Before Insomniac Games, we had Activision
Greetings spider fans! With Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man 2 on the horizon and we got a glimpse of the game’s gameplay, I thought it would be fun to talk about a past Spider-Man game back when Activision had the rights to the webbed hero. In 2010, Activision teamed up with Beenox and created the video game Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC and DS. The DS of the game was developed by Griptonite Games. According to Wikipedia, the game’s story was written comic writer Dan Slott who would later create the Spider-Man story “Spider-Verse” in 2014. Much like Dan Slott, Mark Hoffmeier also contributed to the story and he even created the dialogue for the game. He is well-known for writing animated series shows like ReBoot and Spider-Man: The Animated Series. The game got positive feedback that they made a spin-off sequel game called Spider-Man: Edge of Time. Today, I am not here to review Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, but rather, I have an open discussion topic I want to hear from you guys and hear your thoughts. To be honest with everyone here reading this, I never owned or played Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. Despite me being a fan of this superhero, I never got the chance to try this game. Reasons why is an uncertainty; maybe because I was always distracted on different video games and this one wasn’t my priority.
Planned remastered games cancelled?
In an article from CBR.com, an anonymous source from Reddit user by the name armoredadvanced stated that plans for for remastered editions for both Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and Edge of Time was in the works. During the time of when Insomniac Games announced their 2018 PS4 Spider-Man game, Activision wanted to join in the Spider-Man hype and try to release these 2010-11 games for a quick buck. If remastered and released, the games were going to be updated less bugs and enhanced graphics. Unfortunately that didn’t happen because in 2014, Activision’s deal with Marvel games expired and all their games were delisted in the digital market. Not only Spider-Man games were removed, but this also includes Marvel Ultimate Alliance 1 and 2 and Deadpool. Unless if you have the games in physical, you might not never be able to download these games on console or PC ever again.
This is where I want to ask you guys these questions: Should Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions get remastered, or do you believe it should start over with a fresh coat of paint and keep the main assets? For now, I am only talking about Shattered Dimensions. I might ask the same question for Edge of Time in another post.
Remaster vs Remake
Remaster
In this current age of gaming, most classic games get a remaster treatment if a game feels like it needs a shiny gloss in the graphics and gameplay mechanics. Games like New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe and Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX are examples of remastered games. Both games originated from previous consoles, but with some updates, they are playable in the modern day consoles and enhanced software. If Activision and Marvel did agree to go along with the remaster route, they would just do touch ups on Shattered Dimensions. From what I assume, the only thing they would work on is the bugs/glitches in the game and make it possible to make these games run on advanced platforms like PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch and PC (Steam and Epic Games). Of course they would also keep things intact such as voice actors, game bosses and levels. It would definitely be a cash grab for Marvel to re-release a classic game , but sometimes it’s all fans want if they want to play a game they used to play in outdated technology.
Remake
If remake was an option, Marvel and Activision would have to go the extra mile and start from square one. While the story will still be the same, some assets might need to get reworked. In the video game community, games that are remade undergo through an extensive time period of development. Games like Final Fantasy VII Remake was announced in 2015, but it didn’t get a release date until 2020. However, some games got a remake treatment and they are from a third party franchise. SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated was released in 2020, but the classic game was released in 2003. While remake might take up years in the making, it is possible for bringing back the classics. In my opinion, however, if Shattered Dimensions went through the remake path, the game will go through major changes that might affect the fans opinion on this game. First, I would imagine this would mean that Shattered Dimensions would have to get updated voice actors. Similar to how Final Fantasy VII Remake updated their cast actors, I would imagine they would do the same with the four main voices for Spider-Man. In the game, we have the previous Spider-Man voices in one game and they are Neil Patrick Harris (The Amazing Spider-Man from Earth 616), Spider-Man Noir (Christopher Daniel Barnes), Ultimate Spider-Man (Josh Keaton) and Dan Gilvezan (Spider-Man 2099). If remake was the option, I would imagine these four would be changed for the modern audience. Knowing Spider-Man and his voices, we did get some new actors such as Robbie Daymond who did the voice in Disney XD’s Spider-Man and Marvel vs Capcom Infinite, and we also have Sean Chiplock who voiced the web head in Square Enix’s Marvel’s Avengers.
While I don’t oppose these actors, I feel like the previous characters were fine the way they are. If I was to contribute an idea for the remake game, I would ask to bring in additional bosses. Reason why I bring up the idea is because I found this small piece of information from this YouTube video.
The DS version of the game doesn’t have Ultimate Spider-Man as a playable character, and this game includes different villains. The DS game includes Boomerang and Calypso for Spider-Man Noir, Electro and the Tinkerer for the Amazing Spider-Man, Vulture and Silvermane for Spider-Man 2099. In my opinion, it would be interesting to these DS villains in the 3D world of the remake games. More villains to fight against for a more fun experience. However, if these villains did get added to the remake, I would hope to see more villains for Ultimate Spider-Man to balance out the rest of the Spider-Men stages. Ultimate Spider-Man already has Electro, Deadpool and Carnage for bosses, but maybe we could add villains such as Rhino or the Lizard to test his symbiote rage abilities.
Amazing Spider-Man bosses
Spider-Man Noir
Spider-Man 2099
If games like Final Fantasy VII and SpongeBob could give us content we didn’t expect to see in their remake titles, it could happen for Spider-Man.
Conclusion
While I may never play these titles, I wish for some day we could see a light of day when a game like Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions would return to this modern era. Whether if it gets remade from the ground up or it gets a short remastered treatment, this game should get a second chance in fun replay value. If you had the power to bring Shattered Dimensions back, how would you handle the project? Would you just settle with a remaster and touch it up or do you want to mold into something new?
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