Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions

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After years of playing crummy Spider-man games like Spider-man 3, Friend or Foe, Web of Shadows; this game is perfect for the Spider-man fan. I grew up with Spider-man comics and of coarse had to have every video game that ever came out with his name on it. This is the best. The script writing and voice acting is perfect, as well as Spidey's wit and sarcasm intact and exactly as it should be. Sure the story is a little far fetched but it is a comic book game after all. In my mind this takes the greatness of the first Ultimate Alliance and mixes it with some tips from Arkham Asylum to make a perfect blend of ease and entertainment. The extra suits and level ups make it extremely fun and holds interest. The four worlds also make this anything but a boring old swing through New York and punch bullies. You'll have a new favorite costume each day. Obviously I recommend it and if you love Spidey, its a must have.

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...but I had to give it 5 stars simply because I don't think that the game earns a 3.5-star average after 5 reviews.

The game is just flat out campy fun. The basic premise of the story (actually the whole nugget!) is that Spider-Man inadvertently destroys a tablet (the cliched "Tablet of Order and Chaos") during a fight with Mysterio, resulting in the shattering in the fabric of reality, placing 3 alternate universes in jeopardy. All of the fragments need to be recovered. Enough said, because that's the story plain and simple.

The game begins in a tutorial-style mode where you get a taste of each alternate Spidey universe (Amazing, Noir, Ultimate, and 2099) and the first 4 fragments of the tablet are easy to collect as you are guided into how each universe differs from the other. Amazing Spider-Man is probably the most balanced of the 4 between his ability to shrug off attacks and dispatch enemies with relative ease. Ultimate Spider-Man has the alien symbiote attached to him, resulting in some rather fantastic rage powers and yet he has to contend with horrific villains. Spider-Man 2099 is also well balanced, but does a lot of aerial combat as he falls through impossible heights. Noir Spider-Man (my favorite) has to rely on stealth for take-downs; if he is exposed in the light, it doesn't take much to bring him down forcing you to evade and melt in the shadows as quickly as possible. Noir can barely deal with one frontal confrontation with your typical lackey; he will get mowed down with 2 or more in his face.

The story is not the best, but it's all about the campy humor, fun, and the web slinging. So how are the gameplay mechanics? In a word...awesome. As you get slowly introduced into his abilities, you'll find yourself web-slinging around, web jumping, blinding your enemies with web pellets, performing web kicks, straight-up punches, etc. It's pretty well done.

Another cool aspect of the game lies within the "Web of Destiny." The Web of Destiny has a series of tasks for Spider-Man to complete in order to win additional Spidey "essence" (read: points) so that he can purchase additional upgrades, abilities, etc. It's very similar to the upgrade system in Batman: Arkham Asylum. It's also well done and leads to some rather cool abilities that Spidey can do. It also breaks the montony of a button-mashing game, forcing you to take down a certain number of enemies a certain way, complete something within a certain amount of time, find a certain number of items, etc. It makes you refrain from web sling, attack, web sling, attack, wash, rinse, and repeat. It's clever.

As for the camera complaints, I don't have any issues. I'm able to navigate the camera with right analog stick with relative ease if the shot doesn't please me and I don't find myself struggling at all. I'm a little puzzled at the complaints thus far I have zero issues.

My biggest complaint is when boss fights occasionally enter a 1st-person mode. Seriously, if I wanted to perform hooks, uppercuts, and dodges like this, then I'll slip the PUNCH-OUT! disc into my Wii console. I don't want it in my Spider-Man game. The mechanics come across as cheesy and half-baked. It seems like the developer felt like it was a cool idea and then realized it was too late to back off the stupid concept and left it in, with the embarrassing wave of "oh, it does this, too." In addition, while most of the levels are pretty cool, some are inexplicably frustrating.

How does the game hold up overall? Humor: campy, but great! Action/web-slinging: well-done! Voice-acting: pretty good for the most part! Is it a Batman: Arkham Asylum contender? Definitely, definitely NOT. But it holds up to its own strengths pretty well and it's fun to play.

Overall, I give it 4 1/4 stars but I'm giving it a full 5 simply because reviews thus far have been a little too harsh in my opinion.

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If you're looking for a real true-to-the-comic-book, real-web-swing-feel Spider action game, this is simply a must have. One of the most innovative battle sequences I have seen is found in this game. There are a couple of sequences when fighting some of the main bosses that you're going at them in what feels like a nose to nose battle. With what feels like to me a nod to the original Mike Tyson's Punch Out, with several of the bosses you'll have a chance to duke it out. Nothing made me feel like I was fighting them more than a swift upper cut or shot to the jaw.

That's a sneak peak about fighting, but swinging around with your webs is a great addition to that. You have to press L2 and look for the yellow arrows to zip right to your target, but I felt this was an excellent way to capture the split second decisions Spider-Man has to make when he swings into an area or swings up to a perch. I like the right on, pin point swings because it feels like you're getting a chance to use his Spidey-sense for trajectory instead of latching on to seemingly endless invisible buildings or objects. I felt like this was a real improvement over most Spider-Man games and it made me feel like I was wearing the webs.

I've read of a few complaints on the "no sandbox type" gaming in this iteration. This is far from a complaint for me. I like the more linear type games. The leveling system of your powers adds a nice non-linear piece to the linear action, and the objectives that come into play during the game are nicely done to add even more replay ability to the game--making you want to max out on the challenges and use the combo points to purchase all of the extras and upgrades. Back to the more linear gameplay. I like how in some games the developers use the action to tell the story. Don't give me a sandbox type game with pieces of the story all broken and scattered throughout the game, tell me what I'm supposed to be paying attention to, give me an objective and several ways to accomplish it, and I'll keep coming back to improve upon the puzzles and master the game and get more enjoyment out of the story. The biggest perk of the "non-sandbox style"--diverse environments. You're not always in New York. You travel everywhere in this game and it helps me feel, not only immersed, but able to enjoy the different artwork and planning, and thought that went into the game to keep the play fresh at every turn.

This game blows Web of Shadows away. I started playing that and the graphics and gameplay and voice overs and fighting in that game, well, they not only made me yawn, but they are just bad, the picture on the cover of Web of Shadows is the best part about that game. Spider learning from I think . . . the Cage guy? He seems like a simple weakling, not like the battle proven spidey like in this game. He's tough in Shattered Dimensions, and witty . . . I love the one liners. This game is also a big improvement on Spider-Man Friend or Foe. I liked that game, but it was just way too short, and the story wasn't quite as good as the one in Shattered Dimensions. Maybe it's the diversity of using Spidey in all of his different worlds that draws me in, but I just can't put down Shattered Dimensions.

I make it a strict rule to never buy any games if it has a movie attached to it and this is one time it really paid off. If you're looking for a Spider-Man game and don't want to worried about being let down, you must give this one a try. The Noir really is fun. I think the added stealth element could help it hold up as a game by itself, but right now, as far as challenge wise, I'm still finding the Spider-Man 2099 Dimension the most challenging. I have the whole 2099 Spider-Man series run and it's nice to see they polished it up and revisited it. It made for a great addition to the Spider world and I thought it was cut short way before it really developed.

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Being able to play as different incarnations of the webslinger was probably the #1 reason why I tried this game at all. The graphics were fun, each Spiderman had his own 'style'. Spider Sense was given its fair shake: helpful but not game breaking. Controls took no time at all to become accustomed to. There were a few tech issues, mostly awkward camera angles, and they could make finding all the extras a bit of a headache.

The plot is predictable. Mystic McGuffin breaks into separate pieces and it's up to Spiderman... I mean four Spidermen to save the day. We get the Amazing Spiderman, Noir Spiderman, Ultimate Spiderman, and (my fave) Spiderman 2099. Each Spiderman has their own costumes and special abilities, combat moves too, so each of the Spidermen have that something 'extra' that makes them fun to play. Back when I read Marvel, SM 2099 was my fave, but herein, Noir SM is pretty awesome his missions require stealth and tactics where the others tend to punch and throw disgusting amounts of webbing. We also get an awesome assembly of Spiderman's rogues gallery from the classic Sandman to the newer female Doctor Octopus (who has ten appendages, go figure...), Ultimate Electro, Deadpool which is hand's down the most fun you'll have playing any level and even Juggernaut. I don't want to list them all, but you end up playing the game for the same reason you read Spiderman, of any dimension: the villians.

The voice actors sound very familiar I have heard most of them perform for one Spiderman project or another. Music's top notch. The game as a whole feels very cinematic. And that also means you should watch through all the credits. At the end of the day, the game has next to no replayability, unless you want to finish missed challenges and unlock new swag. But it a fun ride through the past 15 or so years of Spiderman. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a few boxes of comics I need to dust off.

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The last few Spider-Man games seemed to follow the same schtick. Taking a cue from the Grand Theft Auto games, you played in an "open world" where you could explore New York City and would have to solve so many tasks before progressing in the story. (I.E. you had to stop ten robberies, five gang fights, etc). It was fun but after a while it started to get a little tired repeating the exact same tasks over and over.

In that regard, Shattered Dimensions is a refreshing change of pace in that it follows a more linear narrative. The plot is nothing special; Mysterio attempts to steal some sacred tablet, causes a big mishap in which the tablet breaks off into different realities. Thus, each Spider-Man from a different reality has to find their pieces of the tablet before its too late. In the process, various supervillains attempt to steal various pieces to augment their powers. It's just an excuse to get play as the different Spideys, which is good enough for me. There's the standard red-blue Spidey, the teenaged 'Ultimate' Spidey (who is given the black symbiote suit to make him stand out from his older counterpart), the futuristic one from the year 2099 and last but not least the darker 'Noir' Spidey.

The highlight of the game for many is the different types of Spideys you can play as. There different animation styles present to give each character a different 'feel' and your abilities vary. When you get past the different looks, three out of the four Spideys all feature similar type of gameplay with considerably minor differences (I.E. Ultimate Spidey's symbiote makes him stronger when he's enraged). The levels that stuck out for me and were the definite highlight of the game were the Noir levels. All the colors are sepia toned which give it a real unique atmosphere in comparison to the other universes (which were more traditional in appearance), and the Spider-Man character is significantly different for the player. You are much more vulnerable to bullets, so you have to hide in the shadows and web up crooks without getting caught. To be honest, this is pretty much directly copying Arkham Asylum's Batman, but I didn't care. I got the impression that the makers had the most fun designing this part of the game, and I'd love to see more games in the 'Noir' universe.

Each level follows the same formula. You fight the villain's thugs and finish some tasks (I.E. rescuing hostages or disarming shields), then you fight the boss once. He escapes, you do more tasks, and then you face the villain when he's more powerful thanks to the Tablet. I don't want to say it's repetitive as there's plenty of variety in the different types of tasks and visual style for the levels, but there were times when I felt deja vu.

The voice acting is pretty good. Once again taking cues from Arkham Asylum, each Spider-Man is played by a voice actor who did Spidey for an animated series. As someone who grew up on the 90s cartoon, seeing Christopher Daniel Barnes in particular again was a real treat. As a fan of the cancelled-too-soon Spectacular Spider-Man, it was nice seeing Josh Keaton as well (playing the teenaged 'Ultimate Spider-Man' appropriately).

In the end I'd say it's worth a rental. I'm hardly an expert gamer and I was able to finish it one weekend with only a moderate level of difficulty. Still, I had a fun time doing so and I didn't feel my time was wasted. It's worth checking out at the very least.