Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions
- Thread starter mrtonguetwista
- Start date
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Let's bring you up to speed: there's a new game called Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. In it, you play as four separate versions of Spider-Man. Each one of these universes is threatened by the shattering of the Tablet of Order and Chaos. So far, we know that the universes include Amazing, Noir and 2099 versions of Spider-Man.
Activision has been holding this last world over our heads for months now. It's annoying, but it's over. The final universe in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions is Ultimate.
Reactions to this Ultimate announcement will vary depending on who you are. Folks who just dig Spidey on a mainstream level might have no idea what "Ultimate" means. If that's you, Ultimate is a series of comic books that have retold Spider-Man's origin story and taken him back to high school. Folks who are hardcore comic fans might be pissed; Ultimate Spider-Man is a lot like Amazing Spider-Man in terms of his suit and powers. I'm sure more than a few feel that this is a cop-out because Beenox and Activision promised four different Spider-Men in Shattered Dimensions.
I was one of these eyerolling, cranky people, but then, I played the game and shut the hell up.
The Ultimate universe is its own thing in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. It might not be as stark a difference as comparing Amazing to 2099, but I assure you, it's there. For starters, Ultimate is completely cel-shaded and Spider-Man's got a much sleeker, younger physique. On top of that, Spider-Man's rocking the black symbiote in this rich and colorful world and not Amazing's red and blue tights. The outfit that would be Venom is cool on a visual level, but the suit actually means that Ultimate Spider-Man plays a lot differently than the other dimensions.
This is something that Beenox and Activision had been pushing for awhile – that even though every one of the heroes in this game was Spider-Man, they would all feel completely different. Amazing is supposed to be entrenched is his web attacks (web hammers, zipping to kick people in the chest, etc.) and 2099 is all about the aerial maneuvers.
After playing as Noir Spidey and Ultimate Spider-Man, I believe the developers. Noir was this world where I had to stick in the shadows and wait to attack. I'd perch myself on a train car (arrows on stuff show you perchable objects), wait for a chatting guard to take his flashlight off his bud, and snatch the now-darkened foe. It was an inch-by-inch process of making my way deeper into the train yard, taking out patrols, and freeing hostages by ripping the bars off their makeshift cells.
Ultimate Spider-Man was nothing like this. Whereas in the Noir world – if I did everything right – the villain had no idea I was around, Ultimate had black suit Spidey dropped into the middle of a mess of bad guys. This would've ended with Noir Spider-Man getting blown away in his world, but here, Ultimate Spider-Man just laid waste to these foes with the suit. Spider-Man swings his arms and whips opponents with the symbiote tendrils, he can cause the suit to shoot spikes out of his chest, and the webhead can create impalers that spring from the pavement.
He's a melee machine, and as you kick in the skulls of these enemies – which are a mix of SHEILD forces, Carnage symbiotes, and SHIELD forces merged with Carnage symbiotes – a rage meter fills up, allowing you to amplify your attacks and really bust some heads.
All this brawling led to a showdown with Carnage where Spidey had to dodge the maniacal attacks, get in a few good shots, and kick the baddie into a device a few times. This was also my first chance to try the first-person combat. In boss fights, the camera will move to this first-person view at preset points and put you in the Spidey suit. Basically, you can just move the joysticks to throw punches and pull them both back to dodge. This was the least interesting part of the demo for me as it felt a bit out of place and wasn't really all that cool. It was stiff and took me out of the moment.
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions isn't just about fighting. As you play through these levels, you're going to be collecting spider tokens, earning performance medals and working on each level's 15 challenges. While you're doing this, you earn XP so that you can unlock new moves for Spider-Man's repertoire. Now, your combat progression will carry over from universe to universe, so if you're getting more powerful before doubling back to 2099 (you choose the order of the universes in each act), expect future Spidey to have some new tricks when you suit up once again.
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions is going to pack 13 levels – or about three for every universe – and each one of those is built around an individual villain. Before today, the developers have only been willing to talk about Norman Osborne and Hammerhead in Noir, Scorpion and Hobgoblin in 2099, and Kraven in Amazing, but now, they're expanding on who makes up the 13 baddies in the game. You can add Vulture to Noir's roster and Carnage and Deadpool to Ultimate's. Each one of these villains is going to be recognizable to Spidey fans, but the tablet fragments have made the bad guys even more powerful.
Personally, I'm excited for Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions – and that's after being a bit "meh" on it. When the title was announced, I worried about this Spider-Man tale would become just a button masher. I'd still like to know if the tale will feel like a webhead story, but after playing Noir and Ultimate, I'm not too worried about getting bored switching between universes. Sure, the Ultimate gameplay was just me switching between heavy and light attacks, but it was a blast.
Look for more on Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions as we swing towards its September 7, 2010 release date.
Let's bring you up to speed: there's a new game called Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. In it, you play as four separate versions of Spider-Man. Each one of these universes is threatened by the shattering of the Tablet of Order and Chaos. So far, we know that the universes include Amazing, Noir and 2099 versions of Spider-Man.
Activision has been holding this last world over our heads for months now. It's annoying, but it's over. The final universe in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions is Ultimate.
Reactions to this Ultimate announcement will vary depending on who you are. Folks who just dig Spidey on a mainstream level might have no idea what "Ultimate" means. If that's you, Ultimate is a series of comic books that have retold Spider-Man's origin story and taken him back to high school. Folks who are hardcore comic fans might be pissed; Ultimate Spider-Man is a lot like Amazing Spider-Man in terms of his suit and powers. I'm sure more than a few feel that this is a cop-out because Beenox and Activision promised four different Spider-Men in Shattered Dimensions.
I was one of these eyerolling, cranky people, but then, I played the game and shut the hell up.
The Ultimate universe is its own thing in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. It might not be as stark a difference as comparing Amazing to 2099, but I assure you, it's there. For starters, Ultimate is completely cel-shaded and Spider-Man's got a much sleeker, younger physique. On top of that, Spider-Man's rocking the black symbiote in this rich and colorful world and not Amazing's red and blue tights. The outfit that would be Venom is cool on a visual level, but the suit actually means that Ultimate Spider-Man plays a lot differently than the other dimensions.
This is something that Beenox and Activision had been pushing for awhile – that even though every one of the heroes in this game was Spider-Man, they would all feel completely different. Amazing is supposed to be entrenched is his web attacks (web hammers, zipping to kick people in the chest, etc.) and 2099 is all about the aerial maneuvers.
After playing as Noir Spidey and Ultimate Spider-Man, I believe the developers. Noir was this world where I had to stick in the shadows and wait to attack. I'd perch myself on a train car (arrows on stuff show you perchable objects), wait for a chatting guard to take his flashlight off his bud, and snatch the now-darkened foe. It was an inch-by-inch process of making my way deeper into the train yard, taking out patrols, and freeing hostages by ripping the bars off their makeshift cells.
Ultimate Spider-Man was nothing like this. Whereas in the Noir world – if I did everything right – the villain had no idea I was around, Ultimate had black suit Spidey dropped into the middle of a mess of bad guys. This would've ended with Noir Spider-Man getting blown away in his world, but here, Ultimate Spider-Man just laid waste to these foes with the suit. Spider-Man swings his arms and whips opponents with the symbiote tendrils, he can cause the suit to shoot spikes out of his chest, and the webhead can create impalers that spring from the pavement.
He's a melee machine, and as you kick in the skulls of these enemies – which are a mix of SHEILD forces, Carnage symbiotes, and SHIELD forces merged with Carnage symbiotes – a rage meter fills up, allowing you to amplify your attacks and really bust some heads.
All this brawling led to a showdown with Carnage where Spidey had to dodge the maniacal attacks, get in a few good shots, and kick the baddie into a device a few times. This was also my first chance to try the first-person combat. In boss fights, the camera will move to this first-person view at preset points and put you in the Spidey suit. Basically, you can just move the joysticks to throw punches and pull them both back to dodge. This was the least interesting part of the demo for me as it felt a bit out of place and wasn't really all that cool. It was stiff and took me out of the moment.
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions isn't just about fighting. As you play through these levels, you're going to be collecting spider tokens, earning performance medals and working on each level's 15 challenges. While you're doing this, you earn XP so that you can unlock new moves for Spider-Man's repertoire. Now, your combat progression will carry over from universe to universe, so if you're getting more powerful before doubling back to 2099 (you choose the order of the universes in each act), expect future Spidey to have some new tricks when you suit up once again.
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions is going to pack 13 levels – or about three for every universe – and each one of those is built around an individual villain. Before today, the developers have only been willing to talk about Norman Osborne and Hammerhead in Noir, Scorpion and Hobgoblin in 2099, and Kraven in Amazing, but now, they're expanding on who makes up the 13 baddies in the game. You can add Vulture to Noir's roster and Carnage and Deadpool to Ultimate's. Each one of these villains is going to be recognizable to Spidey fans, but the tablet fragments have made the bad guys even more powerful.
Personally, I'm excited for Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions – and that's after being a bit "meh" on it. When the title was announced, I worried about this Spider-Man tale would become just a button masher. I'd still like to know if the tale will feel like a webhead story, but after playing Noir and Ultimate, I'm not too worried about getting bored switching between universes. Sure, the Ultimate gameplay was just me switching between heavy and light attacks, but it was a blast.
Look for more on Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions as we swing towards its September 7, 2010 release date.
