If there's one thing that has been consistent across Spider-Man's 48 years in comics, television, movies, and games, it's that the dude cannot catch a break. While the long-suffering hero tries to lead as normal a life as possible, it just never works out that way. Case in point: Activision's upcoming Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, a day in the life of the wallcrawler that goes so screwy it winds up bleeding over into four different dimensions (you have to wonder if Iron Man has these kinds of problems). Since dimension hopping isn't Spidey's bag, we were understandably curious to see what the deal was with the new game when Activision stopped by to give us a first look.
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions takes a new approach to chronicling the webbed hero's exploits that comes closer to his comic roots than the other media he has appeared in recently. The game's story, penned by The Amazing Spider-Man comic writer Dan Slott, revolves around a mystical artifact called the Tablet of Order and Chaos. As you can imagine, with a name like that, the tablet is more than just a dusty museum relic. In true comic fashion, it turns out that the thing happens to be an object of immense power that is essential to keeping reality in balance. Naturally, it gets shattered into four pieces while Spider-Man is in the process of thwarting a robbery. Given the relic's role in balancing reality, this is a pretty time-sensitive problem that requires immediate attention, so Spidey is tapped by one of the many guest stars in the game to set things right. On a side note to comic fans, Spidey's mystic taskmaster is an inspired choice and isn't anyone who has been a Sorcerer Supreme.
So how do you go about collecting pieces of a mystic tablet that are spread across different dimensions? It helps if there happen to be versions of you in each of the different dimensions that are all heroic and ready to help. Activision and developer Beenox have taken the opportunity to mix things up and pull four very disparate versions of Spider-Man together for the game. In our demo we were able to see two: the Amazing Spider-Man, which is pretty much the iconic one that should be familiar to everyone, and Spider-Man Noir, a very different incarnation of the wallcrawler that isn't as widely known.
Our hands-off demo began in the Amazing Spider-Man universe and found the wallcrawler hot on the trail of a tablet fragment. As Spidey's luck, or lack thereof, would have it, the fragments have fallen into the hands of his foes. To complicate matters, the fragments possess just enough magic in them to supercharge their owners. In the case of our demo, this meant that Kraven the Hunter, hardly a pushover to begin with, and his henchmen were tougher than usual. The level we were shown had Spidey swinging his way through an unnamed jungle dealing with enemies. The action offered a nice change of pace from the most recent games, which confined the action to New York. There was a good mix of webswinging and running on the ground as Spidey bashed his way through the various henchmen who popped up to stop him. The environment was spread out over a mix of traditional jungle areas that feaured trees and ancient ruins. The action culminated in a boss fight with Kraven in a wooden Thunderdome-style arena that pit Spidey against the hunter and waves of henchmen.
The Spider-Man Noir levels offered a stark contrast to the bright and open areas of the Amazing universe. For those who aren't up to speed on the Noir universe, Spider-Man Noir was introduced in 2009 via a four-issue miniseries that reimagined the character as a hero in the Depression era. While he's still empowered by a spider bite, this time out the spider is mystic as opposed to irradiated. The result is still a broad range of spiderlike powers, which include organic webshooters in Spidey's forearms that he uses to fight crime. The costume he winds up using is drastically different from the traditional outfit, reflecting the era and also a hefty dose of creative license. The new approach also reimagined many of the classic Spider-Man villains. As a result, the Noir levels we saw were darker and focused on a more deliberate style of gameplay that relied on keeping to the shadows and stealthily taking out enemies. The first level was set in a train yard and had Spidey slinking around and picking off his foes one by one, since being detected appeared to lead to failure. The second level was the interior of a train switching area. It culminated in a boss fight with Hammerhead, who was manning a massive machine gun on a rotating platform. One thing to note about Hammerhead's appearance is that the classic villain hasn't made an appearance in the Noir books yet. Activision and Beenox felt the tough-headed gangster would be a good fit for the Noir levels and got Marvel's approval to make him over.
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions' gameplay looks to take the solid mechanics that have worked in previous games and mix them up some for variety. The key thing to note is that while the basics of what Spidey does in each universe--running, fighting, wallcrawling, and webshooting--are pretty much the same, there's a different look and spin to each that is specific to the Spider-Man you're using. The Amazing Spider-Man obviously pulls from all the iconic Spider-Man material that has come before. His combat style is very acrobatic and flashy, resulting in actions that are right out of a comic panel. There are also some nice nods to the old cartoons, such as being able to use his webbing to enhance his blows. There was also a very slick perspective change during the one-on-one fight with Kraven, where the action shifted to a first-person view, a la Punch-Out, and it appeared that you'll be controlling each of his fists separately. Spider-Man Noir, on the other hand, offers a more close-quarters style of combat that's in line with the stealthy gameplay. The action was a mix of stealth and action as Spidey slinked around to come up behind his foes or drop down on them in order to execute a quick takedown. The Hammerhead boss fight we saw didn't have first-person perspective switch and instead relied on careful sneaking and webswinging to avoid the hail of bullets coming from Hammerhead in order to get behind him. As in previous Spider-Man games, you'll be able to unlock a variety of different moves that enhance the already formidable move set each Spider-Man starts with.
Given the game's comic origins, it shouldn't be too big of a surprise to hear that Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions is running pretty far with the comic book theme. The fact that each universe had a distinctly different look is very cool. The Amazing Spider-Man level is in line with the iconic look of the comic books. Everything from Spidey's red and blue outfit to his fighting style clearly harks back to what most everyone remembers as classic Spider-Man. We also have to call out the very cool, fluid animation as he hops around beating foes, which is looking sharp. The Noir levels have a dark, stylish look to them that makes smart use of outlines as Spidey moves in and out of shadow. The animation, although very different, is equally cool. Rather than highlight the same fast, acrobatic look that Amazing showcases, Noir features deliberate but graceful movement.
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions makes a good first impression. The distinctive look for each of the universes is a nice touch and gives the game a comic anthology feel. We're curious to see the other two universes that are being included. Activision reps on hand would say only that you can expect more on the game at the Electronic Entertainment Expo and Comic-Con. In addition, given that the version we saw was an early work-in-progress, we're eager to hear the voice and soundtrack that will be used. So far the game seems to be headed in a fresh direction that should be a good thing for Spider-Man games. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions is slated to ship this fall for the PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360. Look for more on the game in the months to come.
What happened to the villains just banding together to kill Spider-man/Destroy the city?
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows became an absolute nightmare for me. There are random crimes going on ALL THE TIME. They never stop, ever. I can't sit there and go through with story missions leading to the end game when I see all these little side-missions to do, and I can't do all the little side-missions if they're just going to keep regenerating
With great power.....
Also, why can't a new spider-man game just blatantly rip off the grappling hook mechanic from Just-Cause 2? because every time I grapple to the side of a building and launch myself through the air at it I immediately think I'm spider-man.
I'm gonna throw out my ideal Spider-Man game idea again hoping Kotick will steal it.
Another New York City based one with cel-shading going on just for timelessness. The game starts off with the Amazing origin and caps maybe around Gwen Stacy's death. After that though given how much game companies love DLC, the game becomes a template for comic Spider-Man episodic story arcs you download.
Given that almost every single Spidey game will be in New York you might as well make one perfect comic rendition and then add on to it with periodic game updates and have the money roll in. Maybe. I'm not really sure what I am talking about.
Edit; actually symbiote doesent make aas much sense as 1602. All the others, Amazing, Noir, 2099 are named after the respective titles of their books. But OTOH developers cant seem to resist the fucking symbiote.
My guesses for the other two dimensions:
Spider-Man 2099: The futuristic Spider-Man would be interesting.
Spider-Girl or Ultimate Spider-Man.
I'll probably be wrong, but hey, its fun guessing.
Oh hey this reminds me. I have to play Web of Shadows. Will a guy who's never played Spider-Man 2 enjoy the shit out of WoS's swinging? Yes/No
Fuck man, it's possible. I enjoy the swinging in those games so much that I even kinda liked Spider-Man 3. But when Web of Shadows came around even I couldn't stomach playing more than halfway through. It's just the same thing over and over and over again. Game's generally janky as hell on top of that.
Cherrn on
All creature will die and all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai.
That write-up up there actually sounds pretty good to me. only two things pop out as being blatantly stupid decisions.
If you are caught in the Noir level you get a game-over? I'm really hoping they will change this because instantly failing for getting caught is just so bad. Even stealth games have stopped doing it. batman did it perfectly, if you get caught you don't fail, but the bad guys have big guns and will kill you fast unless you manage to zip away.
First-person fighting, as Spider-Man? Who wants that? Nobody wants that. That's fucking stupid.
Then again Activision has recently decided to up their bastard level by a factor of at least 2.5, and are now practically chaining developers to their desk and whipping them, while refusing to give them any of their promised profits as motivation. Until that changes I'll be shocked if any genuinely excellent games come out of their developers.
Spider-Man 2099 is a given for one of the alternate versions. As for the others, I think House of M Spider-Man could be a possibility. The setting is different enough to work out (more futuristic that Modern, but less then 2099).
Personally, though, I would love if they used the version of Spider-Man from the "What if: Spider-Man vs Wolverine" one shot from a few years back. That was an awesome version of Spidey, who basically stopped being a Superhero and became a rogue Black-Ops agent who went around killing terrorists and such. Fun stuff there.
First-person fighting, as Spider-Man? Who wants that? Nobody wants that. That's fucking stupid.
i doubt it will be a fully controlled FPS situation, i'm betting on a elaborate QTE where you jump onto the boss and it zooms to first person as you follow prompts to wail on his face.
or i can hope it's something like that....
The chance of seeing a Spiderman game without a symbiote is pretty slim, considering how it gives lazy developers a whole new gameplay mechanic without having to create too much new art assets. Plus, the kiddies just looove Venom.
Which is annoying because Venom as an ally is generally more fun and theres a HUGE rogues gallery to work through,. I can only imagine its the movies fault, I cant remember but has Ock shown up or Green Goblin since the movie games?
Please, for the love of all that's holy let this be at least as playable as Neversoft's Spidey game. It might seem old now, but if they could just tweak the mechanics of that game and keep the funny with Amazing Spidey (please let him be funny!!!) it could just work. Seriously, most of the dialogue was gold.
I remember that part too, Fiaryn, it was pure gold. One of the other bits that got me was during the initial chase and you hear them running through a building from the outside and Venom makes a comment about "That last step is a doozy." or something along those lines.
I am really interested in this title, I loved the PS1 Spider-Man game and I was a huge fan of the Ultimate Spider-Man adaption (I'm a big fan of the series as it is) and I am really looking forward to this, I'm also curious about the other dimensions. Among the possible (though some are unlikely) ones I can think of are : Marvel 1602, Marvel Zombies, Ultimate (unlikely because it's similar to Amazing's modern approach) and a lot of others.
Saiga on
0
Olivawgood name, isn't it?the foot of mt fujiRegistered Userregular
edited March 2010
I liked when Venom teamed up with Spider-Man and they were swinging through the city and Venom sang "Strangers in the Night"
Also the universes will totally be Noir, 2099, and Symbiote
Because that touches on the three most obvious alternate universes that are always featured in any alternate universe story: the past, the future, and the evil mirror universe
seeing as they've already shown that there could be unlockable costumes for each dimension, I hope we see the Ben Riley suit. Also the Scarlet Spider suit. I love clones.
Why none of the newer games had unlockable costumes is beyond me. Well, Ultimate did, but they were pretty bad.
I liked when Venom teamed up with Spider-Man and they were swinging through the city and Venom sang "Strangers in the Night"
Also the universes will totally be Noir, 2099, and Symbiote
Because that touches on the three most obvious alternate universes that are always featured in any alternate universe story: the past, the future, and the evil mirror universe
Here's to hoping Symbiote Parker has a goatee
This also lets them reuse the Symbiote Fighting mechanics from the last game.
So Noir is stealth, Amazing is more traditional, 2099 is hmm Miguel had weird Night vision so more stealth? and the Symbiote wrecks shit.
King Riptor on
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What happened to the villains just banding together to kill Spider-man/Destroy the city?
With great power.....
Also, why can't a new spider-man game just blatantly rip off the grappling hook mechanic from Just-Cause 2? because every time I grapple to the side of a building and launch myself through the air at it I immediately think I'm spider-man.
Tall-Paul MIPsDroid
Another New York City based one with cel-shading going on just for timelessness. The game starts off with the Amazing origin and caps maybe around Gwen Stacy's death. After that though given how much game companies love DLC, the game becomes a template for comic Spider-Man episodic story arcs you download.
Given that almost every single Spidey game will be in New York you might as well make one perfect comic rendition and then add on to it with periodic game updates and have the money roll in. Maybe. I'm not really sure what I am talking about.
Edit; actually symbiote doesent make aas much sense as 1602. All the others, Amazing, Noir, 2099 are named after the respective titles of their books. But OTOH developers cant seem to resist the fucking symbiote.
I did!
Spider-Man 2099: The futuristic Spider-Man would be interesting.
Spider-Girl or Ultimate Spider-Man.
I'll probably be wrong, but hey, its fun guessing.
Fuck man, it's possible. I enjoy the swinging in those games so much that I even kinda liked Spider-Man 3. But when Web of Shadows came around even I couldn't stomach playing more than halfway through. It's just the same thing over and over and over again. Game's generally janky as hell on top of that.
If you are caught in the Noir level you get a game-over? I'm really hoping they will change this because instantly failing for getting caught is just so bad. Even stealth games have stopped doing it. batman did it perfectly, if you get caught you don't fail, but the bad guys have big guns and will kill you fast unless you manage to zip away.
First-person fighting, as Spider-Man? Who wants that? Nobody wants that. That's fucking stupid.
Then again Activision has recently decided to up their bastard level by a factor of at least 2.5, and are now practically chaining developers to their desk and whipping them, while refusing to give them any of their promised profits as motivation. Until that changes I'll be shocked if any genuinely excellent games come out of their developers.
Personally, though, I would love if they used the version of Spider-Man from the "What if: Spider-Man vs Wolverine" one shot from a few years back. That was an awesome version of Spidey, who basically stopped being a Superhero and became a rogue Black-Ops agent who went around killing terrorists and such. Fun stuff there.
i doubt it will be a fully controlled FPS situation, i'm betting on a elaborate QTE where you jump onto the boss and it zooms to first person as you follow prompts to wail on his face.
or i can hope it's something like that....
OR
They always do Venom. Carnage has only shown up, what, 3 times? Here's hoping this time they do Carnage.
Please, for the love of all that's holy let this be at least as playable as Neversoft's Spidey game. It might seem old now, but if they could just tweak the mechanics of that game and keep the funny with Amazing Spidey (please let him be funny!!!) it could just work. Seriously, most of the dialogue was gold.
(Toxin was an abomination though, and they should have just brought back Hybrid if they wanted another symbiote hero)
Both has awesome Spider-Heroes.
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"Ooo, are we going to...surf the web?"
"What? Agh, no that's terrible Venom. We're just searching some databases"
"Surf the web surf the web! *laughter"
"*sigh*"
God bless your psychotic little heart, Venom.
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I am really interested in this title, I loved the PS1 Spider-Man game and I was a huge fan of the Ultimate Spider-Man adaption (I'm a big fan of the series as it is) and I am really looking forward to this, I'm also curious about the other dimensions. Among the possible (though some are unlikely) ones I can think of are : Marvel 1602, Marvel Zombies, Ultimate (unlikely because it's similar to Amazing's modern approach) and a lot of others.
Also the universes will totally be Noir, 2099, and Symbiote
Because that touches on the three most obvious alternate universes that are always featured in any alternate universe story: the past, the future, and the evil mirror universe
Here's to hoping Symbiote Parker has a goatee
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Wonder what that last one is.
I don't understand fans of Carnage
They probably grew up in the 90s, when that kind of thing was edgy and all that.
See also: Venom, Spawn, Bane, anything by Liefield.
He eats people.
I don't want Carnage
I want the Amazing Spider-Carnage!
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Why none of the newer games had unlockable costumes is beyond me. Well, Ultimate did, but they were pretty bad.
This also lets them reuse the Symbiote Fighting mechanics from the last game.
So Noir is stealth, Amazing is more traditional, 2099 is hmm Miguel had weird Night vision so more stealth? and the Symbiote wrecks shit.