![]() ![]() That being said, what makes Web of Shadows special is the fact that the city itself evolves during the course of the symbiote infection, with skyscrapers slowly becoming enveloped in xenomorph-like biomass and enemies mutating as the biological disaster rages on. It would then be up to Spider-Man and his heroic allies to save the day, with the infection slowly turning Manhattan into a quarantined nightmare as the streets become overrun by monsters – which may include Spidey himself as he’s once again consumed by the infamous Black Suit.Ĭuriously enough, the game would be the first in a wave of pandemic-focused open world super-hero games, with titles like Infamous, Prototype and even Insomniac’s 2018 Spider-Man later riffing on the idea in an attempt to make their game worlds more dynamic. Borrowing from comic-book arcs like Planet of the Symbiotes, the developers came up with a scenario involving a viral symbiote outbreak where Venom would infect civilians and turn them into homicidal maniacs with varying degrees of monstrous powers. Long before they made a name for themselves by contributing to the Call of Duty franchise, Treyarch was known as Spider-Man’s personal videogame studio, with the developers having already released four Spidey games before tackling Web of Shadows. However, my personal favorite take on a symbiote invasion happens to come from Treyarch’s 2008 title, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, an underrated open world game that borrows heavily from zombie apocalypse media in its depiction of a New York City on the brink of viral destruction. From Neversoft’s iconic PS1 title to 2005’s Ultimate Spider-Man (which featured a playable Venom), several titles having already used intergalactic parasites as the basis for their stories. Naturally, this isn’t the first time that a Spider-Man game has focused on symbiotic horrors. 35 years later, this story is still influencing Spider-Man adaptations, with the most recent example being Insomniac’s upcoming Spider-Man 2, which appears to be adapting this arc and even features Tony Todd as the voice of Venom! ![]() That’s why it makes sense that one of the most famous Spider-Man yarns centers around an extraterrestrial parasite that feeds off of aggression, with the aptly named “Alien Costume Saga” touching on elements of body horror and introducing a new monstrous antagonist in the form of Venom (who would later be rebranded as an anti-hero due to the character’s overwhelming popularity). From his tragic part in the Marvel Zombies crossover to being forced to battle against monstrous villains like Carnage and The Lizard, there’s no shortage of horror-inspired stories starring our favorite web-head. Spider-Man isn’t exactly the first character that comes to mind when one thinks of comic-book horror, but the iconic wall-crawler has actually dealt with his fair share of terror since his debut back in 1962. ![]()
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