“Spider-Man: Edge of Time” preview
Time travel is always a good vehicle for any storyline, but when you combine it with a franchise like Spider-Man, it becomes pretty “Amazing.”
Cheesy puns aside, I had the chance to see “Spider-Man: Edge of Time,” the latest installment in the web-slinging game franchise, and it is certainly shaping up to be one of the year’s best superhero-centric games.
“Edge of Time” takes place in two separate universes and features a gripping original storyline written by famed comic book and sci-fi writer Peter David.
The game’s storyline focuses on Miguel O’Hara, who is the 2099 version of Spider-Man, and of course the current incarnation of Spidey, Peter Parker. O’Hara, who is feuding with scientist Walker Sloan in 2099, discovers that Sloan plans to travel back 100 years into the past to establish his company Alchemax and in turn rule the world in 2099. While learning this, O’Hara also discovers that Sloan’s actions lead to the death of Parker, and decides to try and save his web-slinging ancestor.
As you can tell, “Edge of Time” will rely heavily on time travel, and the developers behind the game, Beenox, have implemented several different techniques to enhance the experience.
First, the game will rely on a cause/effect dynamic. While playing as Parker in the current-day timeline, your actions will at times have significant impacts on O’Hara and the 2099 world. To illustrate these impacts and to serve as a directional/objective system, “Edge of Time” will also use a screen-in-screen style system. Not only will you hear your web-slinging counterpart, but at times you will also be able to see their face as well as what impact your actions are having on their world. Both tactics seemingly enhance the game’s overall feel of time travel while not convoluting the story for players.
As far as gameplay goes, while I did not get to play the game myself, there will be two different styles to take into account when playing. Amazing Spider-Mant will be able to utilize his webs and agility to maneuver around enemies while Spider-Man 2099 will be more of a brawler and use the sharp talons on his arms and brute force to take out his adversaries.
Aside from the different styles of combat in “Edge of Time,” Spider-Man will have an enhanced “Hyper Sense” that will allow players to kick it into high gear and tap into their Spider Sense for a short period of time. This is useful for getting through large amounts of enemies or dangerous areas much easier.
From an audio/visual perspective, “Edge of Time” is what you have come to expect from a Spider-Man game. The look and sound of the game is very similar to that of last year’s well-received “Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions” title. From what I saw, the game combines vibrant, comic book-like environments with great background music, sound effects and voice acting (Activision has tapped Josh Keaton and Christopher Daniel Barnes to voice the Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2099, respectively).
“Edge of Time” will also feature a star-studded cast of Spider-Man characters, including Anti-Venom (who was the only one revealed during the demonstration). Fans will also be able to expect some new, fresh faces appearing in the latest installment.
“Edge of Time” is certainly shaping up to be one of the most epic Spider-Man titles to date, and considering just how much of the game has yet to be shown/revealed, fans can expect to be blown away when the game crawls its way onto store shelves this fall.