Gaming Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions

[Heaven's Cloud]

[color=indigo]I have been interested in [b]Spider-man: Shattered Dimensions[/b] since I heard rumors that Marvel was really looking to amp up the Spider-man video game series, in hopes that they will have a critically acclaimed hit on their hands (like [b]Batman: Arkham Asylum[/b] was for DC).

The plot, like most comics turned video games, is pretty simple. Mysterio, one of Spidey's rogues, attempts to steal a mystical artifact that grants the possessor great power. Spidey tries to stop him and during the melee the artifact is shattered and scattered throughout space-time. Of course the pieces conveniently make their way into the hand of more and more villains. Fortunately, each dimension has its own incarnation of Spider-man that is willing to step up and thwart evil-doers.

I've managed to squeeze a few hours of game play into my schedule and so far the game is okay, which is disappointing if you expect Marvel's own [b]Arkham Asylum[/b] but fantastic if you are comparing it to the previous incarnations of Spider-man games. The graphics are fun, think Mark Bagley meets the illustrator from the cartoon [b]Archer[/b], and work with the lighthearted, bad-joke cracking Spider-man(men), and the sound track and voice acting are all pretty good.

The best part of the game is definitely playing around with the various Spideys. Each has their own abilities, Amazing Spidey does all the cool web tricks like making web bats and spiked balls, 2099 Spidey has a hyper-vigilance mode that allows him to drastically slow down time during attacks, and Ultimate Spidey is bonded to the symbiote making him super strong. My personal favorite is the Noir Spider-man. Noir Spider-man's specialty is to stick to the shadows and confront enemies quickly and violently. You don't really want to push fights with Noir Spidey, he gets gunned down pretty easily. The best part of playing with Noir Spidey is the dialogue. The game takes a really campy edge with narrative straight out of a bad '20s detective film. It is wonderful.

The downside of the game is the game play. While much improved over previous incarnations, their are still quite a few flaws. The biggest flaw is that the same button that is used to quickly web swing to designated points is also the button used for basic web swinging, you tap the button to swing to a designated point and hold it to swing. The problem is that it often doesn't work. I frequently find myself attempting to move to a designated point only to swing around crazily.

The battle system is okay, kind of Devil May Cry like, where you can learn new combos and stringing combos earns you points.

All in all, the game is pretty fun. I don't know if I would rush out and buy it, but it is definitely worth picking up when the price drops a bit.[/color]

[CaNz]

the spider man game series always seemed pretty good... it was all different producers but i liked all the ones i played.
I must have beat the spider man on Playstation 1 hundreds of times for the unlocables (but i also still remember the super cheat code was leanest!)
and i remember a good one for sega 32x called web of fire or somthing like that.
mot to mention the free roaming ones lfor the ps2 and up...

i might actually get this one just because of the past games working so well.

[Magus]

I'm actually on the fence about this one. Considering the last Spider-Man game I've played was Ultimate Spider-Man. All the Spider-Man games after it just looked so bland and it just turned me away from Spider-Man altogether. I still like the character but as far as games go, don't know. I guess if another company [strike]Rocksteady[/strike] got their hands on it I'd be more interested. From some of the videos I've seen of the game it does look pretty good... (graphic standpoint)