When Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions came out last year, it introduced a powerful new developer in Beenox, and a great new direction for the wall-crawler, after he had gone a bit dry in Web of Shadows. Now that team is back for more in the upcoming Spider-Man: Edge of Time, which is due for release this fall on Xbox 360. It has the same kind of premise – control different types of Spider-Men across unique eras – but there’s s story twist this time around that keeps things interesting. In the game, you’ll switch between the Amazing Spider-Man in the present day and Spider-Man 2099 from the future, two of the primary characters from Shattered Dimensions. Noir Spider-Man and Ultimate Spider-Man are taking a break this time around, but in this case, less is more, and you’ll be doing a lot with the two central characters. They’re bonded to each other across their strands of time, so something that affects in the past will leave an impact on Spider-Man 2099, wherein the hero from the future can do stuff to prevent anything from happening to Amazing.
Case in point – a scientist by the name of Walker Sloane (an original creation from comic book creator Peter David) has built a company that will take the Amazing Spider-Man down an alternate path, rather than where he was originally intended to go. Unfortunately, this path leads to much danger, as Walker is up to less-than-good intentions. As a result, he eventually perishes. Or does he? Spider-Man 2099 catches on to the events at hand, and does everything in his power – along with a fully aware Amazing Spider-Man – to stop the plan before it leads to the end of the wall-crawler. In this interesting twist, you’ll deal with both characters – sometimes at the same time. When you’re in control of one Spider-Man character, you’ll run across segments where the other appears in the corner of the screen, communicating any upcoming danger or talking about a perilous situation that could affect both of their missions. This “picture in picture” display of sorts is a genuinely good idea, and one that manages to keep the story moving. It’s not just a movie show, though. You’ll need to perform tasks that have some sort of effect on the other’s character. In one part of the game, you’ll play as Amazing Spider-Man in the present, and 2099 is in the same location, but another time.
Radiation starts to succumb 2099, leaving him paralyzed. Amazing has to fight his way through the reactor room, shutting down tanks and eventually bringing 2099 back to health. Likewise, Amazing could find himself in limbo, and 2099 has to fight his way through the situation in order to keep him from falling apart. Again, it’s a nice twist on the storyline that keeps things from getting dull – even if the other two Spider-Men from Shattered Dimensions aren’t involved. When it comes to combat, Spider-Man: Edge of Time continues the same free flowing system that worked so well in Shattered Dimensions. You can beat up multiple opponents at a time, focusing attention on a specific one through simple lock-on. Furthermore, each Spider-Man has their own special abilities. Amazing can use Spider Sense to avoid danger on a snap judgment, as well as speed past an enemy’s attack. Likewise, 2099 has the ability of accelerated vision, so he can use faster skills to beat down his foes and maintain little damage. Both characters swing with utmost grace, using the same abilities as before. There are also abilities that you can upgrade, though Activision hasn’t detailed them quite yet.
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