First thing's first, I am a huge fan of superheroes and many things comic related. Batman: Arkham Asylum was one of my favourite releases of this generation and in my opinion, Spiderman 2 is one of the only worthwhile movie tie-in games.
After picking up what many hoped would be Spiderman's "Arkham Asylum", I can't say that its quite there. Not to say that it isn't good though.
STORY
Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions puts players behind the mask of Spiderman. Well... multiple Spidermen. You see, Mysterio is trying to pull off a massive heist; stealing an ancient tablet with the intent to sell it to the highest bidder. Spidey crashes this party, however, and breaks the tablet in the process; sending fragments of the artefact throughout the many universes.
Each universe has its own webslinger, and they are called upon to reunite the segments of The Tablet of Order and Chaos before the universe is torn apart. Its not some simple treasure hunt though. With each spiderman, comes a slew of enemies who have gotten their hands on the tablets, which increase their individual powers.
As a whole, the story doesn't work too badly, though its not the most intelligent story ever. Most of the actual levels aren't connected at all. Apart from the Spiderman Noir missions and the Spiderman 2099 levels; there is NO connectivity between levels, with the only similarity being the tablet fragment.
PRESENTATION
This games presentation is definitely one of its high points; with the visual styles and voice acting of each universe being different and of high quality.
For instance, Amazing Spiderman's universe has a comic book feel to it, whereas Ultimate Spidey's universe is more cel-shaded. Spiderman Noir's presentation in particular is really cool, with everything being dark, with a sepia tone in the light; or just plain black and white in the shadows.
The voice acting is really awesome; with multiple voice actors from Spidey's animated past reprising their roles; and with each villain having a distinct and almost familiar voice.
Alot of the script is really cool too; from Amazing Spiderman's classic quips, to Noir Spidey's inner monologue.
Levels are mostly varied, and this helps the game from becoming too repetitive.
GAMEPLAY
With four different Spidermen to control, you would think that gameplay would never get boring. And for the most part, you'd be right. Each Spidey controls rather differently; Noir Spiderman relies on stealth due to his weaker physical form, where as the black suited Ultimate Spiderman relies on his strength (which manifests as a rage mode).
Spiderman 2099 has an accelerated vision mode which comes up as bullet time, and the amazing Spiderman relies heavily on web based attacks and agility.
While this sounds pretty varied on paper, in-game you realise that 2099, Ultimate and Amazing Spiderman are essentially the same. Sure 2099 and Ultimate have their slo-mo and rage modes respectively, but when it comes down to it, each one, you'll be button mashing or inputting combo's to win.
And there is NO problem with that! What makes it ok for God of War to be repetitive button mashing? The fact that its fun! and that's what Shattered Dimensions is!
Now, I mentioned that Noir was different, and he definitely is. In the Noir levels, you have to stick to the shadows, and take enemies out one by one. Spiderman Noir doesn't like bullets at all. If this sounds familiar at all, you may have played the predator missions of Batman Arkham Asylum.
While not as strong as that game, the stealth sections are really fun. What let it down was when Noir Spidey is faced with open combat. He lacks the finesse that Batman had in Arkham Asylum, and it devolves into button mashing again.
Spiderman games of late have been open world swingers, so if you're expecting that with Spiderman: SD you're in for a surprise. Activisions normal simulated New York has been replaced with linear, well designed levels that lack the need for exploration, but have alot more character than previous games.
One thing that really annoyed me about Shattered Dimensions was that it was short. Theres about 3 levels for each spiderman, not including final boss or tutorial; and unless you're playing on Hard, the game wont take long to beat. Even on hard, its only about 8 hours.
While gameplay was pretty solid, Spidermans biggest enemy wasn't Goblin or Mysterio. It was the camera. It often stopped me from crawling on ceilings, or would make me accidently take down the wrong target in the Noir levels. A minor gripe, but still annoying.
Speaking of annoying, my most hated thing about this game was definitely having to protect citizens. I mean, how long does it take to open a door? Ad they had two scientists working on it!!! All the while, Spidey 2099 is getting his ass handed to him by hundreds of scorpion creatures.. Fucking scientists.
One last thing. Sometimes during boss battles, you go into first person fist fights with the boss; and that would have been fine if it was for the 3rd level of each universe, but its in almost every single one. It gets repetitive, and Spiderman (in my eyes) isn't known for his straight up brawling.
REPLAYABILITY
Like i said earlier, Shattered Dimensions isn't long. All up, you're looking at around 13 levels; which is a bit weak. The game makes up for this somewhat, by setting many challenges for each level; as well has having upgrade screens and secret costumes to unlock. It should keep gamers preoccupied for a while, but not too long.
OVERVIEW
I enjoyed this game, but i may be biased. I'd highly recommend it to Spidey fans, and superhero fans alike; but maybe if you're just an interested gamer, rent it. Could save you some money! I mean, the next few months are filled with games galore!
But yea, its a good game with fantastic visuals and design, as well as solid controls, but with a rather lacking story. Narration by Stan Lee though, that's kinda cool. OH! And theres a Spider-Ham reference!!
OK, next week it'll be Medal of Honour, hopefully. Failing that, New Vegas comes out around Thursday i think. WOOHOO! See you next time!
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