Game Review: Spider-Man: Edge of Time

Billy O'Keefe - Mclatchy -Tribune News Service

Reviewed for: Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 Also available for: Wii, Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS

From: Beenox/Activision

ESRB Rating: Teen (mild language, suggestive themes, violence)

Price: $60

When last year's "Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions" scrapped the usual open-world setup in favor of contained but large and visually diverse levels starring four different Spider-Men and a wild array of colorful villains, the result was an exciting, fun and funny validation of how to add by subtracting.

"Spider-Man: Edge of Time," on the other hand, is what happens when you simply take too much away.

"Time" plays the multidimensional card once again, but this time the rift is purely chronological, and only two Spider-Men - Amazing and 2099 - are involved. The two Spideys have slight differences in their combat repertoires, but they're more similar than not, and some of the curveballs from "Dimensions" - namely, Noir Spidey and his stealthy problem-solving approach - are quickly missed here.

But no absence in "Time" is felt more painfully than that of the sky.

Bafflingly, and in a move akin to making a racing game set entirely inside a parking garage, "Time" takes place exclusively indoors, grounding both Spider-Men inside a single building that, while massive, offers precious few opportunities to let our heroes do what they do best. The occasional large room allows Spidey to sling and swing, but only one room boasts the square footage needed to truly swing freely, and even that room pales in comparison to the freedom "Dimensions" and its even more wide-open predecessors offered.

Without the unbridled joy of movement for which "Spider-Man" games are known, the burden of gameplay falls on brawling.

Per usual, it's satisfactory, but not much more than that. Taking down enemies awards experience points that eventually unlock new moves, and "Time's" speed and control responsiveness are respectively high and polished enough that even simple button-mashing combos are fun to string together. Those who fight intelligently and defensively are rewarded as well - even if evasion in "Time" is pretty simple and rarely requires anything more than remotely decent reaction time.

But if that all reads like faint praise, that's because it is. Previous games benefited from an ability to break up the combat with freewheeling movement that no other game ever quite matched, and "Time's" cramped surroundings prevent that from happening here. Instead, you're looking for keys and activating switches like you would in any number of other beat-'em-up games. The only notable diversion - diving down elevator shafts of what must be the tallest building in human history - isn't significant enough to chase away the sense of repetition that creeps in way too early in "Time's" brisk six-hour lifespan.

It doesn't help that "Time" is hurting for inspiration everywhere else as well. Impressive in stature though the Alchemax building may be, it's an architectural eyesore, crawling with futuristically generic corridors that rarely deviate in terms of structure and design. "Time's" villain quotient is similarly vanilla, with Alchemax mad scientist Walker Sloan getting most of the attention and "Dimensions'" colorful cast going mostly missing (and settling for bit parts when they do show). The two Spideys certainly make a likable team despite the time rift, and "Time" keeps up with "Dimensions" in terms of fielding an enjoyable voice cast, but voice acting can't carry a story if the gameplay isn't there to lend a hand.

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