Spider-Man Edge of Time Video Game Preview
Spider-Man: Edge of Time follows the present-day Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2099 in their efforts to prevent a catastrophic event from taking place, the death of the Amazing Spider-Man. The story starts out in the future as Miguel O’Hara (Spider-Man 2099) works at Alchemax. Walker Sloan, a rival scientist who works in the temporal physics lab, has decided to go back in time and remake Alchemax in his own image, decades before it was originally founded. He eliminates Stark Enterprises, Fujikawa and all other competitors. This creates a new, alternate timeline. In Miguel’s attempt to stop Sloan, he becomes caught between the two timelines and the world changes around him. He’s spit back out into the revised future as the only one outside of Walker Sloan with the knowledge that the timeline has been altered.
The game is written by Peter David. Walker Sloan is the first character he’s created for the 2099 timeline in 15 years. According to Activision, there will be cameos of characters from both time lines, as well as other new characters created specifically for the game. Josh Keaton voices the Amazing Spider-Man and Christopher Daniel Barnes voices Spider-Man 2099 in Edge of Time.
The game starts in the “Amazing” timeline. O’Hara must contact Peter Parker, who us quite content and doesn’t believe this isn’t the life he should be living. The two form an adversarial relationship at the start when Miguel contacts Peter across time to tell him that everything he knows is wrong. According to Activision, as they work through the challenges of the game together, they eventually build a strong friendship.
Picture-in-picture is used to show the two Spider-Men communicating with each other. Instead of a classic level set up, the PiP is used to switch between the two time lines. Equal time is given to both Spider-Men in their time lines. Spider-Man 2099 will have to react to changes in environment. Pathways will open and enemies will appear and disappear as Amazing Spider-Man acts in his timeline.
The two Spider-Men share the same core combat system, with slight differentiation. Amazing Spider-Man is more acrobatic, with ranged web attacks. He has a new ability called, Hyper-Sense, which is a half offensive and half defensive move. It taps into Spider-Man’s spider sense to auto-dodge and avoid obstacles. During the course of game play you can upgrade your Hyper-Sense and use it for longer periods of time.
Spider-Man 2099 has a slightly different combat style. Because he’s faster and has talons, he engages in melee combat and uses swipe attacks. His signature move is called, “Accelerated Decoy”. He has accelerated vision, which allows him to see the environment faster. You can use it to shoot decoy versions of yourself across the screen to either distract enemies or as a offensive move. The two characters have a shared move called, “Time Paradox” and it can be used to freeze enemies in time.
In continuing the level we discover Spider-Man’s foe will be Anti-venom, who is being controlled by one of Walker Sloan’s chips. If Parker does not fight him, the building will explode and kill people for blocks around. Miguel’s attempts to convince Peter to avoid the upcoming fight fall on deaf ears. As you fight in the “Amazing” timeline, it can have an immediate effect on Miguel’s time. An explosion coursing through present-day Alchemax destroys atomic regulators in the building. Those explosions cause radiation to leak in 2099 timeline, slowly killing Miguel. Spider-Man must race against time to stop Miguel’s death from occurring.
In Anti-Venom boss fight, Eddie Brock attempts to fight against the influence of the control chip embedded in his brain. Walker Sloan sends more power through the chip to set off his more bestial side. During the course of the fight, hits from Anti-Venom drain Parker of his powers and he has to dig deep into his arsenal to take his foe down.
According to Activision, you’ll be able to beat it in one very long sitting if you want to. Check-points will save your progress. A mini-challenge system is built into the game. You’re prompted to engage in these challenges during game play and can go back to retry the challenges at any time. Giant spheres and golden spiders hidden across the levels will allow you to unlock health and shield upgrades, You’ll also be able to unlock bonus Spider-Man suits.
With Beenox as the studio behind Shattered Dimensions and Edge of Time, we wanted to know the what differences fans could expect from this latest entry. Activision said the pacing would be different, as well as the types of enemies you’ll encounter. People will be familiar enough with the controls that they can jump right in. They felt Beenox honed what they learned from Shattered Dimensions.
The game will also be released to the 3DS. It will essentially be the same game, with the Picture-In-Picture elements taking place across both screens and some touch screen functionality to compensate for the fewer buttons available on the 3DS.
Spider-Man: Edge of Time will be released to the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, 3DS and DS this fall.