Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions First Look

If there's one thing that has been consistent across Spider-Man's 48 years in comics, television, movies, and games, it's that the dude cannot catch a break. While the long-suffering hero tries to lead as normal a life as possible, it just never works out that way. Case in point: Activision's upcoming Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, a day in the life of the wallcrawler that goes so screwy it winds up bleeding over into four different dimensions (you have to wonder if Iron Man has these kinds of problems). Since dimension hopping isn't Spidey's bag, we were understandably curious to see what the deal was with the new game when Activision stopped by to give us a first look.

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions takes a new approach to chronicling the webbed hero's exploits that comes closer to his comic roots than the other media he has appeared in recently. The game's story, penned by The Amazing Spider-Man comic writer Dan Slott, revolves around a mystical artifact called the Tablet of Order and Chaos. As you can imagine, with a name like that, the tablet is more than just a dusty museum relic. In true comic fashion, it turns out that the thing happens to be an object of immense power that is essential to keeping reality in balance. Naturally, it gets shattered into four pieces while Spider-Man is in the process of thwarting a robbery. Given the relic's role in balancing reality, this is a pretty time-sensitive problem that requires immediate attention, so Spidey is tapped by one of the many guest stars in the game to set things right. On a side note to comic fans, Spidey's mystic taskmaster is an inspired choice and isn't anyone who has been a Sorcerer Supreme.

So how do you go about collecting pieces of a mystic tablet that are spread across different dimensions? It helps if there happen to be versions of you in each of the different dimensions that are all heroic and ready to help. Activision and developer Beenox have taken the opportunity to mix things up and pull four very disparate versions of Spider-Man together for the game. In our demo we were able to see two: the Amazing Spider-Man, which is pretty much the iconic one that should be familiar to everyone, and Spider-Man Noir, a very different incarnation of the wallcrawler that isn't as widely known.

Our hands-off demo began in the Amazing Spider-Man universe and found the wallcrawler hot on the trail of a tablet fragment. As Spidey's luck, or lack thereof, would have it, the fragments have fallen into the hands of his foes. To complicate matters, the fragments possess just enough magic in them to supercharge their owners. In the case of our demo, this meant that Kraven the Hunter, hardly a pushover to begin with, and his henchmen were tougher than usual. The level we were shown had Spidey swinging his way through an unnamed jungle dealing with enemies. The action offered a nice change of pace from the most recent games, which confined the action to New York. There was a good mix of webswinging and running on the ground as Spidey bashed his way through the various henchmen who popped up to stop him. The environment was spread out over a mix of traditional jungle areas that feaured trees and ancient ruins. The action culminated in a boss fight with Kraven in a wooden Thunderdome-style arena that pit Spidey against the hunter and waves of henchmen.

The Spider-Man Noir levels offered a stark contrast to the bright and open areas of the Amazing universe. For those who aren't up to speed on the Noir universe, Spider-Man Noir was introduced in 2009 via a four-issue miniseries that reimagined the character as a hero in the Depression era. While he's still empowered by a spider bite, this time out the spider is mystic as opposed to irradiated. The result is still a broad range of spiderlike powers, which include organic webshooters in Spidey's forearms that he uses to fight crime. The costume he winds up using is drastically different from the traditional outfit, reflecting the era and also a hefty dose of creative license. The new approach also reimagined many of the classic Spider-Man villains. As a result, the Noir levels we saw were darker and focused on a more deliberate style of gameplay that relied on keeping to the shadows and stealthily taking out enemies. The first level was set in a train yard and had Spidey slinking around and picking off his foes one by one, since being detected appeared to lead to failure. The second level was the interior of a train switching area. It culminated in a boss fight with Hammerhead, who was manning a massive machine gun on a rotating platform. One thing to note about Hammerhead's appearance is that the classic villain hasn't made an appearance in the Noir books yet. Activision and Beenox felt the tough-headed gangster would be a good fit for the Noir levels and got Marvel's approval to make him over.

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions' gameplay looks to take the solid mechanics that have worked in previous games and mix them up some for variety. The key thing to note is that while the basics of what Spidey does in each universe--running, fighting, wallcrawling, and webshooting--are pretty much the same, there's a different look and spin to each that is specific to the Spider-Man you're using. The Amazing Spider-Man obviously pulls from all the iconic Spider-Man material that has come before. His combat style is very acrobatic and flashy, resulting in actions that are right out of a comic panel. There are also some nice nods to the old cartoons, such as being able to use his webbing to enhance his blows. There was also a very slick perspective change during the one-on-one fight with Kraven, where the action shifted to a first-person view, a la Punch-Out, and it appeared that you'll be controlling each of his fists separately. Spider-Man Noir, on the other hand, offers a more close-quarters style of combat that's in line with the stealthy gameplay. The action was a mix of stealth and action as Spidey slinked around to come up behind his foes or drop down on them in order to execute a quick takedown. The Hammerhead boss fight we saw didn't have first-person perspective switch and instead relied on careful sneaking and webswinging to avoid the hail of bullets coming from Hammerhead in order to get behind him. As in previous Spider-Man games, you'll be able to unlock a variety of different moves that enhance the already formidable move set each Spider-Man starts with.

Given the game's comic origins, it shouldn't be too big of a surprise to hear that Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions is running pretty far with the comic book theme. The fact that each universe had a distinctly different look is very cool. The Amazing Spider-Man level is in line with the iconic look of the comic books. Everything from Spidey's red and blue outfit to his fighting style clearly harks back to what most everyone remembers as classic Spider-Man. We also have to call out the very cool, fluid animation as he hops around beating foes, which is looking sharp. The Noir levels have a dark, stylish look to them that makes smart use of outlines as Spidey moves in and out of shadow. The animation, although very different, is equally cool. Rather than highlight the same fast, acrobatic look that Amazing showcases, Noir features deliberate but graceful movement.

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions makes a good first impression. The distinctive look for each of the universes is a nice touch and gives the game a comic anthology feel. We're curious to see the other two universes that are being included. Activision reps on hand would say only that you can expect more on the game at the Electronic Entertainment Expo and Comic-Con. In addition, given that the version we saw was an early work-in-progress, we're eager to hear the voice and soundtrack that will be used. So far the game seems to be headed in a fresh direction that should be a good thing for Spider-Man games. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions is slated to ship this fall for the PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360. Look for more on the game in the months to come.