Spider-Man: Arkham Dimensions

I guess you could say that I am somewhat of a globetrotter. In real life, the farthest I've been is Marseille, France. In games however, I think I've been almost everywhere. I froze my butt off on Antarctica, I drove a car across the Great Wall of China, I've prowled the streets of Arnhem in my very own country and, of course, I had all kinds of adventures in Washington DC. And these are only a few examples, as you might have guessed. I mean, considering the amount of games I've played in my life?
So now what? More stories about the goings-on in post-apocalyptic DC? Maybe, maybe not. Because first, I'd like to talk about New York City for a bit.

You see, for two days now, I've been playing Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. You do get to visit other places in that game, but the majority of it plays out in NYC. I don't actually know what these other places are, now that I think about it. I mean, I'm assuming they're other places, unless I've missed a key plot element in the story that explains how the city has turned into some kind of forest. Indeed, the story... It's a bit, how should I put this? Simple? Yes, I think that accurately describes it.
Normally, this wouldn't bother me at all. I mean, a good story is nice, but in no way necessary, in my opinion. A game can even have a really bad story, and I wouldn't mind a bit if the actual gameplay is fun. I've read reviews of other games where the reviewer said the low quality of the story ruined the game. Again I say, as long as the actual gameplay is up to scratch, I don't give a shit. Just tell me who or what I need to shoot or destroy, and I'm happy. Take Earth Defense Force, for example! There are alien bugs trying to take over the world, so they need to be killed. Is there a deep story there, filled with intrigue and devious plot twists? No, there isn't, but who cares, right? Now, I'm not saying a good story can't make a game better, because it definitely can. Just look at Fallout 3; I couldn't have written so much about that if that game had EDF's story.

So why am I making this point here? Spider-Man's story is lame, but that shouldn't bother me then, right? Well, it doesn't, but at the same time it does because, well, this is Spider-Man we're talking about here! Aren't Spider-Man stories supposed to be entertaining, gripping, spectacular and what have you? As opposed to: There are a number of fragments of some kind of mystical tablet that have gotten into the hands of an equal number of super-villains which is bad so go get them back. Which, as far as I understand it, really is all there is to this game's story. Gameplay-wise it works, because it's as good an excuse as any to go beat up, for example, Sandman, but it doesn't make for an edge-of-your-seat-I-have-to-know-what-happens-next kind of tale, you know? Again though, do I really mind? Am I enjoying the game less because of this? No, I'm not. But I still wish the people behind this game had put a little more effort into it all. You know, like Batman Arkham Asylum, for example! In all honesty, I must admit that I don't remember too much about that game's story, but I do believe it was good. Or, at the very least, better than Spider-Man's.

So yeah, the story sucks and so, any enjoyment there is to be had has to come from the gameplay. Which, although good, is not without its faults either, I'm sorry to say. The biggest problem I suppose, is that it's kind of buggy. Like last night, when I came across a potentially game-breaking bug! I say potentially, because returning to the main menu and reloading solved the problem. Still, it's bad enough that something like this happens these days.
So what happened then? Well, I was in this corridor with a closed door at the end that I needed to go through. This was in the Scorpion level, which had lots of eggs laying around. Green, Alien-like eggs that explode in a splash of burning acid when thrown. Which is exactly how I was supposed to open that door: melt it down with the acid from the eggs. I knew this, because I had done it before. Yeah, I'm a quick learner, sometimes...
In this case however, there were no eggs near the door! There were eggs further down the corridor though, just around a bend. And so, I tried to use those. I grabbed them with my web, quickly turned around and hurled them in the direction of the door. It didn't work. I tried and tried, and I know for certain that at least one of the eggs hit the door dead-on. Which didn't do anything. And the corridor I was in was actually pretty short, so there wasn't really any exploring or experimenting to be done. The corridor, the eggs, the door; these were the only elements of this puzzle available to me. In the end, I think I spent about thirty minutes exploring this corridor, hurling eggs, climbing the ceiling, trying everything I could think of. Nothing worked. Frustrated, I looked for a walkthrough on the internet and fortunately there was one already, in video form! Very nice, and useful as well.
There was the corridor, check. Fight a few dudes at the end of it, near the door, check. Have the acid eggs appear all around the door, ready to be grabbed and thrown, ch- Wait, what? Eggs around the door? Not in my game there weren't! What the hell? But, like I already said, all I had to do was exit to the main menu and reload the level. It started in the corridor right away, so that was good. And indeed, at the end, the eggs appeared like they were supposed to and all was well again.

Ah, but there are more things that aren't quite as they should be. I mean, this is the only real bug I came across so far, but there are also little things the makers of the game simply could have done better or, indeed, not at all. Like the first-person fighting you need to do in every boss fight. A nice idea, and it sort of works, but... I don't know, it feels kind of odd and out of place. And well, I suppose I could go on listing all the things that are bad about this game. Yes, there is more. I won't though, except for one more thing. One more big thing, actually. You know, this is a Spider-Man game. And what is it that Spider-Man is known best for? Exactly: the web-swinging. And it is exactly this part that I don't really like. That's not to say that it doesn't work, because it does. The problem is that it just doesn't feel as good as it did in the previous Spider-Man games, in my opinion. And I'm talking about the free roaming ones, by the way. You know, where you had the entire city of New York as your playground that you could swing around in. I loved those games, I really did.
Shattered Dimensions is completely different, when it comes to that. It's a linear game, with separate levels. Some of these have open spaces in them that do give you the chance to go your own way for a bit, but in the end there's always only one way to go.
Oh, and the worst part? Something that has no effect on the gameplay at all, but is still really, really bad? When swinging, Spider-Man shoots his webs straight up into the sky, presumably latching on to invisible clouds, or something. Something Treyarch fixed about three games ago. Oh well...

But then, there is one thing that has really managed to hook me. One thing that makes me go: just one more level. Each level has a number of challenges to complete. Basically, these are like mini-achievements. Or trophies, since I'm playing the PS3 version. For example, in one level I had to disarm 10 guys by pulling their guns out of their hands using my web. Another example would be that you need to kill a number of baddies in a certain time limit. You know, stuff like that. And... yeah, that really taps in to my anally retentive OCD nature in games. Items to find and collect, mini-missions to complete, more and more moves to be unlocked... All the good stuff, really. And it ties in directly to the upgrade system as well. The combat moves are divided into several sections, with a certain number of challenges needed to unlock each one. Which I think is really clever, actually. Yeah, maybe other games have done the same thing, but it works, right? It does with me, at any rate. Oh, and one more thing about these challenges! They actually change the way you play a level! Like the Noir levels, for example. Yeah, Spider-Man Noir. Like in Film Noir. And like... Hello, can you say Batman Arkham Asylum?? Seriously, why Eidos haven't sued the balls off of Activison for this...
Hide in the shadows, perch on a rooftop right above an enemy, pull him up using your web, cocoon him and hang him upside down. Oh, and be able to spot the enemies easier by using your spider-sense. Really? I mean, really Activision? Or rather, Beenox, the company that actually made the game. Still, it works, and it's still fun to do. So whatever, I guess.
Anyway, the challenges! Without them, I might just try to use the same tactic every time. You know, hide, perch, pull, cocoon and hang? Right. One challenge however, involves taking down six enemies in six different ways. Or indeed, you might be asked to perform ten takedowns in a row without raising the alarm. Which happens when you get seen, obviously. So again, like I said, these challenges can change the way you play a level, and I really like that, a lot.
So anyway, concluding, I guess you could say there's plenty of stuff wrong with this game. At the same time though, I'm still enjoying myself to bits, every time I play. And I only have two levels left to go before I finish it, too! After which I can go replay some levels to unlock the challenges I missed. I can also go on until I've unlocked all the combat moves, which would be trophy-worthy. And maybe I will, maybe I will. It's a challenge that I like, so yes, I might just try and go the distance on this one.
And with that in mind, I'm ending this entry. Meanwhile, stay safe, and game on!