Marvel Comics released a line of books featuring futuristic versions of its many popular heroes in the early ‘90s. The 2099 series failed to gain any traction, but Spider-Man 2099 will have a second chance at life later this year when developer Beenox brings this futuristic superhero back from the past in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.
In April, Activision announced Shattered Dimensions, a Spider-Man game that would cover four different universes and introduce gamers to versions of Spider-Man they likely weren’t familiar with. Not only will each universe have its own art style, but it will also have its own distinct set of play mechanics. We break down the differences between all three announced worlds below.
Dan Gilvezan, the voice actor from the '80s show Spider-Man and His
Amazing Friends, will be voicing the 2099 version of Spider-Man
Spider-Man 2099 doesn’t feature the lovable nerd Peter Parker that most people are familiar with. This futuristic superhero is a brilliant geneticist named Miguel O'Hara, whose dangerous experiments grant him spider-like powers similar to those of Spider-Man proper. O’Hara also wears a suit which allows him to glide through the air. This glide ability has allowed developer Beenox to create larger, more vertical environments. A lot of the action in the 2099 universe will take place in mid-air. Environments are alive with activity, and Spidey 2099 will have to dodge hover cars, jet bikes, and monorails as he flies through a city that stretches into the upper atmosphere. Some of Spider-Man 2099’s other powers include enhanced senses, which allow him to briefly slow down time, and razor sharp talons that make him a fierce hand-to-hand combatant. All of this should come in handy while Spidey is fighting Hobgoblin, a villain that Beenox is introducing to the 2099 universe.
Amazing Spider-Man will have access to more web-based moves than any of
the other Spider-Men, including: web hammers, web maces, and web fists
The Amazing universe is Beenox’s nod to classical comics; it’s more lighthearted and colorful than some of the other universes. Featuring the traditional Spider-Man that most people are familiar with, Amazing’s gameplay will focus on fast and effective combat. What set Amazing Spider-Man apart from his counterparts are his webs. In this world, Spidey will be able to make a variety of web-based weapons, such as a giant web hammer that he uses against an army of goons. The environments in the Amazing universe will also be somewhat destructible. During one battle with Kraven, we saw Spidey throw the villain into a stone pillar, and then pick up the large pieces of rock and hurl them at the master hunter for extra damage.
The Noir universe takes Spider-Man and transplants him into a mob-run New York of the 1930s. Noir is visually darker, but this art style is used to full effect in the gameplay, which has an increased focus on stealth. During a section of the game, Spider-Man has to track down his nemesis Norman Osborn, a master criminal known as the Goblin who looks a lot like a circus freak in the Noir universe. Spider-Man Noir is a sneaky hero, and he crawls his way into Coney Island to confront the Goblin. Unfortunately a fireworks display explodes overhead, so Spider-Man will have to be extra careful to not get caught in the open during one of the light flashes, otherwise he’ll quickly find himself facing off against an army of the Goblin's goons. Hopefully all of Spider-Man Noir’s levels have a similar unique twist on the standard stealth-based action.
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions is due out this September, and the more we see of the game, the better it looks. We hope that Beenox’s creative ideas for four different worlds produce one solid Spider-Man game. The only question that remains is, what is the fourth universe? Ultimate Spider-Man is a good candidate as it’s the most popular alternate version of Spider-Man. But it might be kind of fun to see Neil Gaiman’s 1602 version of Spider-Man in a game, or a Japanese manga version of Spider-Man. It likely won’t be the Italian Spider-Man. That deserves its own game altogether.