Spiderman Shattered Dimensions

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions

Rating: T

Score: 8.5/10

                Spiderman has been through some good and bad times. Good times would be the release of the immensely successful comic book, and a bunch of successful cartoons and video games (including Spider-Man2, the first in my nostalgic reviews, but that's practically ancient history now). It started hitting low points at Spider-Man 3, more so the video game than the movie (although neither were amazing), and some lukewarm steps around the Spider-Man: Friend or Foe and the Ultimate Spider-Man games. It's time for the Amazing Spider-Man to get some well deserved screen time in a good game again. Is this the game to deliver? This game is available for the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC and Nintendo DS.

                The story, interestingly enough, stars Mysterio the Illusionist as the main villain, which is an excellent start.  Basically, Mysterio is an illusionist with a giant orb for a head, and he's extremely underrated for being awesome. He tries to steal the plot device (Tablet of Chaos and Order) which conveniently splits into multiple plot-thickening devices that open multiple portals-of-easy-gameplay-variety.  Each portal sends Spider-Man to a different dimension, where he then must search for and retrieve all the pieces of the broken tablet. It's an excuse plot; it's there for the sake of being there. It has Spider-Man saying bad spider puns, making smart comments, and being the typical Spider-Man we expect by now.

                Each dimension is a slightly (or completely) different type of gameplay. The Amazing Spider-Man is controlled in the regular dimension, which is platforming-heavy. It uses a similar (but not as effective) web-swinging system that Spider-Man 2 used, which isn't as useful if it's only used in a linear path. Even so, it adds a great sense of "Spider-Man style" to the levels, which makes the name more than visual alone. An almost inverted dimension to the normal is the Ultimate Spider-Man world (Ultimate Spider-Man is the same black-suited Spider-Man from Spider-Man 3, for those less nerdy). The Ultimate Spider-Man levels are combat-heavy, playing like a regular Spider-Man-themed button-masher game. It still holds true to "Spider-Man"-ish style. You can also travel to the future and play as the 2099 Spider-Man, who has added agility and combat maneuvers (but isn't combat heavy). It plays like a flashy Spider-Man film, with adrenaline-filled jumps, battles, and stunts. Finally, the last dimension is the past, where you play as Noir Spider-Man. Noir Spider-Man is stealth based, which is way different from the other three styles. It plays like a mediocre  version of Arkham Asylum, which I guess if it's going to be like ANY game, choose a really superb one.

                Each level, no matter the dimension, has a boss battle at the end, and is always an old comic-book villain. Yes, it does seem really odd to me that every single time Spider-Man seems to take a breath he's overcome with fan service via random comic-book characters with often little place in the story. No, it doesn't bother me that the tablets just "happen" to get in the hands of these villains and not random scavenger spots or the hands of random citizens.

                The game isn't particularly lengthy, but it is surprisingly addictive. The 2099 Spider-Man in particular seems to almost play itself.  Additionally, at random points in the game, the game will cut to first-person from its third-person perspective and you directly control Spider-Man's fist. It's fun, and gives the game even more variety. It also makes me wonder why the whole game couldn't be first-person. Wouldn’t that be amazing, swinging and fighting in first-person as Spider-Man?

                It's rare for atmosphere to add so much to the game and level design, but each dimensions unique style really adds a lot of personality to the game. The only other game that atmosphere really sold the game well was Batman: Arkham Asylum, which the atmosphere was really half the fun (it was so perfect).

                It's nice to see a good, linear platforming/action game every now and again. Each comic book hero seems to go the platforming/action route in their games (with the possible exception of Wolverine), and it's one of the rare cases it works really well. Combat is intense and immersive enough to be fun without seeming too repetitive, but it lacks the hook other Spider-Man games other than it's unique atmosphere. Web-swinging is also underused despite being one of Spider-Man's coolest gameplay ideas. Even still, the Spider-Man seems to be back in business in gaming.