Spider-Man: Edge of Time is a typical button-mashing platformer. As in its much-lauded predecessor, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, the gamer plays more than one Spider-Man - in this game, it's Peter Parker and Miguel O'Hara, the Spider-Man from 2099.
The story picks up when O'Hara is unable to stop the CEO of Alchemax going through a time portal to rewrite the past. He manages to contact Parker, and tells him about the Alchemax's evil plot - and Parker's impending death. The ongoing banter between O'Hara and the wisecracking Parker is hilarious, and one of the highlights of the game.
In summary:
Pros: Fun variations on button mashing, amusing dialogue
Cons: Boring gameplay, no sandbox, save points are too far apart
Score: 5/10
Moment of the game: Figuring out that the Black Cat boss has a limited area of movement, then standing right next to her and beating her down without her being able to touch me.
Achievement difficulty: 6/10
Price: R445
Contact: BT Games - www.btgames.co.za
The introduction of the time-split is interesting: O'Hara and Parker are in the same building - just 90 years apart. This means changing things in the past alters the future. For example, Parker changes the building schematics in the past when O'Hara gets stuck in 2099; and when Parker destroys sentry robots, the same robots are replaced with a group of human guards in the future.
However, the game is frustrating in many parts - the save points are too far apart, the combat is dreary, and the boss fights are repetitive and either frustratingly difficult, or far too easy. The player spends the entire game swinging through drab hallways of Alchemax, performing mundane tasks like destroying generators and collecting keys. The saving grace of the combat is that the player purchases additional abilities that transform the button mashing into a slightly more sophisticated combat. But only slightly.
In summary
The game does not have the charm and character depth of Shattered Dimensions, and lacks the open world sandbox feel of Spider-Man 2 and 3. Although Spider-Man is a bit better than most button-mashers, and the ability upgrades are quite comprehensive and add variation to the combat, they don't compensate enough for boring gameplay.
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