Dan Slott said that he was going into hiding after Issue #700 came out; and after reading the issue, I can see why. In the past few issues, there was that glimmer of hope that Peter might return to his body and all would be right in the world of Peter Parker. A majority of Issue #700 toyed with this very idea and almost to a frustrating degree I felt. While this issue is considerably bigger then your standard issue; much of it is the cat and mouse play between Doc Ock and Peter. Much in the same way as a chess match; but the problem was my expectation. I expected the issue to end with either Doc Ock fully or partially controlling Peter's mind body. Time will tell how this plays out, but for now it was predictable.
Still, if this is Peters final moment; it was an emotional one. Seeing him briefly visit the afterlife was cliche; but Uncle Ben telling Peter that he still had one more fight to finish was emotionally engaging to the core and served a greater purpose; giving Peter motivation to defeat the already near-impossible odds.
This made the finale even more gut-wrenching as Peter soon realizes that while he can't defeat Doc Ock; he can certainly burden him with the responsibility that has kept Peter on the path he's on for most of his life.
Many side characters got some valuable time together such as the Jameson clan. Mary Jane's arc in this issue annoyed me slightly; she knows Peter and you'd think would know when something is off. As a reader; it just infuriated me that she simply just shrugged off Peter's change in mood when they live in a world of Aliens, Advanced Technology, and Supervillains.
Only time will tell if Dan Slott's latest twist will stick. For now though; while I was underwhelmed by much of the story. There's no denying how emotionally powerful the finale was and the ramifications this will have for Spider-Man and his supporting characters. I still believe that there's more to this then meets the eye; this is in fact Peter Parker. A character that always does best when he's against the ropes.