# Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions First Look



## Ares (Nov 23, 2009)

*Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions First Look
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*Will multiple dimensions multiply the fun?
*by Anthony Gallegos

*March 31, 2010* - Spider-Man is a superhero who's been in a super slump lately. While games like Ultimate Spiderman were generally well received, the last few games (like Friend or Foe and Web of Shadows) have been mediocre at best. But 2010 is the year Activision wants Spider-Man back in gamer's good graces, and is hedging its bets that Beenox -- a developer acquired in 2005 that mostly worked on PC ports -- can rejuvenate the web-slinging hero in the upcoming Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. 

To bring Spider-Man back from the brink, Beenox is going back to the source: comic books. Spider-Man's staying power throughout his many years is largely due to the varying story lines he's been in; Spidey's come from the past, from the future... he's even been an actual mutated spider-freak. And he's been described by a host of adjectives that range from _Amazing_ to _Ultimate_. 


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Shattered Dimensions aims to capitalize on Spider-Man's many incarnations, creating a game that takes four of these universes and mashes them into one (hopefully) coherent plot wherein each different Spider-Man attempts to retrieve a piece of a tablet that's been scattered across multiple parallel dimensions. And before you go getting your pitchforks out or start an Internet petition about how potentially stupid the story could be, know that it's being written by Dan Slott, one of the current writers for _Amazing Spider-Man_. 

The plot might sound silly to those not intimately familiar with how bizarre Marvel storylines go, but the mashing together of multiple Spider-Man universes affords Beenox some interesting options. As shown in the brief demo I checked out last week, each universe is essentially a game within a game, complete with its own unique Spidey, graphical style, and hook to the combat that should keep things varied. Don't worry that the creators are trying to reinvent Spider-Man altogether either, as each universe is drawn from an actual comic series and keeps the art style of each one, while taking liberties with costumes and villains when necessary. 

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The first section I saw introduced the _Amazing Spider-Man_ universe. This time around he was in a jungle instead of his normal stomping grounds of NYC. This is the Spider-Man people know from the past games: he swings through the environments with the grace you expect, lithely dodges enemy attacks, and lashes out with his tongue as much as his web. Spidey was trouncing around the jungle in pursuit of the villain Kraven, whose eventual battle sequence showcased the way boss fights will enhance character development. After beating on Kraven for a while, the game triggered a first-person Punch Out-esque fight, where Spidey and Kraven are supposed to trade both blows and quips. At this point the game is really early and the dialogue hasn't been implemented, but, if it comes together the way Beenox hopes, it could give players a more nuanced look at the relationship Spidey has with his enemies. 


The second world in the demo was that of _Spider-Man Noir_, who is vastly different than his far-too-cheerful _Amazing_ counterpart. Instead of the lush, colorful jungles, I watched an older, more grizzled Spidey slink around a largely black and white world. The visuals between the two universes vary as much as the gameplay, as this Spider-Man doesn't jump into the action full steam ahead, but instead pounces on individual enemies from the shadows, using stealth to overcome the odds. Even the boss battle we saw in the Noir world was designed for a sneakier Spidey, as the only way he was able to defeat the villain Hammerhead was to avoid light and get close to him in the shadows. Stealth in this world, action-brawler in the other -- the ultimate goal of the multiple universes is for Beenox to be able to do dramatic changes in pacing, and so far the two revealed universes are about as opposite as you can get. 

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No one wants Spider-Man to fall flat on his many faces when the game launches this September, but I'll admit that the good feeling I had about the game when I first saw it has waned a little over the last week. The game has plenty of potential, sure, but we've been burned by the franchise so much in the recent years that it's hard not to feel a little skeptical until I finally get a chance to sling some web myself. If the combat comes together and the other two unrevealed universes manage to be as different from one another as the two I've seen so far, Beenox might just have the right mix of variety and faithfulness to the source material that Activision needs to lure us back into its web. 

Source IGN


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