Spider-Man, Shattered Arkham Asylum
The developers have played a *lot* of Batman Arkham Asylum. Many of the themes make an appearance here, from the perching takedowns, to the grate-opening-web-pull, and the warning wiggly lines above Spidey's head when about to be hit. All great gameplay mechanics, but none of them done with quite the aplomb of the Dark Crusader's finest hour. Still, there's much to like here.
The 4 characters are just about different enough to warrant the different dimensions - Noir is certainly the most different, and in some ways the most frustrating for it. The wisecracking voice over is great, the first time you hear it, but being told to get the water barrels, incessantly throughout one boss fight was a bit too much.
Positives: 3 different difficulty settings. Plenty of in game challenges. Not too challenging. Good story.
Negatives: Bit samey in the Amazing and Ultimate worlds. Some Noir levels a bit frustrating. Cheesy voice over gets a bit much. Looooong levels - most are 45 mins to an hour, so not easy to dip in and out.
It's a solid 8 for me, but I like Spider-Man, so I'm squarely in the target audience.
