From the Vault — originally published September 10, 2010. Some links, videos or prices may be out of date.
Played a good two hours of Spiderman Shattered Dimensions. I have been a huge fan of Spiderman for many years going back to my old days collecting comics. I even still have the first comic with the black costume sealed away in storage. In any case as a fan of the franchise I can say that yes, the game does give many nods to the history of the franchise. Fans that know Spiderman will enjoy those nods. The character models, designs and animations are great. The graphical style is akin to the Afro Samurai and Prince of Persia games with the cell shaded look. This style is actually great for a Marvel game and does fit the comic roots of the franchise.
The actual game plays good enough. Admittedly I was at no point wowed by any of it. My largest gripe after playing is how difficult it is to actually cling to walls. You can swing right into a wall but unless you walk up to it from the bottom you cannot cling to and crawl up it. A weird omission that gets annoying.
Spider man does have many moves to master and the combat seems fun and fluid though there does seem to be something missing and the combat could have benefited much from being a bit more fluid perhaps with a slower camera. The combat animations are nice though. Spider sense in combat is used as an indicator on when to block. I think at times the game moves perhaps too fast and the camera is a bit too far away to get you into the combat. There are parts where it goes into first person mode and you are fist fighting using the analog sticks. Both down for dodging, up for big swings, and outward for jabs.
There are challenges throughout the game that pop up as you progress like dodging 10 bullets, taking out 20 guys, destroying 10 pillars. Completing those challenges will award the player with points that can be spent on combat and character upgrades. There are tons of moves you can unlock I guess adding to replayability though it appears as though you may be 3/4 through the game before you get to have fun with a majority of the moves.
The menus in the game look undone and lack polish. Especially when compared to say Batman Arkham Asylum. The game puts you through a tutorial level when you first begin and this tutorial level introduces you to each Spiderman you will take control of. I did not get enough time with each of them to give impressions on that aspect.
I came away from my first few hours enjoying the levels played though but not exactly rushing back for more though it was fun. I guess I wouldn’t recommend it as a $60 purchase. Definitely a solid rental and surely something to look into when the price drops. It will drop. For example, you can get the Wolverine game right now for about $12. When this hits $30 go for it.
