MashButtons has a shocking time with the Spider Man Edge of Time Review

Activision has just released their latest superhero title featuring not one, but two Spideys in Spider-Man: Edge of Time. In the latest adventure, you take on the role of both the classic Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2099 in an effort to fix time and prevent disaster caused by the death of Peter Parker. Using a pseudo portal connecting the two timelines, you will see how your actions in current time affect the 2099 world. The story in Edge of Time is brought to you by Marvel’s Peter David, the co-creator of the Spider-Man 2099 series and put into game form by Beenox, the crew responsible for Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. Now, let’s get the shock to the review!

Before going into my review of Edge of Time, I did get a chance to play Shattered Dimensions, though not a big fan of the gameplay or story, it was enjoyable as a comic book fan and the inclusion of four Spideys. That being said, after playing a short amount of time with both amazing and 2099 Spidey, I was having a blast. The dialogue is great, with a lot of humor, references for comic fans, and of course drama. Both Spideys also control rather differently and you are able to upgrade and acquire moves and abilities for either and/or both SMen. Along with the smooth fluid gameplay, load times do not take long, and the story flows smoothly with a lot of action to make it harder to put down and faster to play through. There are a number of villains from Spidey’s past that come back to thwart the hero which is always fun to see who will make an appearance next.

A couple things that I noticed off the bat was a lack of environments, I mean you play a lot in the Alchemex tower and it just seemed like the environment lacked variety and space. The game is also pretty easy on normal mode and is very forgiving to the player as I noticed if I died, I would be revived from the closest checkpoint with more life than I had before my shocking demise. At times it was hard to navigate where I had to go next, but there is a mode similar to the detective mode in Batman Arkham Asylum to locate key items in your current area. The environments also seemed small and cramped, I mean you are Spider-Man, you should be able to use your webs to traverse locations fast and smoothly, but most of the time I would be web slinging my super arachnid into a wall or ceiling, so that was more of a fight than my battle with Anti-Venom, well not really, but close.

All in all, as a fan of comics and the Marvel universe, I had a great time. Sure it had its ups and downs but I felt like its shortcomings were overshadowed by dialogue and story progressions. The cause and effect of your actions between two timelines was a unique way to play through a game but seems like the risk worked well for Beenox. I think the more hardcore gamer may not appreciate it as much as the Spider-Man fans, but it is a solid action title with a number of Easter eggs, average length, and upgrades to keep you coming back for more and playthrough in a matter of a few days at just a couple hours at a time.