Spider-Man: Edge of Time
Overview -
Close to a year ago, Quebec-based developer Beenox, teamed up with Activision to hit a home run in video game form. They released Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions – a game which did a great job of creating a linear yet creative inter-dimensional experience for the well-know web-crawler and three other creative variations based around his core assets. Although the game wasn’t perfect, it was one of the best superhero games released in a while. Polished, interesting and unique, it was something different from what we’d previously seen. Every level had its own boss-based theme and enemies, which was incredibly neat.
Video Review
While its predecessor went with a very colorful, creative and visually stimulating design, Spider-Man: Edge of Time is much more generic. A lot of this has to do with the fact that its entire run takes place in one office building, though there are noticeable differences in the texture work and environmental design found in each generation. Gone is the partially cell-shaded look, which crafted these things in Shattered Dimensions; replaced by more traditional, three-dimensional models.
Although its look may not be incredibly unique, Spider-Man: Edge of Time does feature polished visuals. Its creations are shiny, with some impressive detail work. It was great to see Peter Parker’s suit continually diminish based on damage, revealing tufts of hair, an ear and some scratched skin. That was a nice touch, which made the experience feel organic, despite its out-of-this-world premise.
Overall, this outing looks quite good. It’s certainly no slouch when it comes to high-definition visual output, though its art design is certainly lacking and repetitive. A wonky camera does factor in however, making it hard to control the heroes while crawling on walls or a ceiling. This issue can be classified as a control and/or perception problem. The utilized viewing angles poorly reflect which direction the player should push, leading to frustration.
Audio Review
Being that Spider-Man: Edge of Time is heavily rooted in the beat ‘em-up sub-genre, players can expect to hear a lot of grunting enemies, smashing sound effects and “thwop” punching noises. The effects are pretty good, without any noticeable deficiencies. In fact, Edge of Time is pretty impressive from any auditory standpoint. It sounds quite good. This is partially to do with those aforementioned effects and music which fits in so well that it’s easy to overlook.
Where are a lot of praise should be directed is towards the game’s voice cast. The intelligently assembled cast does a great job in bringing some of Marvel’s more iconic creations to life, including both heroes, Black Cat and Mary Jane Watson. As mentioned previously, Val Kilmer stars as the pipes of Walker Sloan – a role in which he does a pretty good job. Though, the rest of the main cast outshines him. It’s an especially true statement when considering the work of Josh Keaton and Christopher Daniel Barnes, who voice our playable heroes. Both men worked on Shattered Dimensions as well.
With Spider-Man: Edge of Time, Beenox has unfortunately taken a step back in many ways. This webbed outing is not nearly as innovative or unique as its predecessor was, ending up as a relatively average game with fluid and polished attack maneuvers. Due to its entire existence being confined in cramped hallways and closed-in rooms, the experience becomes repetitive faster than it should. Fans of Marvel’s superhero fiction should check this one out for its great voice acting and relatively detailed visuals. However, it’s important to note that the entire ride could have been much better with added variety and a less convoluted premise.
