Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions Official Strategy Guide

By Dan Birlew | Posted August 23, 2010 in New Book! | 1 Comment »

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions starts off with an extremely brief tutorial; just enough to get you wall crawling and web swinging in true Spidey fashion. The next level pits you against Kraven the Hunter in some kind of Amazonian jungle of death. Midway through, you have to fight Kraven himself in a multi-layered boss battle/cage match on par with the best moments of Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, and then you must fight him again once he unleashes the power of an ancient relic, doubling his attack speed and strength.

After the second time you defeat Kraven, you start to realize something: this game is actually pretty great! Usually licensed affairs such as these are decent at best, laughable at worst. But Activision and Beenox have finally set a respectable bar for comic book superhero games. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions is more than just a franchise tie-in, it’s an actual video game experience that you can invest yourself in for 10-20 hours and not feel ashamed for doing so.

While fighting Mysterio, Spider-Man accidentally smashes the ancient Tablet of Order and Chaos, learning too late that the Tablet was the most powerful of all the mystical artifacts in the world. The pieces are now fragmented across other dimensions that are reflections of our own: the Amazing Spider-Man’s universe is pretty much the standard Marvel Universe; Ultimate Spider-Man dons the symbiotic black suit and can utilize Rage Mode to defeat massive numbers of enemies in a short time; Spider-Man 2099 is Miguel O’Hara, an Alchemax employee accidentally mutated through gene splicing who decides to fight back against the corporations running the future; and Spider-Man Noir is set in an alternate 1933 where Peter Parker fights back against Norman Osborn and his circus freak goons.

Each Spider-Man utilizes different attacks and abilities. Like I said above, Ultimate Spider-Man wears the black suit and lashes out with symbiotic tendrils. Triggering Rage Mode allows him to deliver double damage and avoid being knocked down while it lasts. Spider-Man 2099 utilizes lightning-fast combos that allow him to automatically launch toward enemies. He also has Accelerated Vision, which allows him to see faster for a short period of time. The effect makes everything appear to go in slow motion, giving Spidey 2099 more time to avoid attacks or take out more enemies. Then there’s the Noir universe, wherein Spider-Man must move through the shadows undetected. If an enemy spots him, an alarm sounds and all enemies in the area start firing on Spider-Man. You must retreat, conceal yourself in the dark, and wait for the alarm to turn off before resuming. Spider-Man Noir can takedown enemies by positioning himself above them or on the ground behind them. The use of light and shadows in the Noir universe is also quite interesting, making these levels pretty suspenseful.

Defeating enemies and collecting Spider Emblems throughout the levels allows Spider-Man to accumulate “Spider Essence,” which can be spent to purchase upgrades. These upgrades improve Spidey’s health, Rage or Accelerated Vision modes, or add new combat moves to his repertoire. Additional combat skills you can buy extend Spidey’s default combos, add new and powerful special attacks, or unlock and upgrade Spidey’s Charge Attacks, which allows him to strike several enemies instantly. Spider Essence also allows you to purchase new costumes for the four Spider-Men, so you can change their looks and play as even more heroes from more dimensions.

More upgrades become available when you complete challenges, such as swinging a certain number of times without touching the ground, defeating a certain number of bad guys, or striking a certain number of enemies with a single Charge Attack, and more. Each level has 15 challenges you can complete.

But the clear winning features of this game are the incredible graphics and the fantastic scenario, featuring voice work by Stan Lee and four voice actors who have all played Spider-Man in one animated series or another: Neil Patrick Harris voices Amazing Spider-Man, Josh Keaton voices Ultimate Spider-Man, Dan Gilvenez portrays Spider-Man 2099, and Christopher Daniel gives words to Spider-Man Noir. The story is like something you’d read in the Marvel series.

Shattered Dimensions features 14 incredible levels filled with hidden secrets and challenges to complete. The Official Strategy Guide navigates players through each level in incredible detail, providing marked area maps, detailed enemy combat strategies, and tips for dealing with tough boss enemies such as Juggernaut, Deadpool, Carnage, Doctor Octopus and more. Challenges are covered in the walkthrough so that while you’re playing, you can complete challenges at the best possible moments before moving on. Plus there are complete lists of upgrades, achievements and trophies, and more. The Official Strategy Guide ships on August 30th, well before the game drops on September 7th. Do me a favor and pick up a copy while you’re at the store buying Shattered Dimensions.

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