It’s been a little over a year since we had the video-game masterpiece that was Batman: Arkham Asylum and its impact can still be felt even now. With its intricate plot, excellent presentation, and tributary gameplay mechanics, Arkham Asylum showed for the first time that not only could there be a great Batman video game but that superhero games could stand up there with even the best
of the medium while staying true to what made the characters and
stories great in the first place. Now, a year has gone by and the
newest Spider-man game, Shattered Dimensions, has
just hit the shelves. Excited by the premise of playing incarnations of
the character from multiple dimensions while being immersed within the
worlds of each, I went out and rented the game immediately. After
beating it, I can confirm many things about it, but these confirmations
all lead to one certainty: Spider-man: Shattered Dimensions is not only this year’s Arkham Asylum but is the best Spider-man game ever made.

As stated previously, the premise of the game is that you get to play as four different Spider-men across four different dimensions of the character. This rare opportunity is brought about by an error of
the Amazing Spider-man (voiced by Neil Patrick Harris), who
accidentally breaks a mystical tablet into pieces when he attempts to
stop a robbery by the villainous master of illusion, Mysterio (David
Haye). Immediately approached by Madame Web, Spider-man learns that
shattering the tablet severed the barriers between the various
dimensions, and spreading the pieces out among them. To repair the
damage Spider-man has caused, Madame Web enlists the help of three
other Spider-men within their different worlds to gather the tablet
pieces while fending off the various villains who are drawn to its
power. These Spider-men include the alternate universe of Ultimate
Spider-man (voiced by Josh Keaton), the 1930s bleak world of Spider-man
Noir (voiced by Christopher Daniel Barnes), and the bright but
ironically oppressive future of Spider-man 2099 (Dan Gilvezan).
Together, these four Spider-men must bring the tablet back together
before the fabric of reality is destroyed and collapses in upon itself.

You may think that the story is a standard of crossovers and that it is too cliched or predictable to be any fun. Well, for those who think that, I will tell you right now: STOP. The story of this game is not
really the point here, as you know what;s going to happen and how
everything is going to fit by about halfway through if not sooner. No,
what is important to look at with this game is the presentation and the
feel because that is what elevates this video game to absolute
greatness.

In the past, Spider-man games have found themselves limited in one way or another as to their version of the character and his universe. The more self-contained beat-em ups limit the mobility and
agility of the character in preference for a show of pure strength,
which ultimately leads to bogged down gameplay, a much slower pace, and
a very restricted world that can choke the player. Sandbox style games
(like Spider-man 2) avoid this, but at the cost of combat, presentation, and polished intricacy to the environments. Well, Spider-man: Shattered Dimensions takes
the best of both worlds to create the ultimate Spider-man experience.
The game is presented in a series of twenty-five to forty minute levels
that while self-contained, are by no means restrictive. All of the
levels are expansive in their size and variety, ranging from the
deranged carnival of a 1930s Goblin to the trap-infested jungle temples
of the prideful Kraven of the Hunter. Freedom of movement, as well as
the potential of fully utilizing how Spider-man can really move, are
completely unlimited and the worlds allow for some really excellent
platforming in between fights. Furthermore, all of these levels are
designed and polished up with the feel and intricacy of a really good
comic book, and you feel like you’re turning the page of another Spider-man issue with each new fight.

Speaking of that comic-book “feel,” the game succeeds at another level when it comes to its presentation of the source material it is based on, as well as its respect for said source material. Each of the
four main universes are handled with expert care to make sure that they
remain unique, while not delving into the realm of being too alien
between them as far as gameplay is concerned. On this note, the game
designers have flawlessly structured these worlds with such great
technical mastery and aesthetic beauty, that I was amazed at what I was
looking at. For example, where the bright, upbeat world of Amazing
Spider-man is focused on speed and agility in quick combat and
platforming, the gritty, downtown world of Spider-man Noir lends itself
to games like Arkham Asylum and Assassin’s Creed for
its expert usage of stealth, the darkness, and stylized realism. They
are both completely different from one another and focus on different
types of game mechanics, but you can play one and easily pick up on the
other. After all, they are valuable individual parts, but they still
seamlessly come together into one entertaining whole. Add to this the
wonderful little intricacies to the game (such as Deadpool’s
inclusions, Spider-man’s witty banter, or the fact that each of the
different Spider-men is voiced by an actor who is voiced him in the
past), and this comic book feel is just extraordinary.

The last thing I’d like to comment on is the gameplay, which is absolutely insane but in a good way. Unlike other Spider-man games which have either been too slow or too frenetic, Shattered Dimensions captures all of the freedom and fluidity associated with a character like Spider-man but gives it rhyme and reason. The speed is high, the
energy is off-the-charts, and each of the fights always mean something
in their own right. Coupled with this is that the game doesn’t leave
you behind or make things too easy for you. It’s that right balance of
difficulty and badassery that makes the game an enthralling one to
play. The best example of this in my opinion is the usage of
first-person within the various cutscenes, boss battles, and action
points. Each of these are fully interactive and really immerse within
the realm of the character, but I’ll just bottom-line it for you:
nothing is more badass than being able to punch the shit out of Carnage
or box Kraven the Hunter with these excellent graphics and
environments, while in first person. I don’t think I have to
explain why that is so epic, but if you don’t get it or can’t wrap your
brain around it, just trust me on this. It kicks all kinds of serious
ass in the gameplay department.

Just like Arkham Asylum, there may be a couple of minor gripes from people looking to nitpick on things such as the game’s length, difficulty, or plotline, but at the end of the day they don’t
matter. This game is a hell of a lot of fun and easily the best Spider-man game to ever come out. If you are a fan of Spider-man, you owe it to yourself to play this game. Just trust me on this.