Wednesday 12 October 2011

Review: Spider-Man: Edge Of Time [3DS]

Everyone's favourite neighbourhood Spider-Man swings into action in his very first 3D outing this week in Spider-Man: Edge of Time.

What is immediately apparent is that this particular game has at least attempted to build on the success of the last Spider-Man game title, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, which saw Peter Parker's alter-ego split into four distinct personalities from four alternative universes.


Edge of Time has a similarly strong narrative plot, with Future Spider-Man uncovering a plot to assassinate the his past-self with a dose of anti-venom. Nevertheless, actions in one time zone have serious repercussions on the other, can our hero use this knowledge to his advantage?



Nevertheless, where the strong narrative in Spider-Man: Edge of Time could be seen to potentially form the backbone of the game's success, it is more often than not the reason that the game seems static in places.

For example, having two Spideys in the same place but in two different time zones means that players are often be expected to play through the same levels with only minor adjustments to allow for the past/future changes. This can get a little boring at times.


Of course, the main objective of this type of game is to 'get the bad guys as quickly as possible', but even in this task, the game only seems average at best. Enemies are reasonably easy to beat in most of the levels, except during the big Boss Battles, where one would expect things to get a little bit harder.

However, Spider-Man: Edge of Time soon becomes a game of two different extremes, as these aforementioned Boss Battles seem to take the combat to an almost 'impossible-to-beat' standard, with several Bosses having huge energy bars that hardly seem to drain, or weak-points that are difficult to locate. Although this is fun for the first few levels, it soon becomes frustrating.



Nevertheless, Edge of Time does have its good points too. Graphically and audibly speaking, the 3DS version of Spider-Man: Edge of Time is probably the closest representation of the home console version(s) of the game that players could ever wish for.

The game is fully voice-acted and the banter between the characters really does make the player feel part of the Spider-Man universe, which is then further enhanced by some incredibly slick 3D graphics, which are guaranteed to impress all who see them, and rounded off with some pretty solid camera angles.



There are also some really good timed events within the game too, these help to elevate some of the tediousness caused by some of the more static levels within the game. The dramatic tone of the music also helps to build the tension here too, helping to convinced even the most normally calm person that he/she is about to run out of time any second.

Furthermore, the so-called 'Web of Challenges' function has been carried over from Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, providing successful players with a new selection of bonus missions and challenges to undertake once the main campaign mode has been completed. This does help to enhance the game's replay value slightly.

Official Debut Trailer

In conclusion, the 3DS version of Spider-Man: Edge of Time is a good visual representation of the home console versions and has some limited interesting features. Nevertheless, the game features difficult bosses and repetitive gameplay, which is likely to bore most hardcore gamers within a matter of hours. Overall rating: 6/10.

No comments:

Post a Comment