The first thing that I was asked after shyly grabbing a hold of a DualShock 3 controller and correctly positioning myself in front of one of the 46 inch HDTVs that were set up in San Francisco's W Hotel last Thursday afternoon was which universe I'd like to start out with. The question confused me at first, and it took me a second longer than usual to reply, but then I finally realized what was going on, and so I said: “Eh ...yes, 2099, please.”

You see, the approach is a rather unique one that Activision and Beenox are taking with their latest game revolving around Peter Parker, the seemingly average young guy who occasionally likes to dress up like a lunatic only to fight crime by jumping and swinging around Manhattan in an alarmingly reminiscent way of a modern day urban Tarzan (though, to Parker's credit one would have to mention that he actually does possess superpowers, making him only slightly less crazy than Bruce Wayne).

This time around you not only will be able to control the Peter Parker from the Amazing Spider-Man; no, Beenox will actually let you slip into the roles of Miguel O'Hara (Spider-Man 2099), 1930s Noir Peter Parker as well as Ultimate Universe (black suit) Spidey. Wait, how could that possibly make any sense, unless they came up with four separate campaigns and storylines all packed into one game? The solution is a rather simple one: Mysterio, one of Spider-Man's arch enemies, breaks into a museum in an attempt to steal an artifact known as the “Tablet of Order and Chaos,” but before he can successfully accomplish his robbery, Spider-Man shows up and commences in the usual fist punching and spider web shooting routine, which ultimately leads to the artifact's destruction and with it the creation of four multiple universes that all inhabit their own version of Spider-Man (and his enemies...duh). Madame Web shows up, and being the wise oracle she is, then calls upon all four versions of our superhero in an effort to make them help her restore the universe's balance. Sounds pretty straight-forward, doesn't it?



But the alterations between the four Spider-Men are not just of cosmetic nature, though admittedly, the cosmetic differences are rather significant, with the Noir Universe being all black and white (offering some color effects popping up few and far between), very reminiscent to Pandemic's Saboteur; 2099 coming along in an eye popping, neon colored, futuristic city, including flying cars and everything; the Amazing Spider-Man relying visually more on his comic book heritage; and last but not least Ultimate Spider-Man appearing as a darker, more gritty version of his friendlier Amazing alter-ego.