Marvel'S Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover

Sicherlich hat das Buch hier und da ein paar Schwächen. Gerade um die Mitte herum empfand ich die ein oder andere Entwicklung etwas langatmig, aber am Ende hatte ich das Buch in wenigen Tagen durch. Es grift die Stimmung des Spiels großartig auf, lebt genau den Peter, den wir auch dort kennen lernen und führt uns ein bisschen auf den Weg des Helden, bevor er sich in der Geschichte des Spiels gegen seine Feinde werfen muss. So bekommen gerade Themen wie die Beziehung zu MJ, aber auch Peters Zwiespalt um sein Geheimnis noch etwas mehr Kontent und greifen auf die kommenden Ereignisse hin. Wirklich, ein sehr gutes Buch. Ich hab' es in englisch gelesen, kann also nichts zur deutschen Übersetzung sagen. Aber es war klar verständlich und auch wenn ich nicht die Beste bin, habe ich es ohne große Schwierigkeiten gelesen.

Like most who read this book, I read it in anticipation for the upcoming PS4 release, since it is an official prequel novel. And while the aim of the book is to generate excitement for the game, I think it stands on its own fairly well too. One thing to note is that while the book does fill you in on a lot of the basics of the characters, if you had 0 knowledge of Spider-Man lore before reading, you might be a bit lost. This book begins 8 years into Spider-Man's adventures. He's finished high school and college, and now works while being Spider-Man. It very briefly touches on the origins, but thankfully we don't have to go through Uncle Ben dying for the umpteenth time. We see some appearances from various villains, but the main villain is Wilson Fisk, and to a lesser extent a Spider-Man copy cat. That's all I'll say there, because I don't want to give too much away. One thing that I really liked about the book is the fact that it's not completely from Spider-Man's point of view. There are quite a few chapters dedicated to Fisk and the copycat, and being able to see things from their heads really fleshed them out as characters. Don't get me wrong, they're still villains through and through. But this aspect at least helps you understand and empathize with them ever so slightly instead of "hey I'm a villain doing villainy things because I'm the villain". As I mentioned before, the obvious intent of this book is to generate hype for the upcoming game, which I feel it does very well. It gives us a great introduction to characters like Peter, MJ and Fisk and sets up a lot of exciting things. That being said, I do feel that it being a prequel to the game does also hurt it a little bit. Allegedly the game picks up right where the novel ends, and I think it ends in a very blatant "you'll have to buy the game to see what happens next!" type of way. There's a "plot" between some characters that is hinted at a few times but is never resolved, so you know that it will come up in the game. Also, while we get some great "screen time" for characters like Peter and Fisk, there are some characters that only get a page or two in the whole book and you wonder why they're even mentioned at all. This includes characters like Aunt May, or Harry Osborn. I feel that they're mentioned because they'll have a part to play in the game, but in the novel they serve almost no purpose. Is the book perfect? No. Is the book there to sell copies of the game? As mentioned plenty of times, yes. But despite its issues, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would highly recommend it, especially only at ~$6. While it's an obvious set up, it does have a satisfying enough story on its own and if you're any sort of Spider-Man I'd definitely recommend giving it a shot.

For a prequel novel, I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't expect a groundbreaking work of art, just some insight into the upcoming game's story. However, this book delivered a compelling and entertaining story from beginning to end, fleshing out characters, posing internal and external conflicts, and, above all else, providing a captivating story for it's reader. Similar to a Game of Thrones novel, Hostile Takeover gives multiple character perspectives throughout the telling of its story. This is a perfect model of story-telling for Hostile Takeover, considering how most comics attempt to convey backstory and thought, typically feeling out of place or excessive. Of course, thought is integral to any Spider-Man story, what would the comics be without Peter's constant inner-monologues/self-dialogues? Although, here, the execution feels appropriate to the format. The novel's length felt comfortable to me; not too much, not too little. It concluded at the perfect moment, leaving me wanting more, yet, equally satisfied with what I was given. Overall, if you're excited for the upcoming game, or are just looking for an interesting Spider-Man story, you will, undeniably, find a captivating story here, with interesting, fleshed out characters, protagonist, antagonist, and all, accompanied by interesting backstories and world development. Enjoy!

Only 4 stars because if the story deserves a 6 out of 5, the cover and paper quality is simply S#!T.

My only complain about it was the size, I thought it could be a little bigger but that's alright, I loved the history that takes place before the Official Game, it was intriguing and genuinely good! I love it!