Web slinger’s latest stumbles again, ‘Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions’ good but forgettable
The 1960s animated series theme song famously said Spider-Man could do whatever a spider could.
It’s made clear after playing “Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions” that one thing this spider can’t do is star in a great video game.
“Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions” comes close to being truly great, but many of the flaws that have plagued past Spider-games pop up in this iteration.
The hook of the game is instead of playing as one Spider-Man, you play as four. At the beginning of the game, the Tablet of Order and Chaos is broken, sending splinters across multiple dimensions.
ESRB Rating: T for Teen
Rating: 3.5 of 5
The Spider-Men, from the “Amazing,” “Ultimate,” “2099” and “Noir” comic book universes, are tasked with collecting the pieces before they fall into the wrong hands.
Like many previous Spider-Man games, the titular character is hard to keep up with. The camera can struggle to keep up with the fast-paced fights and is awful when the game shifts to climbing on walls. Some of the controls, especially the high jump, are touchy and don’t always work.
Spidey also doesn’t feel like his high-flying self a lot of the time. The game is more focused on combat than web swinging, which makes it feel more generic than it should.
The highlights of the title are the “Amazing” and “Ultimate” levels, which feature the strongest boss fights and the best voice work. Neil Patrick Harris shines as the Amazing Spider-Man when he resumes his role from the short-lived 2003 MTV show, “Spider-Man: The New Animated Series”.
The other two universes don’t really feel like Spider-Man games. “Spider-Man 2099” involves a lot of free-falling sequences. But it’s tough to enjoy because it’s based more around technology and odd bosses, like a female Doctor Octopus.
The Noir universe features a 1930s Spider-Man whose strength is sneaking through the shadows and silently taking down enemies. It plays more like a poorly implemented “Batman: Arkham Asylum” clone than anything, however.
Overall, the gameplay does work. All four Spider-Men have their own strengths and can be leveled up through a great reward system. By finding coins, completing level-specific challenges and defeating enemies, players earn points to update their combat and character abilities.
All four universes are at least well-done in graphics. Each has its own graphical style, from the cel-shaded Ultimate universe to the black-and-white graphics of Noir. The voice work is also good, but some of Spider-Man and his villains’ quips get old fast.
“Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions” is ultimately an enjoyable game, but it definitely proves that four times the Spidey doesn’t equal four times the fun.
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