The Artbook Review #3 - Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions

By M.S. Feather January 19, 2011 7 Comments

32 pages.
Edition: Hardcover.
By Insight Editions, 2010

And now for something completely different…

It’s no secret that tons of work goes into creating and designing videogames, even for established properties.  Designing an army of mooks for our hero to fight, building levels around him and his abilities and not unlike many comic artists, adding twists to established characters to make them unique to their story.  In this game the creative

team at Beenox had to work with four different incarnations of Spidey (Amazing, Noir, Ultimate and 2099) and by extension the very diverse worlds they each inhabit.

Looking at the paintings of the environments you can see how well the team managed to capture the  mood and style of each dimension.  The 2099 spreads depicting sterile metallic architecture laced with neon lighting.  Noir appropriately blanketed in shadows and washed in sepia, turning the streets of New York into a Gothic wonderland.

As for the character designs, unlike the previous game (Web of Shadows) Shattered Dimensions kept its feet firmly planted into its comic roots.  This doesn’t mean we didn’t manage to get a few original gems this time round however.  The Deadpool henchmen (err fanboys) were brilliantly designed and

I’m sure got a chuckle out of more than a few players.  Startlingly, we were also introduced to 2099 Doctor Octopus, a completely original take on the character designed solely for this title.  Now that's what I call spectacular!

While it is possible to unlock concept art within the game itself, I find myself lucky to own a physical copy of this collection.  I might just be old school but nothing beats flipping through a good book.

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