I'm a comic book nerd, and I always love playing a good game based on a beloved Marvel character (DC can suck it, IMO). The original PS1 Spiderman was one of my most beloved games of that system, and while the Spiderman 2 movie game for PS2 was quite excellent, it was a different kind of wonderful. I had been tracking SSD for quite some time, and was skeptical, as any comic book gamer always is, that it could halfway decent. The concept was intriguing enough and the game seemingly attempted to branch out from the cesspool of comic book adaptations that have plagued our consoles for years.
The basic premise of this game is that Mysterio decides to muck up the space time continuum, resulting in fragments of this super powerful ancient artifact being strewn across four dimensions that conveniently all have a resident Spiderman. I'll be honest, I spaced during most of the cut scenes because the story isn't what I'm here for, and they're usually nonsense anyway. Basically, creepy Madame Web gathers four Spidermen from those realities and unites them to gather the fragments before Mysterio gets them and basically becomes Infinity Gauntlet Thanos. Those four Spiderman are 616 Spidey, Ultimate, Noir, and 2099.
Each Spiderman plays differently, which is the draw of this game. 616 is your typical Spidey where you just zip around and beat everyone up while mocking their existence. His combat is basic melee and web based attacks, like his adorable web hammer (I'm not going to point out that the hammer should just flail like a noodle...being made of web and all). Ultimate Spidey is more of a brute, being all hopped up on his Symbiote strength. He can also enter roid rage mode. 2099 Spidey is the swiftest, and uses his suits technological advancements to be...swifter? He can also slow time, which is pretty handy. Last up is Batma....Noir Spiderman, who is a lousy fighter and has to rely on creepin' around to take out his enemies. Seriously, if you ever played Batman Arkham Anything, you've played Noir Spidey. It's pretty shameless, but it works. Oh, and also every Spidey has Spider-sense, which is basically Batman's detective mode. This game bites a lot from the new Batman series, but it is an enjoyable system worth pilfering. Combat is "deep" in the sense where there are options and combos, but can become a button masher as it's not very difficult. It can get a bit repetitive, but it's not bad.
There is a pretty decent collectible and upgrade system present. Basically, everything you do gives you "Spider Essence," which is the in game currency. You get this from killing enemies, collecting coins, finding hidden spiders, breaking stuff, and from completing challenges. This currency is used to purchase upgrades for each character, which includes new costumes, moves, and abilities. To unlock these moves, you must complete the same challenges that give you the essence. The challenges are listed in the Web of Destiny, and range from killing X amount of Y in a stage to defeating the boss under specific conditions. Some of these you get automatically through your progression, others you have to work for. There are 15 in each level.
Each Spiderman has 3 unique levels, and there is also a final battle and an introductory stage that includes all 4. Each level ends in a boss fight, who is extra super powered due to the powerful fragment they all somehow end up possessing. Boss battles include Deadpool, Kraven, Sandman and other worthy adversaries.
I should also touch on movement. You don't have the freedom you did in the open world games, but the web swinging is more than serviceable. Crawling can get a bit confusing sometimes, but you really don't do it enough for it to be a real nuisance. Also, the Spidey Sense mode makes it easy to find where you can zip too and interact with, making the movement that much more fluid.
With the ground work laid out, I'll explain what I enjoyed about this game and what kept me engrossed enough to finish it.
First thing's first, they really worked hard on these levels. Each level has a uniqueness about it that separates it from others, especially in the 616 and Ultimate worlds. Sandman, Deadpool and Juggernaut's levels were probably my favorites. I don't want to spoil too much, but most of the stages are tied very well to the character. Sandman's in a giant sand quarry that you must traverse to end up at him. His sand storms become a platforming element to get across large chasms, and everything just relates to...well...sand. It just makes sense. Electro forces you to reach a power plant he's hijacked, with tons of electrical barriers, forcing you to travel along live wires and avoid electrical currents. Deadpool creates a giant oil rig fortress to film a television show on, sending his minions after you constantly while you're attempting to disable cameras. This serves the character's ego more so than it does the character itself, but the stage is very well conceived and designed. I did not do justice to the specifics that make the levels memorable, it's less of a specific thing and more of an overall experience that you just need to play for yourself.
The game itself really reminds me of the days of Spiderman on the PS1. The combat is solid and fluid, and the movement is just right. Plus, there are extras to unlock and it's just...fun.
This game also has great replay value. Each level has three different difficulty levels and tons to unlock/collect. The challenges are fun overall and definitely add to the game. You don't really need to dig obsessively for the little Spidey tokens, but the golden spiders will take some extra effort to find. Plus, upgrades are always a treat, and they don't feel too redundant or unimportant; you usually appreciate the upgrade.
The boss battles are where I think this game personally shines. The Noir world, while it has blatantly stolen gameplay, does feature the best boss battles, which rely on the shadow dynamic to essentially become invisible. The battles are just different; you're not relying on force, you're relying on a gimmick that's actually enjoyable, with each level being different. The other boss battles are fun as well, with some being a bit on the annoying side **cough Deadpool cough cough**. There are also a few small, absolute nonsense portions where you're in a first person view...they're absolutely horrid but 1) are very few in number and 2) don't really affect anything. They're just really stupid.
The appeal of this game came to me from the effort they took in distinguishing the stages and the boss fights. I rarely found myself saying "I did this already..." and sighing. The game can suffer from a bit of staleness throughout the levels, you'll get tired of rescuing brain dead trapped scientists, but they're annoying, not deal breakers. It's just a fun game, kind of like how Spiderman on PS1 was just fun. It's far from revolutionary and doesn't do anything particularly innovative or even top of the class, but everything works (except 1st person) and it just makes an enjoyable experience with replay value.
Well, that about does it for this review. I enjoyed this game and it was worth playing through. It wasn't very deep, and wasn't very profound, but it's a fun game that warrants some attention.
Next up:
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions
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