Spider-Man: Edge of Time

Spider-Man: Edge of Time is a video game developed by the Activision-owned developer Beenox, based on the superhero Spider-Man. The story, written by Peter David, involves both Peter Parker, the original Spider-Man, and Miguel O'Hara, aka Spider-Man 2099. Gameplay contains a "cause-and-effect" system in which one Spider-Man's actions will affect the other and vice versa. It was released on October 4, 2011 in North America and on October 14, 2011 in Europe. Edge of Time is the second Spider-Man title to be developed by Beenox, following Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions of 2010, and the first released since Activision and Marvel's decision to make Beenox their lead developer on future Spider-Man games.
==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.The hyper sense ability also allows Spider-man to run through lasers 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.
==Plot==
The game begins with Peter Parker/Spider-Man battling Anti-Venom, who suddenly kills him. Rewinding back to the starting of the event, in the year 2099 Miguel O'Hara/Spider-Man 2099 investigates Alchemax's scientist Walker Sloan. While spying on him, Miguel discovers Sloan's planning to travel back in time and establish Alchemax in the past years before its time, allowing him to rebuild the company in his own image and prevent its rivals from ever being established. Miguel arrives just as Sloan enters his Gateway, but jumps through the portal too late to stop him. Trapped between the timeline, Miguel sees visions of the original Spider-Man being killed by Anti-Venom as history alters around him.
Upon his return to 2099, Miguel (unaffected by the time change due to being trapped in the portal) discovers that Sloan's changes to the timeline have reduced New York City to a horrifying dystopia. Miguel then uses Peter Parker's DNA, stored within the company's archives, to create a chronal link with him, back in present day. He then warns Peter, now working for Alchemax in the genetics department instead of the Daily Bugle, about the events to come about his death in the Alchemax's building 66th floor. However, Peter refuses to obey his orders to leave the building if innocent people are in danger and travels to the 66th floor, only to find himself confronted by Anti-Venom, Sloan and Dr. Otto Octavius. Peter battles Anti-Venom, but is eventually killed by him. Seconds later, Miguel pulls Peter through the Gateway in an effort to save him.
While sending Peter to the future to revive him, Miguel battles Anti-Venom and breaks the chip that allowed Sloan and Octavius to control him. Furious, Anti-Venom knocks himself, Sloan and Octavius into the time portal, merging all three into a monster that Peter dubs "Atrocity". Both Spider-Men are stuck in each other's timeline, with events accruing such as Mary Jane Watson's death and a confrontation with Black Cat 2099. In the future, Peter 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. He finds the portal and returns to the present only for "Atrocity" to attack him, forcing Peter to lure the creature into a trap and takes his DNA samples so Miguel can analyze his DNA in the future, learning the truth.
Just as Miguel theorizes that forcing Atrocity back into the portal would disrupt and end the time storm, Miguel 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, Peter and Miguel 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 Peter and Miguel with any memory of them. Miguel then gives Peter 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.
===Audio===
Josh Keaton voices Spider-Man. Keaton previously voiced Spider-Man in The Spectacular Spider-Man, Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Video Game, Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet and Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds as well as Ultimate Spider-Man in Shattered Dimensions. Christopher Daniel Barnes voices Spider-Man 2099. Barnes previously played Spider-Man in Spider-Man: The Animated Series and Spider-Man Noir in Shattered Dimensions. Val Kilmer voices Dr. Walker Sloan. Laura Vandervoort voices Mary Jane Watson. Katee Sackhoff voices Black Cat 2099. Steven Blum voices Anti-Venom, while Fred Tatasciore voices both Atrocity and J. Jonah Jameson. Doctor Octopus is voiced by Dave B. Mitchell. Additional voices were provided by Carlos Alazraqui, Gregg Berger, Jim Cummings, Curtis Kollar, Matt Nolan, Nolan North, Khary Payton, André Sogliuzzo, Tara Strong, Keith Szarabajka, James Arnold Taylor, Kari Wahlgren, and Ron Yuan. Jamie Thomason did the voice direction for this game. 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, as opposed to the positive reception of Shattered Dimensions, with most complaints being the repetition, though the voice acting and story bared better reception. 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 "Edge of Time" a 4.5 out of 10. 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.
==Links==
*Official website
*Spider-Man: Edge of Time at the Internet Movie Database
Category:2011 video games
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