Game: Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions
Platform: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, PC
Developers: Beenox, Griptonite Games
Publisher: Activision
Release Date: September 7, 2010
Rated: T – for Teen
For a long time, it was a safe and foregone conclusion that any video game based on a licensed property would be just north of terrible and just south of decent. It took a long time for developers to crack the code and figure out that the best way to handle licensed characters — especially superheroes — is to put them into original games that are not directly tied to movie promotions or specific storylines. That is one of the big keys to the surprisingly fun Batman and Wolverine games we’ve gotten over the past couple of years (yes, the Wolverine game was tied to the Wolverine movie, but really was its own entity). Did the same tactic work for Activision’s newest Spidey outing, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions?
Undeniably, yes. I’ll put this out at the beginning so that there’s no mistake: This is the best Spider-Man video game I’ve ever played. And believe me, I’ve played a lot of them. Some previous titles have suffered from wonky webslinging controls while others have featured needlessly open and sandboxy worlds. Shattered Dimensions boils the character of Spider-Man and the overall genre of comic book games down to what really works and matters: Recognizable villains, a coherent and cohesive goal, and immersive and addictive heroic gameplay. I played the Xbox 360 version of the game, and that’s the basis for all my opinions in this review.
At its core, Shattered Dimensions is a very simple “go collect these things to make a bigger thing” game, and that’s exactly the sort of easily digestible plot a hero like Spider-Man needs in a game like this. The game opens with longtime Spidey nemesis Mysterio raiding a museum to steal the Tablet of Order and Chaos, an ancient stone carving that would grant Mysterio access to real magical powers, as opposed to the illusions and stage trickery he traditionally uses. In the opening battle with Mysterio, Spider-Man accidentally destroys the tablet, unleashing some sort of interdimensional energy that scatters shards throughout the Marvel multiverse. Of course, these shards make their way into the hands of various members of Spider-Man’s rogues gallery, granting his enemies awesome and evil powers. Madame Web tasks Spider-Man with recovering the shards to prevent the destruction of all realities.
Marvel’s universe has long been a multiverse with uncountable alternate versions of familiar heroes and villains going about their business at the same time. The main comic book reality is set on Earth 616, and that’s where the game’s story and primary conflicts begin. Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man, is the Spidey of 616, but he’s not the only wallcrawler you’ll encounter. As Madame Web jumps between dimensions, she orders three alternate Spider-Men to collect shards of the tablet in their own worlds. As the story progresses you will play not only as the traditional Spider-Man in his red and blue costume, but also as the Spider-Man of the Marvel Noir universe, as Ultimate Spider-Man clad in the black symbiote costume, and as the Spider-Man of the futuristic Marvel 2099 universe.
Web-slinging action is consistently engaging between all four dimensions, but each Spider-Man is unique in his gameplay and abilities. The Amazing Spider-Man will be familiar to anyone who has played previous Spider-Man games. He swings from webs, beats up bad guys, and shoots more webs to disable folks. Ultimate Spider-Man is pretty close to the Amazing version, but this younger Peter Parker also has the occasionally questionable advantage of wielding the alien powers of his symbiote suit. Spider-Man 2099 still retains the basic Spidey traits but also has a bit of a sci-fi flair with his ability to slow time and his penchant for freefall diving from rooftops in his megacity. The Noir version of Spider-Man is the most distinct of the four, both in visuals and gameplay. Colors are appropriately muted in his levels, and the darkness of the Noir universe is well suited to some great stealth mechanics that are reminiscent of the sneaking portions of Arkham Asylum.
The game is divided into discrete levels, throughout each of which Spider-Man is pursuing another of his enemies to retrieve part of the shattered tablet. Each level is full of hidden collectible spiders, Spider-Man tokens, and challenges, each of which grant the equivalent of experience points upon completion or collection. As a compulsively completist gamer, the challenges in Shattered Dimensions just might be my favorite meta-design element in any recent game. The challenges are presented and tracked in a giant web interface that has a mini-web for each of the game’s levels. Challenges range from thing you have to do to progress the story (defeat Kraven the Hunter) to things you need to specifically plan to do (zip-kick five gunmen off their perches). The challenges are cumulative across playthroughs, so if you miss one in your current play you can repeat the level later to try and scoop it up. The gameplay and levels are fun enough that I loved going back and redoing sections multiple times just to score one more elusive challenge.
The experience points earned through grabbing collectibles and completing challenges goes into a bank that can be spent on either hero upgrades or combat upgrades. Hero upgrades enhance inherent things about Spider-Man like increasing his maximum health. There also are hero upgrades that enhance specific versions of Spidey, such as the ones that allow Spider-Man 2099 to remain in bullet time mode for longer stretches. There even are alternate costumes for each version of Spider-Man that are unlockable through the hero upgrades. Combat upgrades provide new attack and defense moves for the various Spider-Men. Some of the moves are universally useful through all dimensions, but some are specifically targeted for individual Spideys.
All the awesome gameplay and upgrade / reward systems are great on their own, but they are even better when wrapped in gorgeous graphics and feature characters voiced by some fantastic talent. The look of the game is decidedly comic-bookish with grand set pieces rendered with beautiful cel shading, and the voices range from Stan Lee’s over-the-top and hammy turn as the narrator to Neil Patrick Harris’s earnest and wisecracking role as the Amazing Spider-Man to John Kassir’s wicked presentation of the 2099 Scorpion. The whole package looks and sounds great, and it feels like a Spider-Man animated series.
If you are a Marvel fan or enjoy addictive action games, you’d be doing yourself a disservice not to give Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions a spin. The only negative I encountered in my multiple playthroughs was a weird bug that warped me through a wall and into the next checkpoint during the early Sandman level. Aside from that minor touch of oddity that I attribute to an unplanned visit from Dr. Strange, this game shines in every area. After a long history of Spider-Man games, this one is the first that really brought me into Spider-Man’s world and engrossed me in his mythos. Between the big array of villains, the increasingly fun powers, and the addictive reward system, Shattered Dimensions is one single-player experience you need to check out.
