Now that the game is out I can talk about the DS version a bit. I made a list of new and improved features compared to the DS version of Web of Shadows. If you liked Web of Shadows DS this may interest you. It is similar style of gameplay (Metroidvania crossed with a free-style combo-centric combat system).
Spoiler tag is just to shorten the length of the post, I don't actually spoil anything here in terms of specific moves, bosses, characters, etc. beyond the basic premise of the game:
- First obvious new feature is multiple dimensions each featuring a unique Spider-Man character. Although each hero starts with different abilities, eventually the powers can be passed between characters to allow each to get access to new areas, thus maintaining the Metroidvania experience from Web of Shadows but spanning multiple dimensions.
- With new heroes comes new key powers, such as Gliding and using Spider-Sense to detect nearby enemies and interactive objects. There are also new "gate and key" powers that I won't spoil here, a few are pretty awesome in what they let you do beyond getting past the gate though.
- "Real" bosses - one of the big complaints in Web of Shadows DS was that all the bosses were just symbiote variations, with the exception of Venom and the final boss. This is not the case here - all the bosses are fully fleshed-out characters from the Spider-Man universes and each includes some bantering during the boss fight to bring them to life (but they don't get annoying by repeating themselves, thankfully). Some of the bosses have never been seen before in the universe they appear in, which were co-designed by Marvel and may even show up in future comics!
- Multiple difficulties divided into two categories - Combat Difficulty and Exploration Difficulty. Combat Difficulty affects enemy AI and stats, and Exploration Difficulty affects how much information the Mini-map displays. There are 3 possible settings for each, so a total of 9 possible different difficulty setting combinations. This allows the player to really customize the experience they want - prefer classic Metroid-style gameplay? Set your Exploration Difficulty high and your Combat Difficulty low. Want something closer to a beat-em-up and don't want to worry about getting lost? Do the reverse - high combat difficulty and low Exploration Difficulty. Maybe you are just a big Spider-Man fan and are most interested in the characters and story but not really looking for a challenge - then set them both low. Or perhaps you are just hardcore enough to stick both settings high for the ultimate challenge - play as you want!
- Vast improvements to the mini-map - the mini-map on the bottom screen is now a grid-based system that gives a more exact representation of the actual layout of the game world and updates in real time as you move through the world. The mini-map also gives differing amount of information dependant on the "Exploration Difficulty" chosen at the start of a game. In the easiest mode, the mini-map displays everything including items to collect, the entire world layout, and any current objectives. On the default mode, the mini-map only displays where you have been and, over the course of the game, some additional areas are revealed as the story progresses. Objectives and items are also displayed. On the hardest mode, the mini-map only displays where you've already been and what items you have already collected, but does not give any additional information (not even the objective location, though there is a text hint describing your goal) for players that really prefer to find things on their own.
- Awards for achieving special requirements. Each Award earned unlocks new content immediately, so you always get something right away for your efforts. Some Awards require you to beat the game with certain requirements - but you can get multiple of these Awards at the same time by meeting more than one requirement at once, if you challenge yourself.
- Unlockable "Challenge Maps" that really utilize the game mechanics to their fullest without concern for story or realistic environments. These are played outside the main game at your leisure and provide extra challenge and an Award for completing them.
- Unlockable game modes - in addition to the multiple difficulties now available, getting certain Awards will also unlock entirely new modes of play, some of which offer a completely unique feel for the game!
- Enemy weapons - many enemies can pick up and use weapons including a variety of guns, melee weapons, and even shields. Spider-Man can steal these weapons from enemy hands in a few different ways (the easiest being the grapple web line) and then throw the weapons back at enemies for high damage. Weapons are destroyed if they are thrown enough times, which isn't necessarily a bad thing since after a weapon is thrown but not yet destroyed, another enemy might pick it up and use it on you! You can also web thrown grenades and toss them back at enemies.
- In direct response to complaints about Web of Shadows DS, this game features hand-placed enemies instead of randomly "spawned" enemies. All the enemies in the game have been custom placed by level designers to make sure the player is never assaulted with an unfair combination of enemies from a random generator, to enable unique/special combat encounters invented by the designers, and to better encourage "speed runs" by allowing enemy placements to be memorized by the truly dedicated. There are also far, far fewer instances of locking the door and having masses of enemies spawn in during play - the vast majority of the time the enemies can be fought or snuck past at the player's discretion, and once all the visible enemies are gone, rarely do any more "spawn" on you. The enemies do not stay static, however - at many points in the game the placement and type of enemies change to give new challenges to old areas.
- New attack and defense moves gained from collectible power-ups - no longer do you need to "grind experience" by going back and forth and fighting the same enemies over and over again. Instead, to give a bigger focus on exploration, new attacks and special defensive moves are gained directly by finding collectible items in the environment. Also, to make sure players don't get "gimped" by missing an important attack early on, if you find the items out of order, you will still gain the moves in the correct order, getting the most important moves first.
- Persistant status across rooms - in Web of Shadows when you went from one room to another, you would always appear in a pre-defined spot in the next room, and always be in the same idle state. In this game, your relative position, state, and momentum are always pesistant, so whether you run, jump, swing, dash, or ceiling-crawl through the exit, you will be in the same state and position in the next room over. This not only makes the world feel more realistic, but opens new gameplay opportunities like lowering yourself with a Web Hang from one room to the one below to scout it out in safety, among other things.
- Enemy/smashable object memory - when you leave a room, the game remembers what enemies have been defeated and objects have been smashed, and returning to that same room immediately means they will still be gone. You must travel far enough away and give enough time for new enemies to move in and replace the old ones before you will see enemies in places you've already cleared out. This not only makes the world feel more seamless, but prevents the annoyance of minor backtracking meaning you have to beat up a bunch of enemies again. Some objects are also permenantly saved when you save your game, such as smashed-open vent covers or anything requiring a special move to destroy.
- Ability demos - at any point in the game, pause the game and go to "Abilities" to see all the abilities Spider-Man has, and be able to view a demonstration of that ability in action! At any point during the demo, you can press a button to take over yourself and practice the move, or just practice combos and manuevering in general if you prefer. There is no need to go to a save point or depend entirely on a text description to find out exactly how each ability is useful.
- Improved combat - new moves, better balancing, tighter controls, and improved enemy designs make the already well-liked combat system of Web of Shadows that much better! Also, enemies now have more animations for reacting to Spider-Man's various attacks to spruce up the combat, including staggering back and forth or spiraling through the air from powerful attacks, and really add to the feel of the combat.
- Momentum system - Web of Shadows features a special meter when performing combos that gave additional XP from enemies. Shattered Dimensions also has a special meter that represents Spider-Man's "combat momentum" and goes up as you do well in combat, but it works differently. It doesn't drop over time, only from getting attacked or changing dimensions, and when the meter is high it has noticable effects on Spider-Man, including extra visible effects, increased damage and speed, and changing several attacks to be flashier, do more hits, and/or more easily flow into other moves. This rewards the players that really master the combat system by making them look amazingly cool as they make use of the improved attacks, and get through combat encounters faster for speed runs. Momentum requires you to use a variety of different attacks and juggle enemies and such to get the meter to its highest point, so practice and finding new moves really helps. Additonally, some new special abilities "recharge" by gaining enough momentum.
- Fully customizable controls - no longer must you pick from some pre-set options, you can now assign any action to any button you want at any time. The default controls should work fine for most players, but every action-game fan has their own personal preferences and now there's nothing stopping you from setting the controls exactly to your liking.
- In-game damage numbers - though this feature can be turned off in the Options menu if you find it annoying, by default damage dealt by the player and enemies is displayed as on-screen numbers that float up from the enemy or Spider-Man when they are hurt. Your health is also displayed as both a number and a meter so you can see exactly how much health you have. This makes it easier to see the differences in damage from getting damage-increasing power-ups and higher Combat Momentum, as well as easily seeing which moves are better for damage vs which are just safer to use. A common problem in Web of Shadows was players using weak but safe moves over and over without realizing they weren't doing much damage and thinking enemies just had a ton of health, and this new feature eliminates that issue.
For those that don't know I was the gameplay programmer and hero/combat designer on Web of Shadows DS. For Shattered Dimensions DS I had pretty much the same role, though I was also the lead programmer this time.
Zauron - I loved WoB for 360 and for DS and so far am enjoying SD for 360 and plan to pick up the DS version after seeing the previews for it on gametrailers. If it's as good as your last effort, I will be very please!
This thread spurred me to take a trip to the nearest Blockbuster and rent me up some Spidey. Early impressions after playing the tutorial and first level (spoilered to err on the side of caution):
First, keep in mind that this is based only on the Amazing universe. I haven't yet played the other three, except for short bursts in the tutorial level.
1) Wall-crawling is really de-emphasized, and not very enjoyable. The directional control seems to randomly change orientation, which makes it a chore to reach anything that's not straight up or down. Transitioning between walls at right angles to each other? Forget it. Web-swinging is a bit better, but again, not really showcased much. The levels are pretty big and open, so it's not like a corridor shooter or anything. It's just tough to get used to a non-free-roaming Spidey game.
2) The fighting reminds me a lot of Web of Shadows. They've even got the same web-zip attack, complete with enemies who will counter it (and a way to dodge said counters). The controls feel a little sluggish, but I'm really bad at brawlers, so maybe it's me.
3) The VA for Kraven is the same guy who voiced Minsc, and seems to be using nearly the exact same voice. The only change is that he took about 20% from "affability" and added it to "menace."
4) Speaking of VA, it's pretty good so far. Lots of combat quips and clever little lines. Also, the guy who voices 2099 kinda sounds like a young Stan Lee.
5) There's a "Web of Destiny," which is a collection of level-specific challenges (defeat X number of enemy type, collect Y number of spiders, use a certain move N number of times, etc). They're all tracked on the Web of Destiny screen, but you can also tag up to three at a time so that they'll be tracked on the HUD. It's nice not to have to keep track of how many times you've dodged a Knifey-Spoony attack; the game does it for you.
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PaperLuigi44My amazement is at maximum capacity.Registered Userregular
edited September 2010
Jesus, it's already coming out? Quite sad it hasn't been promoted more, now that I think about it there's been bugger all promotion for it at work.
But for Josh Keaton and NPH? I will get it no questions asked.
Yeah, I checked this out. I've played the tutorial and first level on 360 and so far it's awesome. Noir Spidey rules. I'll try and use it as a distraction while waiting for Halo, so I should get a fair amount of play with it.
EDIT: Is that NPH as Amazing Spidey!? I knew I recognized that voice!
Any judgements on the Ultimate section? I was really into that comic up to Ultimatum, so that's the version I'm most interested in, story/character-wise.
Gameplay-wise, Noir Spidey sounds more my speed. Arkham-style predator gameplay with webslinging and wall crawling? Yes please.
klemming on
Nobody remembers the singer. The song remains.
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KlykaDO you have anySPARE BATTERIES?Registered Userregular
edited September 2010
Regarding the voices:
Spoilered for length/villains!
Each Spider-Man is voiced by a different actor who has voiced Spider-Man in the past. Neil Patrick Harris, who voiced Spider-Man in Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, voices the Amazing Spider-Man of the mainstream Marvel universe.[28] Christopher Daniel Barnes, who portrayed Spider-Man in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, voices Spider-Man Noir.[29] Spider-Man 2099 is portrayed by Dan Gilvezan, who was the voice of Spider-Man in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.[7] Finally, Ultimate Spider-Man is voiced by Josh Keaton, who lent his voice in the 2008 series, The Spectacular Spider-Man.[30] Stan Lee narrates the story, which Lee has not done in a video game since 2001's Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro.[1]
John DiMaggio voices Hammerhead, having previously voiced the character in The Spectacular Spider-Man.[18] Steven Blum voices Hobgoblin and Vulture, and Jim Cummings voices Kraven and the Goblin, both having previously voiced villains in The Spectacular Spider-Man and Spider-Man: The Animated Series, respectively.[18] Nolan North reprises his role as Deadpool from Hulk Vs.[18] Fred Tatasciore reprises his role as Carnage from Spider-Man: Friend or Foe.[18] Other cast members include David Kaye as Mysterio, Matt Willig as Juggernaut, Dimitri Diatchenko as Sandman, John Kassir as Scorpion, and Thomas F. Wilson as Electro.[18] Jamie Thomason, the voice director from The Spectacular Spider-Man series, directed the actors.[31] Jim Dooley composed the game's orchestral score.[1]
klemming - I was most looking forward to these sections, but I think they are my least favorite because all the environments run together and look the same. It has some pretty cool sections, like the free wall sections, and it makes me want a real open world 2099 Spidey, but thus far I also select this section last when I have a choice.
And I select Noir first. THIS makes me want a full Noir stealth game not unlike Arkham. The mechanics aren't near as slick or polished as Arkham but it certainly gives that vibe. And stealth is my favorite genre so this does indeed scratch the right itch for me.
Samm1ch -
I agree with much of what you said. The wall crawling is pretty awful, really. I avoid it when at all possible except in the Noir sections, and only not there because of Web of Destiny stuff. Swinging is pretty basic and reminds me of the first Spiderman the Movie game. It gets you where you need to be but it feels a little delayed and it's not really fluid at all. But it's a brawler as you said.
And I *love* the Web of Destiny. It's also nice to finally see a Spidey game like the old ones where they are lots of costume unlocks and extras.
so this game is pretty fun and awesome. some early impressions i got were they DEFINITELY were trying to emulate arkham asylum in a few ways. first the whole noir section is pretty much batman anyways, especially with the steath takedowns and limited health. also the 'spider sense' is basically detective mode but also makes 'hidden' objects easily seen from miles away. add in the combat and you've got a almost identical system there, with some controls swapped around.
it's funny because i am playing batman AA for the first time, and ran out and rented this once i heard it was out. the similarities are striking, but clearly for good reason. it's fun, and though the controls could use a bit more work, i like it.
my two big things are, wall climbing is clumsy and hard to use, which causes great frustration for me in the noir bits. i sometimes try to angle myself above an enemy but any small out cropping or low ledge can not just be climbed over. i have to jump down and try to get them which usually ends in my getting an alert. i was doing quite well with no deaths and no detections until this shit happened to me several times.
secondly, i fear the game is a bit too easy even on normal. i feel like bumping it up but i also don't feel like doing act one again... i mean i got the no deaths achievement on the first level without even knowing that was an achievement
Thanks for the heads up on the difficulty H Jay. Is there a difficulty beyond Hard that you can see? As in blurred out or non selectable until you have beaten the game.
At any rate it sounds like I will try jumping in on Hard to begin with.
Well, I finally got sick of Other M and traded it toward this today. I never thought I would say this, but I'm having SO MUCH MORE fun with this than Metroid. The different feel of the worlds really breaks up what could have become repetitive, and I think I might be in love with the Noir levels. It reminds me of my favorite parts of Arkham Asylum, and I'm just generally having a hell of a lot of fun with it so far. This was pretty much an impulse buy, but damn am I glad I picked it up.
It also helps that the game not being open world gives it a much tighter focus this time around. While the web-swinging was just great in the previous open world games, it's pretty much all I did and I got bored quickly. The tighter focus here with the structured levels really, really helps me get much more into it than I did the previous games.
So happy I got this.
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JebralThe guy nobody pays attention toDown South in the land of free thinkingRegistered Userregular
edited September 2010
You know, I didn't even realize there was a DS game coming until I was reading this very thread at lunch today. More from the folks who brought us Web of Shadows? Off to Gamestop as soon as I'm off work.
Whew the last level I finished was awesome. I'm 5.5 hours into it and it says I'm 49% done. That must include all secrets in the % though because I only have one act left.
The Deadpool level is pretty epic. I liked the freeroam feel, but towards the end when you are out running the tidal wave and then have to jump on the boat that is cresting the wave and such. Awesome.
i can do most levels easy, but some bosses are just dicks in this game.
in act 3 now,
just beat goblin as noir spidey. he was a tough one, but once you get the timing down it's much less frustrating.
i love the unlockable suits, and the new moves make noir spidey not a total bitch at fighting like he is the first level. only 3 more levels and i'll be done. hopefully when i go back and try to get the 'no alarm' achievement it works out better than the last few levels... many accidental drops in front of enemies
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Mego Thor"I say thee...NAY!"Registered Userregular
edited September 2010
Judging solely on the number of pages in this thread, this game looks to be an utter failure. No interest in a new Spider-Man game?
Judging solely on the number of pages in this thread, this game looks to be an utter failure. No interest in a new Spider-Man game?
Might help to read the posts.
I have read 'em. My point was a lot of games get more pages than this before they're released. A mere dozen or so pages for a new Spider-Man game, even after it's released, says there's not a lot of buzz about this.
I'm a huge Spider-Man fan. Especially with the games and I totally disregarded this once once this game was announced. Something still feels very off and not enticing.
I'm a huge Spider-Man fan. Especially with the games and I totally disregarded this once once this game was announced. Something still feels very off and not enticing.
Feel exactly the same way.
I think it's because it seems like such a miss oportunity of the character to me. A brawler with Spider-man just seems so meh to me.
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Olivawgood name, isn't it?the foot of mt fujiRegistered Userregular
edited September 2010
Apparently it's getting pretty good reviews, and the voice cast seems great
I just don't have money right now, and if I did I'd be saving it for something like Dead Rising 2 and not buying a Spider-Man game
I'm a huge Spider-Man fan. Especially with the games and I totally disregarded this once once this game was announced. Something still feels very off and not enticing.
Feel exactly the same way.
I think it's because it seems like such a miss oportunity of the character to me. A brawler with Spider-man just seems so meh to me.
I really wasn't looking forward to it at all and impulse purchased it yesterday.
I then played for like 5 hours and have loved every second of it. I've never really enjoyed anything but web swinging in the past Spidey games, but something just clicked for me in this one. The Noir and 2099 are, of course, the standout dimensions, but the voice acting is top notch and quips are hilarious throughout the whole game. Each dimension is also different enough that it feels like a different game (for the most part) when you switch characters. I'm enjoying the Noir universe the most so far, but the 2099 levels are a close second. There's a really, REALLY awesome free-fall level reminiscent of the flying parts in God of War 3 near the beginning of the game that I enjoyed immensely.
Like I said, I had little to no excitement about the game, but something just clicked with me and I'm almost slobbering over it now.
I gotta say, I'm really enjoying it too. The Web of Destiny is a brilliant addition because it gives a bunch of small goals to accomplish within each level, and I think they've done a great job with the presentation. The game is fairly easy so far on Normal, but I'm only a few levels in. They definitely took a lot of cues from Arkham Asylum in the Noir levels especially, and since AA was an incredible game I don't really fault them.
i beat it just now, the final boss was a chump.
it's funny because how everyone mentions how similar this is to batman AA and then
the noir spidey's final fight was basically the scarecrow sections of AA
it toed the line of ripping off, but the different play styles of each universe and unique combat felt good enough to keep coming back (even if i never want to save another scientist ever again)
I'm a huge Spider-Man fan. Especially with the games and I totally disregarded this once once this game was announced. Something still feels very off and not enticing.
Feel exactly the same way.
I think it's because it seems like such a miss oportunity of the character to me. A brawler with Spider-man just seems so meh to me.
I'm a huge Spider-Man fan. Especially with the games and I totally disregarded this once once this game was announced. Something still feels very off and not enticing.
You guys are weird. This game is awesome in so many ways.
Seriously there is a really weird vibe in this thread that I can't quite wrap my head around. The gameplay is fluid and it looks absolutely gorgeous when you're playing. Each separate universe captures a unique feel. Ultimate has the vibrant and crisp hi definition thing going on. Amazing maintains the standardized slightly cartoonish comic effect with stunning fluidity. Noir looks rough and gritty the work with greytones and shadows is just outstanding. Then 2099 has a high paced neon futuristic glow that really shines.
The gameplay is fun without being repetitive because it feels like you're picking up a new variant on the game. The best thing is you can tackle each universe in any order you want.
Still haven't played this (though I'll probably get it in due time), but I'd like to see a Spidey RPG.
By which I don't mean 'level up attacks so now you can web two guys at once', but an open world where you actually have to live as Peter Parker, balancing the demands of work/rent/social life with being Spider-man.
Spend too much time beating up muggers, and Peter's out of a job, unable to pay rent, and his friends aren't talking to him. Spend too much time trying to get your life in order, and the Bugle starts running stories asking where the hell you were during that bank heist (as opposed to blaming you for pulling it. This is the Bugle we're talking about here)
It'd be nice to see a superhero game give more than cutscene lip-service to the secret identity, those are sometimes the best parts of stories.
klemming on
Nobody remembers the singer. The song remains.
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PaperLuigi44My amazement is at maximum capacity.Registered Userregular
edited September 2010
The current comic is (sort of) about SD, and Tycho appears quite positive of the game:
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions knows what it is, and doesn't try to convince you otherwise: it's fanservice, served neat in a highball glass. The contextual jumping can feell raw, the camera sometimes makes poor life choices, and the year 2099 is so dense with stimuli that a person from 2010 can hardly make sense of it. It's also genuinely funny, not every now and then but often, which is a rare thing. Is it perfect? No. Does it have Spider-Man in it? Yes. Four times! That's way more than most games.
i beat it just now, the final boss was a chump.
it's funny because how everyone mentions how similar this is to batman AA and then
the noir spidey's final fight was basically the scarecrow sections of AA
it toed the line of ripping off, but the different play styles of each universe and unique combat felt good enough to keep coming back (even if i never want to save another scientist ever again)
That's what I was thinking when doing the final Noir bit too.
Also, the carnival level in Noir was freakin' awesome.
i gotta return this today, but man fuck that no alarms achievement. i always seem to mess this up somehow. i'm doing great, then one of two things happens, i miss a jump and fall in front of an enemy, or i try to do a takedown but accidentally zip towards them and trigger the alarm.
this isn't tough i just feel like i make dumb mistakes.
anyways i guess nobody really cares about this game, but then again it's got horrible timing. i'd say i hope more spidey fans give it a chance, it's been fun when it didn't glitch the fuck out on me
Posts
Spoiler tag is just to shorten the length of the post, I don't actually spoil anything here in terms of specific moves, bosses, characters, etc. beyond the basic premise of the game:
- With new heroes comes new key powers, such as Gliding and using Spider-Sense to detect nearby enemies and interactive objects. There are also new "gate and key" powers that I won't spoil here, a few are pretty awesome in what they let you do beyond getting past the gate though.
- "Real" bosses - one of the big complaints in Web of Shadows DS was that all the bosses were just symbiote variations, with the exception of Venom and the final boss. This is not the case here - all the bosses are fully fleshed-out characters from the Spider-Man universes and each includes some bantering during the boss fight to bring them to life (but they don't get annoying by repeating themselves, thankfully). Some of the bosses have never been seen before in the universe they appear in, which were co-designed by Marvel and may even show up in future comics!
- Multiple difficulties divided into two categories - Combat Difficulty and Exploration Difficulty. Combat Difficulty affects enemy AI and stats, and Exploration Difficulty affects how much information the Mini-map displays. There are 3 possible settings for each, so a total of 9 possible different difficulty setting combinations. This allows the player to really customize the experience they want - prefer classic Metroid-style gameplay? Set your Exploration Difficulty high and your Combat Difficulty low. Want something closer to a beat-em-up and don't want to worry about getting lost? Do the reverse - high combat difficulty and low Exploration Difficulty. Maybe you are just a big Spider-Man fan and are most interested in the characters and story but not really looking for a challenge - then set them both low. Or perhaps you are just hardcore enough to stick both settings high for the ultimate challenge - play as you want!
- Vast improvements to the mini-map - the mini-map on the bottom screen is now a grid-based system that gives a more exact representation of the actual layout of the game world and updates in real time as you move through the world. The mini-map also gives differing amount of information dependant on the "Exploration Difficulty" chosen at the start of a game. In the easiest mode, the mini-map displays everything including items to collect, the entire world layout, and any current objectives. On the default mode, the mini-map only displays where you have been and, over the course of the game, some additional areas are revealed as the story progresses. Objectives and items are also displayed. On the hardest mode, the mini-map only displays where you've already been and what items you have already collected, but does not give any additional information (not even the objective location, though there is a text hint describing your goal) for players that really prefer to find things on their own.
- Awards for achieving special requirements. Each Award earned unlocks new content immediately, so you always get something right away for your efforts. Some Awards require you to beat the game with certain requirements - but you can get multiple of these Awards at the same time by meeting more than one requirement at once, if you challenge yourself.
- Unlockable "Challenge Maps" that really utilize the game mechanics to their fullest without concern for story or realistic environments. These are played outside the main game at your leisure and provide extra challenge and an Award for completing them.
- Unlockable game modes - in addition to the multiple difficulties now available, getting certain Awards will also unlock entirely new modes of play, some of which offer a completely unique feel for the game!
- Enemy weapons - many enemies can pick up and use weapons including a variety of guns, melee weapons, and even shields. Spider-Man can steal these weapons from enemy hands in a few different ways (the easiest being the grapple web line) and then throw the weapons back at enemies for high damage. Weapons are destroyed if they are thrown enough times, which isn't necessarily a bad thing since after a weapon is thrown but not yet destroyed, another enemy might pick it up and use it on you! You can also web thrown grenades and toss them back at enemies.
- In direct response to complaints about Web of Shadows DS, this game features hand-placed enemies instead of randomly "spawned" enemies. All the enemies in the game have been custom placed by level designers to make sure the player is never assaulted with an unfair combination of enemies from a random generator, to enable unique/special combat encounters invented by the designers, and to better encourage "speed runs" by allowing enemy placements to be memorized by the truly dedicated. There are also far, far fewer instances of locking the door and having masses of enemies spawn in during play - the vast majority of the time the enemies can be fought or snuck past at the player's discretion, and once all the visible enemies are gone, rarely do any more "spawn" on you. The enemies do not stay static, however - at many points in the game the placement and type of enemies change to give new challenges to old areas.
- New attack and defense moves gained from collectible power-ups - no longer do you need to "grind experience" by going back and forth and fighting the same enemies over and over again. Instead, to give a bigger focus on exploration, new attacks and special defensive moves are gained directly by finding collectible items in the environment. Also, to make sure players don't get "gimped" by missing an important attack early on, if you find the items out of order, you will still gain the moves in the correct order, getting the most important moves first.
- Persistant status across rooms - in Web of Shadows when you went from one room to another, you would always appear in a pre-defined spot in the next room, and always be in the same idle state. In this game, your relative position, state, and momentum are always pesistant, so whether you run, jump, swing, dash, or ceiling-crawl through the exit, you will be in the same state and position in the next room over. This not only makes the world feel more realistic, but opens new gameplay opportunities like lowering yourself with a Web Hang from one room to the one below to scout it out in safety, among other things.
- Enemy/smashable object memory - when you leave a room, the game remembers what enemies have been defeated and objects have been smashed, and returning to that same room immediately means they will still be gone. You must travel far enough away and give enough time for new enemies to move in and replace the old ones before you will see enemies in places you've already cleared out. This not only makes the world feel more seamless, but prevents the annoyance of minor backtracking meaning you have to beat up a bunch of enemies again. Some objects are also permenantly saved when you save your game, such as smashed-open vent covers or anything requiring a special move to destroy.
- Ability demos - at any point in the game, pause the game and go to "Abilities" to see all the abilities Spider-Man has, and be able to view a demonstration of that ability in action! At any point during the demo, you can press a button to take over yourself and practice the move, or just practice combos and manuevering in general if you prefer. There is no need to go to a save point or depend entirely on a text description to find out exactly how each ability is useful.
- Improved combat - new moves, better balancing, tighter controls, and improved enemy designs make the already well-liked combat system of Web of Shadows that much better! Also, enemies now have more animations for reacting to Spider-Man's various attacks to spruce up the combat, including staggering back and forth or spiraling through the air from powerful attacks, and really add to the feel of the combat.
- Momentum system - Web of Shadows features a special meter when performing combos that gave additional XP from enemies. Shattered Dimensions also has a special meter that represents Spider-Man's "combat momentum" and goes up as you do well in combat, but it works differently. It doesn't drop over time, only from getting attacked or changing dimensions, and when the meter is high it has noticable effects on Spider-Man, including extra visible effects, increased damage and speed, and changing several attacks to be flashier, do more hits, and/or more easily flow into other moves. This rewards the players that really master the combat system by making them look amazingly cool as they make use of the improved attacks, and get through combat encounters faster for speed runs. Momentum requires you to use a variety of different attacks and juggle enemies and such to get the meter to its highest point, so practice and finding new moves really helps. Additonally, some new special abilities "recharge" by gaining enough momentum.
- Fully customizable controls - no longer must you pick from some pre-set options, you can now assign any action to any button you want at any time. The default controls should work fine for most players, but every action-game fan has their own personal preferences and now there's nothing stopping you from setting the controls exactly to your liking.
- In-game damage numbers - though this feature can be turned off in the Options menu if you find it annoying, by default damage dealt by the player and enemies is displayed as on-screen numbers that float up from the enemy or Spider-Man when they are hurt. Your health is also displayed as both a number and a meter so you can see exactly how much health you have. This makes it easier to see the differences in damage from getting damage-increasing power-ups and higher Combat Momentum, as well as easily seeing which moves are better for damage vs which are just safer to use. A common problem in Web of Shadows was players using weak but safe moves over and over without realizing they weren't doing much damage and thinking enemies just had a ton of health, and this new feature eliminates that issue.
For those that don't know I was the gameplay programmer and hero/combat designer on Web of Shadows DS. For Shattered Dimensions DS I had pretty much the same role, though I was also the lead programmer this time.
Author of Minebot Arena and some other stuff
1) Wall-crawling is really de-emphasized, and not very enjoyable. The directional control seems to randomly change orientation, which makes it a chore to reach anything that's not straight up or down. Transitioning between walls at right angles to each other? Forget it. Web-swinging is a bit better, but again, not really showcased much. The levels are pretty big and open, so it's not like a corridor shooter or anything. It's just tough to get used to a non-free-roaming Spidey game.
2) The fighting reminds me a lot of Web of Shadows. They've even got the same web-zip attack, complete with enemies who will counter it (and a way to dodge said counters). The controls feel a little sluggish, but I'm really bad at brawlers, so maybe it's me.
3) The VA for Kraven is the same guy who voiced Minsc, and seems to be using nearly the exact same voice. The only change is that he took about 20% from "affability" and added it to "menace."
4) Speaking of VA, it's pretty good so far. Lots of combat quips and clever little lines. Also, the guy who voices 2099 kinda sounds like a young Stan Lee.
5) There's a "Web of Destiny," which is a collection of level-specific challenges (defeat X number of enemy type, collect Y number of spiders, use a certain move N number of times, etc). They're all tracked on the Web of Destiny screen, but you can also tag up to three at a time so that they'll be tracked on the HUD. It's nice not to have to keep track of how many times you've dodged a Knifey-Spoony attack; the game does it for you.
But for Josh Keaton and NPH? I will get it no questions asked.
EDIT: Is that NPH as Amazing Spidey!? I knew I recognized that voice!
Gameplay-wise, Noir Spidey sounds more my speed. Arkham-style predator gameplay with webslinging and wall crawling? Yes please.
Spoilered for length/villains!
John DiMaggio voices Hammerhead, having previously voiced the character in The Spectacular Spider-Man.[18] Steven Blum voices Hobgoblin and Vulture, and Jim Cummings voices Kraven and the Goblin, both having previously voiced villains in The Spectacular Spider-Man and Spider-Man: The Animated Series, respectively.[18] Nolan North reprises his role as Deadpool from Hulk Vs.[18] Fred Tatasciore reprises his role as Carnage from Spider-Man: Friend or Foe.[18] Other cast members include David Kaye as Mysterio, Matt Willig as Juggernaut, Dimitri Diatchenko as Sandman, John Kassir as Scorpion, and Thomas F. Wilson as Electro.[18] Jamie Thomason, the voice director from The Spectacular Spider-Man series, directed the actors.[31] Jim Dooley composed the game's orchestral score.[1]
And I select Noir first. THIS makes me want a full Noir stealth game not unlike Arkham. The mechanics aren't near as slick or polished as Arkham but it certainly gives that vibe. And stealth is my favorite genre so this does indeed scratch the right itch for me.
Samm1ch -
And I *love* the Web of Destiny. It's also nice to finally see a Spidey game like the old ones where they are lots of costume unlocks and extras.
it's funny because i am playing batman AA for the first time, and ran out and rented this once i heard it was out. the similarities are striking, but clearly for good reason. it's fun, and though the controls could use a bit more work, i like it.
my two big things are, wall climbing is clumsy and hard to use, which causes great frustration for me in the noir bits. i sometimes try to angle myself above an enemy but any small out cropping or low ledge can not just be climbed over. i have to jump down and try to get them which usually ends in my getting an alert. i was doing quite well with no deaths and no detections until this shit happened to me several times.
secondly, i fear the game is a bit too easy even on normal. i feel like bumping it up but i also don't feel like doing act one again... i mean i got the no deaths achievement on the first level without even knowing that was an achievement
At any rate it sounds like I will try jumping in on Hard to begin with.
It also helps that the game not being open world gives it a much tighter focus this time around. While the web-swinging was just great in the previous open world games, it's pretty much all I did and I got bored quickly. The tighter focus here with the structured levels really, really helps me get much more into it than I did the previous games.
So happy I got this.
in act 3 now,
What's the scoop on the DS game, though? Any video footage?
So you'd rather have another terrible open world game?
Might help to read the posts.
I have read 'em. My point was a lot of games get more pages than this before they're released. A mere dozen or so pages for a new Spider-Man game, even after it's released, says there's not a lot of buzz about this.
Feel exactly the same way.
I think it's because it seems like such a miss oportunity of the character to me. A brawler with Spider-man just seems so meh to me.
I just don't have money right now, and if I did I'd be saving it for something like Dead Rising 2 and not buying a Spider-Man game
Not unless it was GOTY quality
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I really wasn't looking forward to it at all and impulse purchased it yesterday.
I then played for like 5 hours and have loved every second of it. I've never really enjoyed anything but web swinging in the past Spidey games, but something just clicked for me in this one. The Noir and 2099 are, of course, the standout dimensions, but the voice acting is top notch and quips are hilarious throughout the whole game. Each dimension is also different enough that it feels like a different game (for the most part) when you switch characters. I'm enjoying the Noir universe the most so far, but the 2099 levels are a close second. There's a really, REALLY awesome free-fall level reminiscent of the flying parts in God of War 3 near the beginning of the game that I enjoyed immensely.
Like I said, I had little to no excitement about the game, but something just clicked with me and I'm almost slobbering over it now.
it's funny because how everyone mentions how similar this is to batman AA and then
I don't even
Yeah because spider-man never beats people up
You guys are weird. This game is awesome in so many ways.
Seriously there is a really weird vibe in this thread that I can't quite wrap my head around. The gameplay is fluid and it looks absolutely gorgeous when you're playing. Each separate universe captures a unique feel. Ultimate has the vibrant and crisp hi definition thing going on. Amazing maintains the standardized slightly cartoonish comic effect with stunning fluidity. Noir looks rough and gritty the work with greytones and shadows is just outstanding. Then 2099 has a high paced neon futuristic glow that really shines.
The gameplay is fun without being repetitive because it feels like you're picking up a new variant on the game. The best thing is you can tackle each universe in any order you want.
By which I don't mean 'level up attacks so now you can web two guys at once', but an open world where you actually have to live as Peter Parker, balancing the demands of work/rent/social life with being Spider-man.
Spend too much time beating up muggers, and Peter's out of a job, unable to pay rent, and his friends aren't talking to him. Spend too much time trying to get your life in order, and the Bugle starts running stories asking where the hell you were during that bank heist (as opposed to blaming you for pulling it. This is the Bugle we're talking about here)
It'd be nice to see a superhero game give more than cutscene lip-service to the secret identity, those are sometimes the best parts of stories.
Also, the carnival level in Noir was freakin' awesome.
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this isn't tough i just feel like i make dumb mistakes.
anyways i guess nobody really cares about this game, but then again it's got horrible timing. i'd say i hope more spidey fans give it a chance, it's been fun when it didn't glitch the fuck out on me