Despite Comic Con being somewhat limited on game preview selection, we were able to get through a demo of the upcoming Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions on the showroom floor. Spidey games typically are hit or miss types of games: the movie tie-ins have been misses, but independent titles have garnered a bit more success. But the underlying problem with the games has been the combat. Button-mashing, button-mashing, swing, and button-mashing. After getting through the Dimensions demo, it looks like that trend is going to continue.

The events of the game get going during a fight between Spider-Man and Mysterio. An artifact known as the Tablet of Order and Chaos breaks apart, creating (wait for it) chaos. Multiple realities are opened up, creating three alternate Spideys to fight as: Noir, Ultimate and 2099. In the demo, we were granted access to Noir and Ultimate Spider-Man.

The two are drastically different. Noir Spider-Man, set in the 1930s, is based on stealth tactics and shadows. He wears a trench coat of sorts, black pants and a black mask adorned with goggles. Because of the dependency on stealth, combat was increasingly difficult to engage in. The swinging camera was somewhat awkward, but there was enough control to keep it in check when we needed to. The character simply just wasn’t strong enough to go toe-to-toe with foes without constantly losing health.

Without any sort of conclusion to the Noir portion of the demo, things quickly jumped to Ultimate Spider-Man with the symbiote suit. Strength was no longer really an issue in that portion. The symbiote suite provided plenty of power. But then came the button-mashing. Combos would come through every so often, but so much of the combat would be punch, kick, punch, kick and so on. Ours hands eventually grew weary beating up on the bad guys. We constantly just bounced back and forth between several enemies, chaos going on around us. It was a busy situation and just wasn’t fun. It was a chore.

We also noticed a bit of an oddity. A few times, mid-fight, we were transported to the other side of the room. We didn’t notice pressing any odd button combination, nor did we hit a bumper button. But while throwing a punch, things would stop and we would find ourselves on the opposite side of the room. Was it a glitch? Or did we accidentally employ something in the game without knowing it? We’re really not sure, nor was there a demo-person around to answer any questions, but it certainly doesn’t bode very well.

Our demo ended with Ultimate Spider-Man about to engage in battle with Carnage. Could have been a good fight, but they have to leave something to entice players. There wasn’t much else the game had to offer aside from button mashing and a new story. Graphically, the game looked fairly good. It strikes some sort of balance between 3D and comic book style. But most of the demo takes place in a darkened atmosphere so we couldn’t get a 100% read of how the game’s looks will eventually turn out.

So with just over a month before the game ships, perhaps developer Beenox has some time to tinker around with some of the issues we saw. However we wouldn’t put money down on avoiding button mashing. Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions releases September 7 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo DS & Wii.

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