Who called it, huh? When I told you about the new Spidey game from Activision - - that is, SPIDER-MAN: SHATTERED DIMENSIONS - - the guess I hazarded was that it would see the wall crawler hopping between realities like so many New York skyscrapers. Well, I’ve been proven right today and my prize for being correct isn’t a stuffed lion or a balloon shark, but a trailer for the game . The game’s plot (jotted by Dan Slott) sees Peter Parker accidentally smashing the “Tablet of Order and Chaos” while foiling a robbery and then subsequently having to retrieve all four pieces of the tablet across four dimensions.
If you figured Spidey would be assuming different guises in each realm, then you’d certainly be correct. Two out of the four dimensions have been revealed. The first, named “Amazing” here, seems to basically be the main Marvel Universe, or Earth 616, that we’re all so familiar with. The second, named “Noir”, takes from those Noir mini’s Marvel has done in recent years that recast their heroes in the depression ‘n speakeasy era. You might’ve thought my bringing up a stuffed lion and balloon shark early was purely a fanciful digression… but, not so! Actually, it was a calculated allusion to lion-themed bad guy Kraven the Hunter and shark-themed gangster Hammerhead, who are the bosses you face in Amazing and Noir, respectively.
The gameplay style differs from world to world. Noir seems to be about sneaky stealth while Amazing is more straightforward fisticuffs in the jungle. I’m sure that whenever the next two dimensions are revealed - - either at Wondercon this weekend or SDCC in July - - they’ll have similar changes in gameplay. Perhaps one may even be real time strategy like COMMAND & CONQUER?
What worlds and Spidey-incarnations would you like to see be revealed, oh universe-hopping Comic Vine community? I’d personally like to see 1602’s Peter Parquagh jumping around Colonial villages and Miguel O’Hara swinging through the hostile ubran sprawl of the year 2099. Think about which incarnations YOU would want to see while you watch the trailer for this game below.
-- Tom Pinchuk is the writer of UNIMAGINABLE for Arcana Comics and HYBRID BASTARDS! for Archaia. Watch out for the HYBRID BASTARDS! hardcover collection this April - - available for pre-order now on Amazon.com.