Here we go, this is a review of the just released "Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions" videogame. It was released across all major consoles, but for this review, we'll be looking at the Wii version of the game. The normal fare for games being released on multiple platforms was that the Wii version would be developed by a different studio. It would be the same game only in name and often it lacked the quality necessary to be worth a play. This time however, Beenox developed this game across all the consoles. Read on to find out if this made a difference and indeed, whether the game is worth your time at all.
There's been a hell of a lot of buzz surrounding this game over the last few months but for the uninitiated, here's what it's all about. Shattered Dimensions does away with the open world concept of the past generation of Spiderman games. For some, that was arguably one of the better aspects of those games; the ability to swing around an entire virtual city does have an intoxicating quality to it. With this new entry, the focus was to be on the combat and the action sequences. While worrisome (many would view the combat in past games to be the weakest link) it still held great, untapped potential within it. Undoubtedly though, the biggest draw to Shattered Dimensions was the concept. In the game you would play as four different incarnations of Spiderman across different alternate realities. Yeah, the idea is shaky, but come on, it's a freaking superhero game, you don't play this for it's firm sense of reality. The four different versions you would play came from the Amazing universe (The classic Spiderman), the Ultimate universe (The black, venom suit one), 2099 universe (a futuristic Spidey) and Noir (A stealthy, spy-type Spiderman).
Okay, let's deal with whether or not any of that actually works. Firstly, I'll deal with the look of the game. The game takes on a comic book look. It's not really cell shaded but definitely does have that drawn aesthetic to it. The four different worlds have their unique looks and style, but the comic book vein is constant throughout. I found that the look works. If anything, it keeps the game from starting to look monotonous and mundane. Obviously the Wii version looks the worse of the three major consoles, after all, the Wii isn't a graphical powerhouse. It doesn't look BAD by any stretch of the imagination, it just isn't as visually impressive as the ps3 or xbox 306 versions.
What of the plot, though? There was a great deal of interest surrounding the plot before the game was released. It was written by one of the comic's writers so that was enough to build hype. The voice actors were even the actual people that have voiced Spidey in his various incarnations over the years. Let me just put this out there; the plot FAILS. Full stop. It's sad to say that because there was so much potential, but even more so because it seems as if the writer just phoned in the story. It's not a spoiler when I say that the story is Mysterio tries to steal a tablet, Spiderman bursts in and tries to stop him, ends up breaking tablet into pieces and causes chaos across different universes. Spidey then has to travel across dimensions tracking down the tablet. Seriously. That's that story. All of that was released before the game came out via promotional info and that's really all there is. That's just sad.
Okay, so the plot is an epic fail, but how does the game work? This is a part where the crappy story shows up even more. Because the developer chose to do away with the open world system previously, you're guided on a very linear pathway where you simply do level after level. This shows the story up as nothing more than an excuse to push you along stage after plodding stage. The levels really boil down to simply segments of swinging, some combat with enemies and then a boss battle. You rinse and repeat this formula throughout the entire game. There are some side missions and whatnot, all in an attempt to lengthen the game but with no real motivation to do anything here, most players wont bother. There's also an upgrade system to make the different Spidermen stronger and unlock abilities. It's extensive and deep but ultimately frustrating. Why frustrating? It's a genuinely good growth system smack dab in the middle of a seriously flawed game engine. I'll be honest, my idea of fun does not involve plodding through a level just to fight a boss then rinse and repeat. In this era of gaming we expect more, and in terms of the way Shattered Dimensions plays out, it doesn't deliver.
So the gameplay design doesn't work well, what of the actual engine though? I can't say whether the players on the ps3 and xbox 360 versions encountered the same problems but there were several issues in the Wii version. The first was random slowdown and, unsurprisingly, every time it happened was when the screen was full of enemies. Another was graphical clipping. Spiderman would walk through objects like they weren't there, and a couple times he got strapped in stuff while swinging. Also, at times the animations seemed terribly wooden and robotic. The final engine issue I had was the camera. Dear God the camera is usually the downfall of Spiderman games but here it was more than unhelpful; it was downright antagonistic. The camera was probably responsible for more deaths than the actual enemies. In fact, sometimes it would stick at a view from underneath Spiderman, making gameplay all but impossible. Aside from those technical issues I simply have to discuss the issue of the different universes. This is no doubt a problem across the board. From before the game released there were questions as to whether or not the game wouldn't get old, whether the ability to play as different Spidermen was enough to keep the game from being repetitive. Simply put, it didn't work. Too much of the changes are cosmetic. Yes, the move sets are different and the worlds look different, but for all the differences, they play essentially the same. I noticed no real substantial difference between Ultimate, Amazing or 2099. Noir was probably the most different universe but that was simply because it necessitated stealth play. The stealth itself was lame though. It didn't work. It was altogether too simple and boiled down to nothing more than creeping from shadow to shadow, stopping at obvious headlights and stealth attacking enemies.
I'll talk briefly about the controls. Because this is a Wii game it obviously controls vastly different to any of the other versions. Surprisingly, this part works well. There's a slight learning curve but that's to be expected. It's really fun to weave in and out of enemies, picking them off one by one without sustaining damage, all the the while flicking and waving the wiimote. Also, the sound design is superb. The score is good but not memorable. The voice acting shines however. Narration is taken over by Stan Lee, and as I said before, the authentic voice actors from the various animated series return. It's sad that the talent used here couldn't have a better game.
Bottom Line: In the end, Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions isn't worth your time. The visuals are pretty and the sound can draw you in. Ultimately though, the game is too simple and too broken to justify the full price tag that they're asking for across the board. The game isn't absolutely horrendous, it just doesn't do anything groundbreaking or even particularly well. A shame given the potential and the material that was available. If this game were released as a ten dollar download online for the three systems I would've recommended it. If you've nothing else to play it's an entertaining , yet ultimately lacking way to burn a couple of hours.
Game Rating: 2/5
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