What's better than kicking ass as one Spider-man? Kicking as as four Spider-men! Awesome.
Spider-man: Shattered Dimensions! Since this game is about four years old, I'm going to declare this a spoiler filled review of the game, but the premise is pretty obvious.
So, Spider-man Shattered Dimensions is a game brought to you by 'Beenox', who have had a good role in most of the Spider-man games we have today: Amazing Spider-man game, Edge of Time, and I think they had a part in Web of Shadows. They did all they could with this game and I think it came out great. If you don't have an idea already, the four Spider-men gives away that you will be playing as four different Spider-men from four parallel dimensions. The Amazing Spider-man (of course), Spider-man Noir, Spider-man 2099, and Ultimate Spider-man. The premise of the game is that Madame Web recruits the four Web-heads into recovering pieces of a mystical artifact called the 'Tablet of Order and Chaos'. Boy, that's a mouthfull. Since the battle between Mysterio and Amazing Spider-man shattered the tablet, it's Spider-man's responsibility to recover the fragments across time and space.
And yes, you read right: Mysterio is the big bad guy of the game. I actually liked that idea, because thinking back to other Spider-man games: in Spider-man 2 Mysterio was just there to be there, in Friend or foe Mysterio was the main bad guy but was kind of underplayed. Mysterio got the short end of the stick in most of his appearances, but here: he does everything he can to retrieve the tablet and become the master of all reality. Okay then. Kind of over-the-top in my opinion, but still cool.'
However, there are other villains to fight like all Spider-man games. Each of the four have three villains to fight in their universes before all confronting Mysterio. For Amazing: Kraven the Hunter, Sandman, and Juggernaut. For Noir: Hammerhead, Vulture, and Goblin. For 2099: Hobgoblin, Scorpion, and Doctor Octopus (a female in 2099 apparently). And for Ultimate: Electro, Deadpool, Carnage. I like this idea so that the player can experience the different verisons of the Spider-man mythos and fight their favorite villains.
My favorite Spider-man in the game has to be Noir. Why? In my eyes, it's Spider-man in Batman's universe. The Noir universe is dark and eerie. Hammerhead is a gangster that works for Goblin who is Spider-man's arch enemy. Vulture in this universe is a cannibal who ate Spider-man's uncle. That's dark. And so is the Noir universe, which is why i rate the Noir levels as a 5. 2099 is pretty cool too, with free-falling segments where Miguel O'Hara (Spider-man 2099) fights the Hobgoblin with nano-fiber wings, the Scorpion who is a mutant, and Doctor Octopus, who is a woman with six pink tenticles. In the Ultimate universe, Spider-man fights the over-powered Blue Electro who is awesome, Deadpool who is...Deadpool, and Carnage who is just terrifying. I'm not kidding; when you fight Carnage, it's like being in a horror movie game. You fight drained corpses of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. And this is a rated T game. As for Amazing, Spider-man uses his web based attacks which he makes great use of against hunters, sand goons and Silver Sable's thugs.
I really enjoy how much detail, time, and effort were put into each character. The Noir universe isn't just the Amazing universe colored black, it has that eerie presence that exists in the Batman games. It is awesome.
Throughout the whole game, you get tips and help to get through the level by Madame Web which does get annoying, but really helps when you're up against a new threat. And did I mention that the cutscenes are narrated by Stan-the man-Lee? Freaking awesome!
The Beenox group took their time and used the source material to give us a great game. And each universe looks like a legit comic book. The whole thing blew my mind when I first played it. It's action packed, adventurous, a bit scary, and it keeps you on the edge of your seat (if you're sitting down while playing). I love this game and I'm sure you will too. Spider-man: Shattered Dimensions is...Awesometastic! A 5 out of 5!
So have you played Shattered Dimensions? What'd you think of it? Comment below, let me know. And as always, check out my other reviews to read more. Bye-bye.