Spider Man: Edge of Time

Gameplay

Gameplay in the game is very similar to gameplay in Shattered Dimensions. Upgrades are available for both Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2099. Upgrades are bought with XP (short for experience points), which can be earned by completing mini-challenges, such as defeating 30 enemies in two minutes. Including the traditional spider-sense, each Spider-Man has his own exclusive new ability. The original Spider-Man (Peter Parker) features a "hyper-sense" mode, which allows him to move quickly, pulverizing enemies one at a time or running through elaborate laser defence systems without getting hurt. Spider-Man 2099 can create a fake simulation of himself to divert an enemy, to either attack without them noticing or to move to another area unharmed while their attack destroys something in front of him, such as a highly secure lock.

Plot

The game begins with Peter Parker/Spider-Man battling Anti-Venom, who kills him. Rewinding back to the starting of the event, in the year 2099 Miguel O'Hara/Spider-Man 2099 investigates Alchemax scientist Walker Sloan. While spying on him, Spider-Man 2099 discovers Sloan plans to travel back in time to establish Alchemax years before its time, allowing him to rebuild the company in his own image and dismantle its corporate rivals before they are even established. Spider-Man 2099 arrives just as Sloan enters his Gateway, but jumps through the portal too late to stop him. Trapped in the portal, Spider-Man 2099 sees visions of the original Spider-Man being killed (though not by who). Being spit back into 2099, Miguel (unaffected due to being trapped in the portal) discovers Sloan's interference has reduced New York City to a horrifying dystopia. Miguel uses Peter Parker's DNA, stored within the company's archives, to create a chronal link with him, back in the present. (Peter's question if the "other me's" are in his head, suggests this takes place in the same continuity of Shattered Dimensions.) Spider-Man, now working for Alchemax in the genetics department instead of the Daily Bugle, is warned about his death on the 66th floor. However, Spider-Man refuses to obey his orders to flee if there's a psycho on the loose and travels to the 66th floor.

During their talks, the two Spider-Men discover the wormhole between their timelines has created a 'quantum causality field', with the result that actions taken in the past automatically change the future; an example being Spider-Man destroying a force field generator results in a force field blocking Spider-Man 2099's path in the future being replaced by robot sentries. Travelling to the 66th floor, Spider-Man finds himself confronted by Anti-Venom, Sloan and Dr. Octavius. Spider-Man battles Anti-Venom, who drains his powers to the point of death. Seconds later, Spider-Man 2099 pulls Peter through the Gateway in an effort to save him. Leaving Peter in the future to heal, Miguel travels into the past and battles Anti-Venom, breaking the chip that allowed Sloan to control him. Furious, Anti-Venom knocks himself, Sloan and Octavius into the time portal, destabilizing it.

Both Spider-Men are stuck in each other's time, with events accruing such as Mary Jane Watson's near-death at Alchemax before Miguel saves her, and a confrontation with Black Cat 2099. Both Spider-Men are hindered by Octavius' tentacles, which appear out of nowhere. While investigating the company's central archives to work out how to repair the portal, Spider-Man learns that he will become the CEO of Alchemax thanks to an anti-aging drug, with his future self having set up the entire crisis for his own ends. With the portal repaired, the Spider-Men return to their proper times, but something follows Peter back to his; a large bloated version of Anti-Venom with Octavius' tentacles, which is dubbed "Atrocity". Spider-Man lures it into a trap and takes a DNA sample from it, allowing Spider-Man 2099 to decipher the readings; the creature was created by Anti-Venom's blunder of pushing Sloan and Octavius into the portal with him, fusing them together.

Just as Spider-Man 2099 theorizes that forcing Atrocity back into the portal would disrupt and end the time storm, he is contacted by the CEO Peter, who reveals that he intends to harness the quantum storm to rewrite his history and undo his past mistakes, remaking the entire universe in his image. After a final battle with the Atrocity and the CEO, Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2099 knock both of them into the gateway, the resulting release of quantum energy collapsing the bridge and ending the time storm, which also reverses the changes brought about by Sloan and the CEO, leaving no one but the Spider-Men duo with any memory of them. Spider-Man 2099 then gives Spider-Man a lecture on time travel, ending the game.

Development and marketing

Information on the game was first released at WonderCon on April 2, 2011.

Customers who pre-order the game at GameStop will get early access to bonus downloadable alternate costumes inspired from the Identity Crisis storyline, while pre-orders from Amazon.com will let the customer unlock Spider-Man's Future Foundation costume for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions early in the game. Customers who pre-order the game at Best Buy will get early access to Spider-Man's Big Time costume. The Spider-Man costume worn by Miles Morales, Peter Parker's successor in the Ultimate Universe, will also be available. The Spider-Armor, Cosmic Spider-Man, Cosmic Spider-Man 2099, Iron Spider, Secret War, 1602 Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider and Negative Zone costumes can be unlocked, only if a player has a save game of Shattered Dimensions on their PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 or Wii.

Music

The original score music was written by Gerard Marino, lead composer of the God of War series. The PlayStation 3 is the only version to feature DTS surround sound.

Reception

Spider-Man: Edge of Time has received mixed reviews. McKinley Noble of GamePro highly criticized the game pointing out it ultimately doesn't live up to Shattered Dimensions, only giving Edge of Time a "fair" rating of 3 out of 5. Joystiq was more critical, giving the game 2.5/5 and criticizing Beenox's misuse of the Spider-Man character. IGN gave the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions a 4.5 out of 10, but gave the Wii version a 6.0 and the Nintendo 3DS version a 5.5. GameSpot gave the game a 6 out of 10, saying that it "tells an enjoyably absurd time-hopping tale, but stepping into the tights of its two heroes doesn't feel as empowering as it should." Gameinformer gave it a 6.5, saying "Edge of Time is a major step back from the formula that worked." Destuctoid gave the game a 5 out of 10. Gametrailers gave the game a 5.4 out of 10, praising the story and voice acting, but criticizing the repetition of the gameplay. On the other end of the spectrum, Game Chronicles gave the game a very positive review, stating that "Edge of Time excels in every aspect of game design with solid combat, fun navigational puzzles, and one of the best cinematic presentations of any Spider-Man game to date" and awarding it a score of 8/10.