2 Spider-Men, 2 different time-lines and paradoxes make a odd combo…
This is the first Spider-Man game I’ve played since Web of Shadows, which to be fair…wasn’t too good. However, I did see that Shattered Dimensions raised the bar and I hope to get round to playing it at a later date. But today is all about Edge of Time, the latest in the series and one that removes the free roaming aspect and is set entirely in a building through two different time zones.
The plot goes along the lines that the CEO of a company goes back in time to create the company before Stark Industries, resulting in a different timeline where Peter Parker is killed by Anti-Venom. Spider-Man from 2099 is determined to stop this and works in tandem with Parker to stop his demise and the collapse of time itself. It’s a decent plot and has a rather interesting twist, but is the story enough to make you play till the end?
The problem is that the game itself is actually very average and repetitive. Both Spidey’s play slightly differently in combat, with Parker being speedy and future Spidey creating decoys. But Arkham City’s combat, this is not. It’s a button-bashing mess and actually very tricky, but for the wrong reasons. It’s just a pain to fight and unfortunately, it’s the only angle the game has besides challenges that are rather annoying to attempt.
These can vary from fighting a group of enemies and not being hit a certain amount of times or beating them in a time limit, but others can be outside of combat and require you to collect a number of experience orbs in a time limit too. The hardest ones have to be when you are descended through the elevator shafts of the building and have to avoid getting hit, which is extremely difficult when you go fast and the elements of the room change as you descend. Luckily, you can try these challenges again at any time for those dedicated enough to try and get 1000 gamerpoints.
There are collectables to find as well, but some can only be earned by completing the challenges I’ve previously mentioned. The game itself will take roughly 6-8 hours on Normal and obviously a bit longer on Hard, but luckily your stats transfer over so you can attempt the Hard mode with all your upgrades. Oddly there’s only a few boss fights in the whole game and none are particularly memorable, which is disappointing when there is a lot of potential here for tons of villains to turn up as a result of the paradoxes.
The presentation of Edge of Time is decent, which adds to the frustration since I can see the potential of what could have been achieved if the team were given a bit longer to work their magic. Instead, it feels like the game has been rushed to try and compete with the likes of Arkham City and unfortunately, it’s a gamble that has not paid off. Visuals are good and load times are short, voice-acting is cheesy but there are some good one-liners and banter between both sets of Spider-Men.
The Verdict
Spider-Man: Edge of Time is a disappointingly average game that becomes repetitive far too quickly. The game just doesn’t evolve over the course of the campaign and once its done, there’s little reason to come back for any other reason than gaining collectables and completing the challenges. The thing is though that you can get through all those quickly if you know what you are doing and as such, it’s probably only worth a look at a rental…and that’s only if you want some additional gamerpoints.
