All Games Beta has put up some new screenshots which reveal the third of four universes (and Spider-Men) that will be included in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. The screenshots reveal that the third wall-crawler will be from the future — the year 2099, to be exact. Spider-Man 2099 may be a relic of 1990s Marvel Comics, but Marvel 2099 does have some good things to bring to Shattered Dimensions and modern gaming.
In the 1990s, Marvel Comics decided to put out a line of comic books which told stories of the future-counterparts of present-day Marvel superheroes. Some of these series included Hulk 2099, Ghost Rider 2099, X-Men 2099, and (the terrible) Doom 2099. Though most of these titles didn’t seem to catch with the fans, one of the better performing titles with the 2099 brand was Spider-Man 2099.
Including Spider-Man 2099 in Shattered Dimensions could clue us in on what to expect from the game. First of all, when Spidey 2099 isn’t fighting the likes of Green Goblin 2099 or dodging flying cars as he web-slings, he goes around as his alter-ego, Miguel O’Hara. The identity of Noir Spider-Man has yet to be revealed. This tells us that the other Spideys don’t have to be Peter Parker — so the fourth Spider-Man isn’t restricted to that identity.
Along the lines of gameplay, previous trailer footage of Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions shows similar styles of gameplay between Spider-Man and Noir Spider-Man. O’Hara has a few unique powers that can be easily incorporated into the combat. It would be interesting to see how game developer Beenox changes up combat mechanics with their fourth Spider-Man.
Finally, there’s mood and setting. Thus far, the three Spider-Men that have been revealed to be in Shattered Dimensions all have a different feel to them. The noir universe is dark, dreary, and would probably involve some stealth-related mechanics while the regular universe is colorful and probably plays to the usual action-based Spidey game. The 2099 world can be expected to be similar to the regular universe, but will provide a nice change in setting. The screenshots display good lighting effects with futuristic-looking enemies and environments. The fourth Spider-Man’s “dimension” can be expected to bring something new to the table with respect to asthetic and environment.
The safe bet would be to include Scarlet Spider, but that has the potential to get really messy. What if Beenex were to make the fourth dimension the manga dimension? That part of the game can be told as an adventure game. That would be good idea. Right?
