Saturday, 11 September 2010
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions for PS3 and Xbox 360 | Game review
PS3/Xbox 360/Wii/DS; �49.99; cert xx+; ActivisionSpider-Man games are like that ditty about children. When they've been good, they've been very, very good. But when they've been bad, well, you get the point. After the repetitive frustrations of Web of Shadows, we were due a cracker. Shattered Dimensions isn't quite the perfect experience we wanted, but there's enough here to give the wisecracking web-slinger another shot.And there's not just one Spider-Man to play with. There's four: the traditional Amazing Spider-Man; the black-suited Ultimate Spider-Man; the 1930s monochrome stylings of Noir Spider-Man; and a look to the future with Spider-Man 2099. All, I'm reliably informed, are based on "proper" comic incarnations of Spidey and all look dazzling ? particularly the appropriately named Amazing, which is like playing with an animated, classic comic book.Each Spidey has a different skill set too. Amazing is your common-or-garden webslinger, Noir is all about the stealth and takedowns from the shadows, Ultimate gives you the frenzied attacks of "Rage" mode while 2099's adapted suit allows controlled freefalling, so expect lots of gravity-induced chases.Happily, it's not a case of complete Amazing, move on to Noir, etc. Each variation rolls around in turn, making the gameplay seem more varied than perhaps it really is. This also helps dress up the limitations of the story, a pursuit of the Tablet of Order and Chaos which Spidey has accidentally broken in an opening scene battle with Mysterio. The shattered pieces drift through time where they're miraculously found by various villains from Spidey's history, endowing them with new powers that Spider-Man must battle in order to restore the tablet.The free roaming aspect of previous games is replaced with purely linear action which would be a shame if this wasn't so lovely to look at ? the cut scenes are often stunning ? and wasn't offering quite so much to the long-standing fans, from the influences to the bad guys (Sandman, Hammerhead, Electro, Vulture, Kraven, etc), via a genuinely funny (if inevitably repetitive) script and a voice cast of actors associated with various respected Spider-Man cartoons. There's also positively piles of unlockable content and upgrades as you complete assorted challenges.So why only four stars? Because of assorted frustrations. The camera ? particularly in the Noir levels ? occasionally makes the controls highly confusing and exacting. Fights, while fun, can frequently resort to so much button-bashing. Certain boss fights are actually a little too easy and ? while I acknowledge it might just be my disc as others haven't reported such issues ? I experienced a couple of random freezes and a very annoying partially-loaded loop in the showdown with Electro ? which randomly sorted itself on the 14th attempt. Still, it's almost appropriate that a Spider-Man title be a little buggy ...There was hope that Shattered Dimensions would be Spider-Man's Arkham Asylum. It's good looking and enjoyable, but sometimes flawed and repetitive. Sounds like job done then.Rating: 4/5GamesPS3PlayStationXboxNeil Daveyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
