tower. After the first level, Spider-Man can switch between the Black Suit and Red Suit at any time but, unlike the main PC, PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 verion, they play relatively similar.

The game features various conversations with other characters, in which the player can choose between two or three different replies for Spider-Man to say. Parts of the story and the ending of the game vary depending on these decisions. The game also features upgrades for each of the two costumes individually, with the points necessary for the upgrades being earned from defeating enemies or conversations. However, there are much less upgrades than in the main version of the game.

The gameplay focuses more on the allies system, just as the name of the game suggests, with the player being able to summon over 30 different allies (heroes and villains alike) and power-ups during fights, which is obviously far more than in the PC, PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 verion. The story of the game has also changed a little, featuring characters absent in the other versions such as Nick Fury, Kraven the Hunter and A.I.M..

Nintendo DS

The Nintendo DS version is also a 2.5D scrolling action brawler. Much like in the console games, enemies will drop XP points when defeated which can be used to purchase new moves for Spider-Man. As the players progress through the story they will also obtain upgrades that will allow them to explore more of the open world map and eventually reach the end of the game, similarly to the Castlevania and Metroid franchises. At certain points in the game, the player will need to decide which mission to undertake next; these decisions change the overall outcome of the game.

This version is the only version in which Venom is not the cause of the symbiote invasion and can become one of Spider-Man's allies. This version also features the fewest number of allies: Black Cat, Venom, Green Goblin and Nightcrawler. During the game, the players can switch between the red and black suit whenever they want, with each suit having unique abilities (the red suit is more equipped for swift and dynamic movement and fast flurry of attacks while the black suit is used for overwhelming powerful but slower attacks and devastating large masses of enemies).

This version also exclusively features a revival system where if the player's health depletes, he or she can spend one "life point" to attempt to revive the fallen Spider-Man by using the Touch Screen to draw health orbs to him, while poking at poison orbs to destroy them. The revival will be successful if he receives enough health orbs before a time limit is reached.

Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360

Manhattan is infested with symbiotes and S.H.I.E.L.D. and various super-heroes are trying their best to stop the invasion. A depressed Spider-Man ignores the battle around him and makes his way through the invasion, looking for Mary Jane. After helping some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and police officers fight off several symbiotes, Spider-Man eventually finds her with Luke Cage. However a mysterious figure appears and attacks him, leaving him unconscious.

In a flashback taking place four days earlier, Spider-Man has an encounter with Venom, during which a piece of Venom's symbiote attaches to him, thus recreating his black suit. The suit makes Spider-Man much more powerful and agrresive and he easily defeats Venom. However, as Spidey checks on an injured Mary Jane, Venom escapes. Spider-Man discovers that he has more control over the symbiote, being able to take the black suit on and off whenever he wants, and follows the ambulance Mary Jane was placed in to a hospital, where all of a sudden two rival gangs show up and start shooting at each other. Spidey manages to defeat them with help from Luke Cage, who explains him that the two gangs, the Rolling Sevens and the Park Avenues, are at war and they have to find a way to stop them before anyone gets hurt. After defeating numerous members from both gangs across the city, Spider-Man confronts the their respective leaders and convinces them to have a peaceful meeting at the Harlem park. Later that night, as Spider-Man watches over the meeting between the gang leaders and Luke Cage, he spots several assassins armed with advanced weapons and armors on the rooftops around the park. He manages to defeat them before they ruin the meeting and finds evidence that they are secretly responsible for the gang war. Meanwhile, the meeting doesn't go as well as planned and the two leaders begin arguing before eventually pulling out their guns. Depending on the player's choice, Spider-Man either shows the leaders the evidence he found and they agree to stop fighting, apologizing for their actions and promising to help Spidey whenever he needs, or he lets all the remaining members from both gangs have a violent shootout in the park, before intervening and defeating them all. Regardless the choice, the gang war is finally over and Spider-Man heads to Fisk Tower, after concluding that the assassins are working for Kingpin.

Spider-Man arrives at Fisk Tower, only to find Black Cat leaving and begins chasing her. During the chase several of Kingpin's men show up, but luckily Moon Knight shows up as well in his mooncopter and deals with them, while Spidey has a brief fight with Black Cat. Spider-Man eventually defeats her and goes to confront her at her apartment, where she reveals that she's secretly working against Kingpin and still has strong feelings for him. Depending on the player's choice, Spider-Man either rejects her and goes talk to Moon Knight or returns her feelings and spends the night with her. Spider-Man now joins forces with either Moon Knight or Black Cat in order to stop Kingpin's illegal activities, defeating several of his men across the city and even foiling an attack on the courthouse. He also tracks down Vulture, who has been mass-producing Goblin gliders for Kingpin's goons to use, and defeats him, convincing or threatening him to help him whenever he needs. Spider-Man eventually confronts several of Kingpin's henchmen on the roof of the MetLife Building, but all of a sudden numerous seemingly deranged civilians show up, attacking them all with their hands and teeth. Spider-Man manages to defeat both Kingpin's men and the civilians, but a news helicopter appears and records Spidey throwing civilians off of the building, leading to the police to believe him to be a murderer. Unknown to them, the civilians have been secretly infected by symbiotes.

Spidey web-swings through an infected New York. As the game progress, symbiote constructs appear.

Spider-Man encounters Wolverine in Hell's Kitchen, who attacks him, beliving Spidey to be a symbiote. After a battle (during which several infected civilians show up as well), the two settle their differences and begin working together to track down more infected citizens. After finding and defeating several infected civilians across the city, Spider-Man eventually tracks down Venom, who is kidnaping and throwing people into symbiote pods, which turn them into symbiote monsters. The two engage in a battle across the city, during which several symbiote pods get destroyed. However, Venom escapes once again and there are still numerous pods across the city turning innocent people into symbiotes. The situation soon gets out of control and a S.H.I.E.L.D. team led by Black Widow arrives and quarantines Manhattan, setting up numerous quarantine camps across the city for the infected citizens. Electro begins rampaging through the camps, looking for his sister, but Spider-Man gives chase. He eventually defeats Electro and Widow shoots him to stop him for good. However, Electro's infected sister accidentally approaches him and infects him with a symbiote that heals him and turns him into a powerful symbiote monster, which escapes before anyone can do anything about it.

Unable to reach Iron Man, Ant-Man, Mr. Fantastic or Beast, Spider-Man decides to break the Tinkerer out of Ryker's, since he needs a scientific genius to find a countermeasure to the symbiotes. After enlisting either Moon Knight or Vulture to take him to the island, Spider-Man breaks into the prison where he teams up with Rhino, using his strength to free the Tinkerer. Before escaping however, Spidey has the choice of either freeing or tricking Rhino into returning to his cell. Regardless, Rhino will help him whenever he needs and Spider-Man returns with Tinkerer in Manhattan, only to find it covered in symbiote goop and full of infected people, as the invasion has reached the maximum scale. S.H.I.E.L.D. and Black Widow team up with Kingpin to stop the invasion, while the Tinkerer designs a device that will destroy all the symbiotes without harming the hosts and which must be installed on the Trask Building, the tallest building in Manhattan, so that the sound waves could reach the entire city.

While the Tinkerer begins constructing the device, Spider-Man aids S.H.I.E.L.D. in dealing with the symbiote invasion in the streets of Manhattan, helping with APC patrols and evacuations in various places around the city. He then confronts Kingpin at his tower, after destroying his security system against the symbiotes. However, this allows the infected people to crawl up the tower and break in, so Spider-Man helps Kingpin's goons reactivate the security system and chase away the symbiotes. After Spidey does so, Kingpin sends his men in the streets to help deal with the invasion as well and agrees to let the Tinkerer build his device here. He then gives Spider-Man several tasks as well, first sending him to defend a rooftop full of his men from symbiotes, with help from several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and Black Cat. With her help, Spidey then tracks down and confronts the still symbiote infected Electro in Central Park, who is trying to reach the city's power supply. Spider-Man manages to defeat him and either lets him break free from the symbiote's control on his own, or removes the symbiote by force. Regardless the choice, Electro is free from the symbiote and agrees to help Spider-Man stop the invasion.

Spider-Man then helps defend the S.H.I.E.L.D. base and Moon Knight's rooftop from a symbiote attack, before heading to a church to help Wolverine with an evacuation. After the evacuation is complete, Wolverine gets infected by a syimbiote and attacks Spider-Man. Spidey manages to defeat symbiote Wolverine and either lets him remove the symbiote himself, or breaks him in half, with the latter choice making Wolverine furious with Spider-Man. Regardless, Spidey is done here and leaves to find Mary Jane, eventually finding her with Luke Cage at the Harlem park. Mary Jane and Cage are trying to evacuate the last remaining civilians in Harlem to the S.H.I.E.L.D. base in the other side of Manhattan and Spider-Man agrees to help them, after learning that S.H.I.E.L.D. have several beacons against the symbiotes that create a safe corridor for civilians to pass. While Mary Jane and Luke go on their own, Spider-Man escorts the convoy from a beacon to another, until eventually reaching Fisk Tower. However, when there's no sign of Mary Jane, Spider-Man starts looking for her, which leads to the beginning of the game.

After finding her and being left unconscious by the mysterious figure, now revealed to be a symbiote infected Black Cat, Spider-Man breaks the promise he made Mary Jane earlier and dons the black suit once more, before heading to a rooftop where he confronts symbiote Black Cat, apparently the leader of the hive. In the middle of the fight Mary Jane shows up as well and deals with the symbiotes while Spider-Man defeats Black Cat, throwing her to another rooftop. This removes the symbiote, but also severely injures Black Cat. Depending on the player's choice, Spidey either shows complete devotion to Mary Jane and leaves Black Cat in her care, or infects Black Cat with a more powerful symbiote which heals her and which she can control, but this causes Mary Jane to leave in tears.

Meanwhile, the Tinkerer's device is complete and S.H.I.E.L.D. install it on the Trask Building, but a symbiote infected Vulture leads an attack to destroy it. Spider-Man helps S.H.I.E.L.D. defeat the symbiotes, before fighting and defeating Vulture as well, removing the symbiote. He then confronts Vulture at the device, but just as he is about to activate it, Vulture tells him that this would mean losing the black suit and its power forever. Depending on the choices made through the game, Spider-Man either activates the detonator which destroys all the symbiotes, including the black suit, and reverts all the civilians back to normal, or listens to Vulture and destroys the device, refusing to take the black suit off ever again. Regardless, Spider-Man learns that Venom is attacking the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier and decides it's time to end this once and for all.

After enlisting Moon Knight or Vulture to take him there, Spider-Man sets up bombs to destroy the helicarrier, while the heroes or the villains deal with the symbiotes. After everyone evacuates, Spidey is confronted by a giant five-headed Venom. He is able to destroy four of the heads, before trying to reach out Eddie Brock. Depending on the player's choice, Spider-Man either lets Brock realize his mistakes and commit suicide or kills him. Nevertheless, Spider-Man is able to escape from the helicarrier before it explodes and crashes into the ocean, killing Venom.

The ending of the game depends on the choices made through the story:

▪ If the player chose the Red Path for most of the game, Manhattan is saved and slowly returning to normal. Spider-Man reconciles with Mary Jane and takes her for a swing across the city.

▪ If the player chose the Red Path for most of the game, but infected Black Cat with the symbiote, Manhattan is still saved, but Mary Jane is angry with Spider-Man. He calls her and leaves a message in her voicemail, hoping that she would forgive him for his actions.

▪ If the player chose the Black Path for most of game, Spider-Man becomes the new leader of the symbiote army and rules over Manhattan, with Black Cat as his "queen" and new lover. Meanwhile, Black Widow, Kingpin and the Tinkerer team up with a symbiote infected Wolverine, sending him to find and kill Spider-Man.

▪ If the player chose the Black Path for most of the game, but left Black Cat in Mary Jane's care, Spider-Man rules alone and vows to reclaim Mary Jane, while Black Widow, Kingpin and the Tinkerer still team up with symbiote Wolverine to stop him.

PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable

Spider-Man encounters and defeats Venom, who explodes, leaving no trace of Eddie Brock and knocking out Spider-Man. When he wakes up, Spider-Man finds himself in the black suit and receives a surprise call from Nick Fury, who explains him that Venom has infected the entire city and that S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents are currently quarantining Manhattan. He then tasks Spider-Man with helping build a sonic generator that will destroy all the symbiotes and save the citizens of New York. Also, Spider-man's previous encounter with the symbiote allows him to retain his sanity, being able to take the black suit on and off whenever he wants. However, even if he doesn't wear the black suit, the symbiote can influence Spider-Man's choices and behavior.

The PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable versions of the game feature 2.5D graphics.

Spider-Man starts collecting items and technology for the sonic generator, first going after Shocker's shock gauntlets. He finds Shocker robbing the vault of a hotel and, after defeating several burglars and, optionally, saving a young woman, he eventually gets access to the vault where he confronts Shocker. Spidey manages to defeat Shocker and takes his gauntlets, before deciding to either turn him over to the police or let him go, after he promises to help him in his fights whenever he needs. Spider-Man then heads over to A.I.M.'s secret underground lab, after being informed by Kingpin, who is also trying to stop the symbiote invasion, that Spencer Smythe hired them to help him with his secret project containing vibranium, which Spidey needs for the sonic generator. He decides to infiltrate the lab through the subways, only to find them full of thugs and symbiote goop, as well as numerous traps set by Kraven the Hunter, who is hunting Rhino, whom A.I.M. and Smythe hired to guard the lab. Spider-Man avoids all of Kraven's traps and eventually defeats Kraven, before successfully infiltrating the A.I.M. lab. Here, Spider-Man defeats numerous A.I.M. soldiers and robots, before encountering J. Jonah Jameson, whom A.I.M and Smythe captured and created a clone of, whom they plan to use to discredit both Jameson and Spider-Man. Spidey then has the choice of releasing either the real Jameson or let him here and release the clone instead. Regardless the choice, Spider-Man finds the vibranium he came here for and escapes from the lab, after defeating Rhino.

Back in the city, Spider-Man finds it swarming with symbiotes and infected citizens, although S.H.I.E.L.D. and various other super-heroes are doing their best to stop the invasion. Spidey meets up with Luke Cage and the two split up to defeat as many infected people as they can. While doing this, Spider-Man finds clues of the Tinkerer's plot, who is building a missile to spread the symbiotes to various other cities around the world. Spidey eventually makes his way through the infected people and finds Tinkerer's warehouse, but is attacked by Cage, who was either infected by a symbiote or tries to get the black suit off Spider-Man after he redirected a train full of infected citizens towards Luke to make his travel through the city easier. Regardless, Spider-Man defeats Cage and infiltrates Tinkerer's warehouse, where he defeats several henchmen and robots and even encounters a brainwashed Venom (or what's left of him following the explosion) whom Tinkerer captured and made experiments on, before eventually confronting Tinkerer. Spider-Man destroys his robot suit, but Tinkerer escapes and initiates the countdown until the launch of his missile. Spider-Man manages to foil his plan and convinces the A.I. controlling the missile to stop the countdown, also having the choice to fire the missile at Tinkerer as revenge.

Spider-Man arrives on the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier, where he helps complete the sonic generator to stop the symbiote invasion. However, the infected citizens S.H.I.E.L.D. were studying escaped and infected numerous agents, turning the entire helicarrier into their nest, full of pods and goop. While making his way through the symbiotes and collecting pass codes from uninfected agents in order to proceed through the ship, Spider-Man has the choice of turning an infected agent into a full drone by turning up the temperature in the room or not. Spidey eventually reactivates the hellicarier's defense system and rescues all the uninfected agents, including Jessica Drew, before encountering Jackal, whom S.H.I.E.L.D. recruited out of desperation for a genius to analyze the symbiotes. Jackal reveals that S.H.I.E.L.D. planned to use the symbiotes as a weapon and, while they were suspicious that Jackal is a double agent for Kingpin, he was actually working for Spencer Smythe, who wants to find a way to control the symbiotes. However, Jackal betrays Smythe and plans to steal Spidey's black suit for his own purposes. Spider-Man defeats Jackal, who gives him a serum that will enhance his black suit, before being contacted by Jessica Drew who informs him that the helicarrier is going down and that they have to evacuate right away.

Spider-Man escapes in time and returns in the city, only to encounter more infected citizens and symbiote structures than ever. After making his way through the invasion and, optionally, helping several uninfected citizens with their personal problems, Spidey finds the place of the crash, where he rescues several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents from the symbiotes and encounters Jessica Drew, who was infected by a symbiote. After defeating and freeing her from the symbiote, Spider-Man obtains the S.H.I.E.L.D. plans and receives a call from Nick Fury, who sends him to obtain the sonic generator from the top of Fisk Tower. After defeating several infected citizens, Spider-Man makes his way to the top, where he combines the parts collected earlier to a computer, thus completing the generator. While fending it from several A.I.M. soldiers sent by Spencer Smythe, Jackal appears and steals it. After defeating all the A.I.M. soldiers, Spidey realizes the generator's gone and receives a call from Smythe. Spider-Man accuses him of having Jackal steal the generator, but Smythe reveals he had nothing to do with it and states that whatever Jackal's planning it's already too late to stop the invasion. Smythe also reveals that he perfected his mind-controlling device and unleashes a mind-controlled Black Cat to kill Spider-Man. Spidey eventually defeats Black Cat and has the choice of either freeing her from the mind-control or let the device fry her brain.

Regardless the choice, Spider-Man arrives in Central Park and, after making his way through the infected citizens and symbiote structures, confronts Jackal, who reveals that he was the mastermind behind everything and that he modified the sonic generator to control the symbiotes. After defeating Jackal, Spider-Man recovers the sonic generator and has the choice of using it to fry or to control the symbiotes. As the device is powered up, Spider-Man finds the fountain in Central Park filled with symbiote goop and pods, as well as seven serpents heads containing Venom's consciousness. Spider-Man evades Venom's attacks and uses the generator to supply energy that weaken the heads, allowing him to destroy the pods. After all the pods are destroyed, Venom is finally defeated.

The ending of the game depends on the choices made through the game. In the good ending, the symbiote invasion is repelled and Manhattan is saved. In the evil ending, Spider-Man becomes the new leader of the symbiote army and takes over Manhattan.

Nintendo DS

The game begins with the symbiote invasion already in progress. Thinking Venom responsible, Spider-Man searches for him. Along the way he encounters Black Cat, who informs him of two choices that he can be of assistance on - Nightcrawler is helping out with the evacuation and Green Goblin is setting up bombs to defeat the symbiotes. Who Spider-Man helps is decided upon by the player, and each of them can be helped twice.

After defeating several "super symbiotes", Spider-Man eventually arrives at a symbiote hive where he encounters and defeats Venom. Venom informs Spider-Man that he is not responsible for the invasion, but was trying to stop it. He also reveals that if the hive's symbiote leader is defeated, all of the infected will return to normal. With Venom now too weak to accompany him, Spider-Man decides to infiltrate deeper into the hive by himself and eliminate the leader. Spider-Man manages to defeat the symbiote leader and then escapes the collapsing hive.

The ending of the game depends on who Spider-Man helped earlier. If the player helped either Nightcrawler twice or both Green Goblin and Nightcrawler once, Manhattan is saved and the citizens return to normal, praising Spider-Man as he swings away thinking of taking a shower after having gone to the sewers twice in a day. However, if the player helped Green Goblin twice, Spider-Man escapes the hive wearing his black suit and realizes that, with the symbiote leader gone, he is now in charge of the symbiotes. The infected citizens worship Spider-Man as their new leader while he swings through a New York City covered in symbiotes, reflecting upon how great power is simply a lot of power.