Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions

I'm not sure if anyone but me likes Spider-Man but I've loved that shit since I was a kid. Today I'd like to write about my experience with Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, not because it's a new release (it isn't) but because I fucking feel like it. I know I said I was going to do S.T.A.L.K.E.R but not having auto-save pisses me off.


Spider-Man has historically used multiple universes in its stories to allow for whacky storylines, easy retcon, time travel and more. Shattered Dimensions fits neatly into "multiple universe crossover" area, involving 4 different Spider-Men each working towards a common goal, however doing so in their own dimension. Given that there are approximately a billion different iterations of Spider-Man, the four present in the game are Spider-Man; your plain, run of the mill web-slinging, wisecracking hero, Spider-Man 2099, who is from the future and has the ability to slow down time, Symbiote Spider-Man, a considerably more evil incarnation than the one depicted in the film, and finally Spider-Man Noir, a quirky 50's detective style Spider-Man who is less strong and resilient than the others, however makes up for it with stealth and cunning.

In terms of gameplay, you get three basic varieties of mission. Each level is basically an enormous hunt of one boss who you will fight multiple times over the course of the level. From within this structure, the three subdivisions are a standard linear action/adventure mission, a small sandbox-style objective mission and (only for Spider-Man Noir) the stealth missions (I'll discuss this later.) Spider-Man 2099 also gets very small falling-combat sequences which get old fast, however I think the developers realised this and made them very short and sweet, giving you just enough to enjoy them but not enough to come to loathe them.
The linear sections are slightly hit and miss in terms of quality. I found that at some points in the mission involving Carnage I was having a load of fun however 30 seconds later I felt like I was just going through the action/adventure motions. I really would have liked to see some more creativity put into the blander sections of the missions.
I'm willing to bet that there is at least one reader who is like me in that if they're given a sandbox, they will ignore the objective for 4 hours while they collect shiny things. The sandbox sections of Spider-Man are a lot like this (especially the Deadpool mission, which is essentially three enormous sandboxes strung together.) As much as I'd like to fault this, I can't deny the purity of my mind whilst I was webslinging around collecting spider-tokens. In the end, that's what video games are about: entertaining you. It may just be the case that some of us are entertained by OCD...

A big part of this game for me was the stealth missions, during which you play as Spider-Man Noir. First of all, allow me to explain Spider-Man Noir; he exists in an alternate universe set in the 50's. He's nowhere near as strong or as durable as his alternate-universe Spidey counterparts, so a few bullets will end your life and hand-to-hand combat should be approached very carefully. To his benefit though, Spider-Man Noir has amazing stealth skills allowing him to move unseen in the shadows and run lightly across high-wires to flank and outmaneuver his foes. He also has a multitude of stealth take-down abilities depending on the relative positions of himself and his target, ranging from a vanilla "punch it till it stops moving" approach, to a slightly unnerving "hang him from a railing in a web cocoon" trick.
The stealth is perhaps slightly less purist than say, Metal Gear Solid, but it's not really worse; just different.


The enemies in Shattered Dimensions follow the theme of whatever particular mission you happen to be in at the time, for example in the Spider-Man Noir missions you will be pit against 50's gangsters and goons, however in the mission against Kraven the hunter, you will fight his tribal-style lackeys. Combat is impressively varied; each Spider-Man has his own combos and attacks you can unlock using points gained from completing missions. Many of the attacks (especially with the vanilla Spider-Man) are very imaginative and fit in with the overall humour of the game. A personal favourite is whacking an enemy with a gigantic hammer made out of web.


Story is perhaps slightly weak, although I think it fits in with the simple-story style that Spider-Man has been using for roughly a thousand fucking years now. Apparently Mysterio broke into a museum and stole an ancient tablet which imbues the holder with godlike powers. Why an object of obviously immense trans-dimensional power was being kept in a fucking museum, I don't know.
Naturally Spider-Man busts Mysterio's ass (I don't think he even has any real powers, he's just a dickhead in a stupid costume...) but the tablet is broken and scattered across space-time in a conveniently Spider-Man-centric manner and it's up to all the Spider-Men to collect them and save the universe. 
A lot of old-school favourite villains make appearances, for example Carnage, Kraven, Juggernaut, Hammerhead and a personal favourite, Deadpool. A lot of the game is also accompanied by hilarious dialogue between Spider-Man and the particular villain he's after.


The reason Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions is a good game is because it not only appeals to long-time Spider-Man nerds like me (shut up) but also people who've never had any contact with Spider-Man in their lives; you can have fun playing this game regardless. Shattered Dimensions has some amazing scenarios and is only really let down by some monotony in the more plain areas of the game. 

All in all, I'd my final verdict is:
8 out of 10 potential fucks given


PS: In the near future, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is being released, as is Torchlight 2. You can expect articles on these fairly soon after release. Apologies for the large gap between this and the last article, I had some life-shit to deal with as a priority. Yeah I have a life, stop snickering. Fuck you.