Review - Spider-man: Edge of Time

If you were thrust into the tights of Spider-man and do what must be done to save the world do you think you'd be up to it? Spider-man: Edge of Time from Activision gives you that chance in saving not only Spider-man’s world, but also Spider-man 2099’s world as well from certain destruction. Activision sent us a copy to check the game out and, while it definitely has some negatives to it, overall it was an all-around fun game to play.

Developer Beenox tapped into talented Marvel writer Peter David, who co-created Spider-man 2099, to create the story. Packing in a compelling story, engaging combat system, challenges to do and plenty of collectibles to find this game will have you enthralled in it all for the whole ride.

Past Spider-man games are usually a more open world type games—sandbox type if you would—that give you the freedom to roam around the heights of Manhattan, swinging from skyscraper to skyscraper and doling out justice to the thugs below. Spider-man: Edge of Time finds Spider-man confined to a building that all the trouble revolves around, forcing him and Spider-man 2099 to swing all over it to stop the bad guys.

It was pretty cool switching between the two Spider-mans as your actions with one would affect the life of the other in his respective time. Taking it out of the open world and forcing him to fight in hallways and open aired rooms made the game feel more claustrophobic than open, as I felt I was running more than actually swinging. To get around swinging they did include a sort of web zipline ability that let's you shoot from spot to spot that came in handy during some tough combat.

Combat was actually quite an enjoyable part of the game, as it was a fluid sort of motion going from one enemy to the next, with all manners of attacks at your disposal. As you play through the game you get the chance to upgrade both Spider-man and Spider-man 2099, improving their strength, health, attack types and special abilities that each can use to aid them in their fight.

The special abilities were a pretty cool feature as Spider-man has an ability that let's him be super speedy, dodging around to evade attacks as you beat the foes around you. Spider-man 2099 has an invisible decoy ability that throws out a specter of him and affords him stealth to move around and mess foes up or dodge a missile or two. As you progress through the game you keep pumping each Spider-man up to basically badass level so when the game is beaten and you get hard mode unlocked you are ready to take it on again and lay even more of a smackdown.

The game also has a collectible piece. From collecting time fragment orbs that you use to pump your character up to golden spiders to newspapers and memos, Spider-man: Edge of Time has all sorts of things to crawl about and find as you play. For instance, golden spiders can be found throughout the chapters or by completing pop-up challenges. For the challenges you'll succeed by meeting certain criteria, from beating a number of enemies within a time frame to getting through a section of the level completing goals.

As much praise as I have for the game there were some negatives to it as well One, it was a short game on the first playthrough. Perhaps going back through it on hard might lengthen it, but you can beat it fairly easily on normal. At times crawling on the walls felt a bit aggravating because of the controls. Additionally, when you're trying to start a web swing it would take Spider-man a second or two to get going, but for the most part though you don’t really get a chance to swing as you're so confined in hallways or rooms.

Sometimes there would be these timed parts in the game where you'd have to complete a certain task as you fight off enemies. These tasks will frustrate you and sometimes even infuriate you. When playing as Spider-man 2099 you'll also face these freefall spots where you are hurtling down a shaft and have to dodge obstacles. Holding a button can speed you up, but there's no way to slow down beyond the normal speed, which makes dodging a tad annoying. Sure you'll get a white sensor that will show up if you're going to hit something, but I felt the controls were a tad too loose during these spots.

The game was fun to play, but it felt it was a bit lacking when compared to past Spider-man games. If you're a Spider-man fan this game is worth taking a look at. If you're looking for a more open world, old-school Spider-man game though I wouldn’t suggest this for you. It does have replay value for those perfectionists out there wanting every achievement/trophy and is a fun time to play. With how short it is you will not feel like you are forced to slog through it at all.

Spider-man: Edge of Time is in stores now.