The entire Spiderman franchise is getting a swift kick in the ass. The very popular and for the most part critically acclaimed movies (not you emo Peter Parker, you suck), are getting an entire reboot. New actors, new imagination, new everything. The lack of a true next gen Spiderman game has eluded fans of the web slinger and Activision has decided to change things up a bit. In Shattered Dimensions, we not only get a very good comic beat ‘em up, we get four.

Right off the bat you will notice the scope of the game has changed. Previous Spiderman games were all cut from the same cloth. An open world NYC that let you swing around building to building rescuing civilians and stopping crime. That idea was great. In 2002. We now get a much more linear but at the same time more fulfilling adventure. The four Spidermen you control each have their own distinct way of playing. Amazing, the default is your standard Spiderman who is very balanced between fighting and swinging. Venom (Ultimate) is a pure power character and his Rage attacks are devastating. 2099 Spiderman relies on speed to dodge attacks and conquer his foes. Noir is the 1920′s Spiderman who uses stealth to lurk in the shadows. Each character plays very differently and the differences go way beyond skins. Each world has its own feel to it making it an different experience and not just a different costume.

This is a melee game intended for the T audience. The humor is juvenile and you can expect zero blood, cursing, decapitations, etc. This is more of an assessment than a critique. The game plays to its audience. I happen to be a 28 yr old gratuitous violence/nudity junkie. Since the game is for the most part linear, you do run into places that you can’t explore and camera angles can be tough. The camera is 95% 3rd person, more on that in a second, it trails you. Sometimes you web sling out of its best visual angle and it can be an issue. There is also a very tacked on 1st person fighting portions of boss fights. I did not care for it.

This is a single player game and depending on how much you want to explore, it will take you 10 or so hours to beat. There is a ton of collectables, silver/gold pieces that add EXP which in turn allow you to buy upgrades. The more you hunt for these and most are not hard to find, the stronger your character will be. There are also in-level challenges that reward EXP and most are very doable as long as you know what the guidelines are. An awesome aspect here is that each universe is its own entity. Villains in one dimension do not look as they would in another. This creative feel will have you choosing your favorite dimension and possibly your favorite Spiderman to date. For fans of Spiderman, especially the ones versed in his comics, this is a must have. Granted the target demographic is a bit younger if your an adult, but not every game needs headshots and dead hookers.

[A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review purposes.]