Though Spider-Man has one of the most beloved rogues galleries in all of Marvel Comics, few of Peter Parker's enemies have proven to be as dynamic as the Venom symbiote. First introduced in the Secret Wars arc as Spider-Man's black suit, Venom has since transitioned between rage-filled killer, dangerous anti-hero, and full-on Avenger.
Venom's complex history and motivations may be most evident in Marvel comics, but he's also been featured in several video games. Most of them have centered on Eddie Brock's earlier villainous stints as Venom, but he's also available as a playable hero from time to time as well.
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (67)
Spider-Man has been the focal point of several amazing video games, but Web of Shadows presents a darker narrative than most. In this game, which was initially released for Windows, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3, Spider-Man must team up with several allies to stop a Venom-led Symbiote invasion of Manhattan.
While critics knocked the game's unimpressive visuals and occasionally difficult camera, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows earned positive scores for its impressive boss fights (including a massive battle with Venom) and narrative choices that affected the plot.
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 (73)
The original Marvel: Ultimate Alliance was a critical and financial success, and its sequel attempted to take the series in a new visual and narrative direction. The game's core remained the same; players assembled a team of four heroes and villains from the Marvel Universe, each with their own suite of special abilities.
The grimmer storyline combined elements of Civil War and Secret Invasion and asked players to make choices that affected the available characters and direction of the plot. Ultimate Alliance 2 also adopted a more realistic visual style, which proved divisive, but the new emphasis on team-up abilities was a more unanimously positive move.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order (73)
The announcement of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order came as a huge surprise to most fans of the cooperative brawler franchise. A decade had passed since Ultimate Alliance 2, and this third entry in the series saw a new developer, Team Ninja, take the reins.
This game sports more stylized visuals than previous entries, but the core gameplay loop remained familiar. Players control a team of four heroes and villains as they traverse the Marvel Universe searching for the Infinity Gems. Though Venom may not be considered one of the best Ultimate Alliance 3 characters to play as, he's available to use very early in the game.
Disney Infinity 2.0 (74)
The "toys to life" genre was an interesting trend in the video game industry that required physical toys to unlock virtual content. The two most popular, Disney Infinity and Skylanders, peaked in popularity in the mid-twenty-teens, and some Disney Infinity figures are now quite rare.
Disney released figures for Disney Infinity from virtually every one of its intellectual properties, though it was broken into three main releases. 1.0 mainly focused on classic Disney and Pixar characters, 2.0 centered on the Marvel Universe, and 3.0 featured Star Wars. 2.0's second campaign series centered on Spider-Man, Venom, and other Marvel heroes as they worked to stop a Symbiote invasion led by Green Goblin and Mysterio.
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 (76)
When the first LEGO games based on existing properties were announced, many fans assumed they'd be poorly-made cash grabs. Instead, the idea turned out to be a hit, and dozes of popular IPs have been given the digital LEGO treatment. Like other LEGO games, LEGO Marvel Superheroes 2 is a solo or cooperative brawler that lets players jump into the suits of dozens of Marvel characters.
This franchise entry focuses on Kang the Conqueror, and players control different heroes from different Marvel timelines and dimensions to stop Kang from conquering all space and time. This game has been released on several platforms, but the Nintendo Switch version, which sports HD graphics and all DLC, scored the highest review marks.
Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite (77)
From the most complex fighting games to the best fighting games for beginners, the genre is no stranger to crossovers. However, no crossover fighting franchise has seen more success than Marvel vs. Capcom. However, many fans saw Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite as a step back from previous franchise entries.
While the actual fighting was praised as fun and well-designed, several critics criticized its general lack of content. Many felt let down by the roster, which added only five new fighters, contained fewer combatants than previous games, and was utterly devoid of any X-Men.
Ultimate Spider-Man (77)
Developer Treyarch may now be most famous for their work on various Call of Duty titles, but they gained acclaim previously for the beloved Spider-Man 2. Treyarch disconnected from Spider-Man's films for their web-swinging follow-up and instead based the next game, Ultimate Spider-Man, on the alternate Marvel Comics universe of the same name.
This open-word game set players loose in Manhattan and Queens and acts as a sequel to Venom's arc in the Ultimate comics. One unique feature of the game was the ability for players to switch between Spider-Man and Venom. Each character played differently and had their own missions to complete. This game isn't only a great Venom game, it's also one of the best Spider-Man games as well.
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (82)
Though there are now three Marvel Ultimate Alliance games, the first one is still the best-reviewed of the bunch. This cooperative dungeon crawler took what made the X-Men Legends games great and broadened the scope to include nearly every corner of the Marvel Universe.
The game had a mix of popular and niche heroes and villains and gave each playable character a kit that well expressed their personalities and powers. Though Venom would be a base character in the two Ultimate Alliance sequels, he was a DLC character in the original, along with other villains like Magento and Dr. Doom.
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes (83)
The original LEGO Marvel Super Heroes doesn't do much differently from earlier LEGO games such as LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Harry Potter, or LEGO Lord of the Rings, but the expansive Marvel Universe proved to be a perfect fit for the collectability and cartoon-ish vidual style that the series is known for.
The game combines platforming, fighting, and puzzle-solving, and takes players on a journey to stop Loki and Dr. Doom from taking over the world. While Venom was initially only an enemy when LEGO Marvel Super Heroes was released, he was later added as a playable character as well.
Marvel vs Capcom 2 (85)
All four Marvel vs. Capcom franchise entries combines famous combatants from the Marvel Universe and various Capcom series. While the original game, Marvel vs. Capcom: Heroes Collide, was generally well-received, its sequel added a more extensive roster and better visuals to the already-tight gameplay.
Due to its positive reception, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 has been released on several platforms, but the PlayStation 3 version has the highest Metacritic score. The game plays the same, but the graphics upgrade to HD means that the game looks better than it ever had before, and the addition of online multiplayer and leaderboards opened the game up to players without a local playgroup.