Superman Returns
Added December 1st, 2006 by Kisan Parikh
Introduction:
What’s that falling from the sky? A bird? A plane? No, it’s Superman Returns: The Videogame and it is plummeting. After several delays, the game and the DVD version of the film are being released simultaneously. Unlike the movie, however, Superman Returns for Xbox 360 falls well short of super.
Gameplay:
Superman Returns: The Videogame allows you to take control of the world’s most powerful superhero as he defends Metropolis and its citizens after he escapes Warworld You are first introduced to the basics of your powers with a series of tutorials. Superman is equipped with all the powers you would expect: Freeze Breath, Heat Vision, and Superbreath. He can take off and fly around, lock onto targets, and utilize Superspeed both on and off the ground. In the tutorials, you are told to ward off a shower of meteors with your heat vision and freeze breath. These opening encounters should give you a good idea of what the objectives are like for the duration of the game. You are forced to repeat the same, tedious task over and over.
Next, you are taken to Warworld, an alien battleground hosted by Mongul. Here you will learn a variety of new powers such as blocking attacks, using combinations, and throwing various items. The abilities sound good in concept; however the fighting mechanics are cumbersome. After warding off a series of intergalactic gladiators and Mongul, you are finally allowed to return to earth. At first glance from above, the city of Metropolis looks like it will have a huge variety of gameplay to offer. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. The largest chunk of the game towards the start will have you warding off countless waves of Metallo’s robots. There are only 4-5 different types of robots to face: quick and light, slow and armored, helicopter styles, and a few variations of these. All of your objectives will involve taking down a group of these robots, usually all of the same type at any given time. Unfortunately combat is less than breathtaking, as enemies of a certain type can easily be killed with the same attack. Time and time again you chase down speedy robots and zap them with heat vision. Then you turn around and freeze, pick up, and throw a flying robot. Repeat four times and the objective is complete.
For a slight (and thrilling) change of pace, Superman is also faced with a series of raging infernos in between these robot encounters. Then, you will be faced with the challenge of flying up and using Freeze Breath for five seconds. If that doesn’t suit you, then maybe for some excitement you can try walking up and down the streets of metropolis to find and rescue a kitten. There are 100 to save in all. Then there the random 5th dimension events that have you playing as Bizzaro and racing around metropolis. None of these kept me amused for more than a minute or two.
So you are probably wondering, how are the boss battles? Unfortunately taking on the villains aren’t that much better than fighting drones. Beating a boss normally entails repeating behaviors until the boss runs out of health. Keep in mind that Superman’s only weakness is the Metropolis ‘health bar’. For instance, to beat Mongul, you simply block/dodge an attack and then surprise attack. Metallo with his protective shield is defeated by throwing cars and such objects his way.
The game does offer a few other objectives along the way. Other missions involve saving a set of explosive blimps from harm and fighting off tornados. The blimp mission, in particular, is excessively annoying, and again, the game fails to make any of these objectives exciting.
To top it all off, the game seems to lack focus. The game does not follow the plot of the movie, but this isn’t, in itself, a problem. The problem lies in the fact that everything seems to feel like a random series of events, and the ‘story cut scenes’ are not relevant to what you are doing in the game.
Graphics:
Superman: The Videogame looks the best as you soar above the city of metropolis. Superman and his movements look fairly good, with his cape whipping behind him. There are some nice blur effects as you switch to Superspeed and cause a sonic boom. More impressively, the city below looks vast and awe-inspiring. Sadly, things change when you fly a bit closer. Buildings are fairly bland, and there isn’t anything amazing as far as citizens and cars go. When you add the choppiness that occurs from time to time, you get visuals that are below par, especially when compared to other 360 titles.
Audio:
The sound in Superman Returns: The Videogame is its strongest aspect. The soundtrack adjusts appropriately when you are gliding in the skies of Metropolis and switches quickly as you race to fight a bundle of monotonous robots. It gives you a good Superman vibe even though the game itself doesn’t. The only bad parts of the audio involve Superman’s witty one liners that pop up in various battles. This aside, sound will be one of the few things from the game that won’t have you begging for mercy.
Controls:
So how does the game fare in assigning Superman’s incredible powers to your Xbox 360 control? The game features a solid control scheme that suffers from a few annoying problems. The layout itself is not the problem here. It is just that the fighting mechanics seem a bit off, making the maneuvers a bit unresponsive at times. The targeting system and camera only compound problems. First of all, there is no easy way to switch your target, and secondly, the ‘smart camera’ does not live up to its name. You constantly have to maneuver the camera to keep enemies and Superman in the same view.
Replay:
The game lasts about 10 hours from start to finish. While this sounds short, those who have already played the game will agree with me when I say that it felt like it was much longer. The repetition and horrible encounters make Superman Returns: The Videogame drag along at a snails pace. I’m sure many gamers will be ready to call it quits after the first hour. Simply put, this title does not offer nearly enough to warrant a $60 purchase.
Summary:
Superman Returns: The Videogame was a huge disappointment. Those who enjoyed the movie will be especially disappointed, because the game is nothing close. Gameplay is unpolished and repetitive, and nothing else is good enough to make up for it. Save your money folks. Don’t worry about missing out on this title, because even a rental seems like a waste.
What’s that falling from the sky? A bird? A plane? No, it’s Superman Returns: The Videogame and it is plummeting. After several delays, the game and the DVD version of the film are being released simultaneously. Unlike the movie, however, Superman Returns for Xbox 360 falls well short of super.
Gameplay:
Superman Returns: The Videogame allows you to take control of the world’s most powerful superhero as he defends Metropolis and its citizens after he escapes Warworld You are first introduced to the basics of your powers with a series of tutorials. Superman is equipped with all the powers you would expect: Freeze Breath, Heat Vision, and Superbreath. He can take off and fly around, lock onto targets, and utilize Superspeed both on and off the ground. In the tutorials, you are told to ward off a shower of meteors with your heat vision and freeze breath. These opening encounters should give you a good idea of what the objectives are like for the duration of the game. You are forced to repeat the same, tedious task over and over.
Next, you are taken to Warworld, an alien battleground hosted by Mongul. Here you will learn a variety of new powers such as blocking attacks, using combinations, and throwing various items. The abilities sound good in concept; however the fighting mechanics are cumbersome. After warding off a series of intergalactic gladiators and Mongul, you are finally allowed to return to earth. At first glance from above, the city of Metropolis looks like it will have a huge variety of gameplay to offer. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. The largest chunk of the game towards the start will have you warding off countless waves of Metallo’s robots. There are only 4-5 different types of robots to face: quick and light, slow and armored, helicopter styles, and a few variations of these. All of your objectives will involve taking down a group of these robots, usually all of the same type at any given time. Unfortunately combat is less than breathtaking, as enemies of a certain type can easily be killed with the same attack. Time and time again you chase down speedy robots and zap them with heat vision. Then you turn around and freeze, pick up, and throw a flying robot. Repeat four times and the objective is complete.
For a slight (and thrilling) change of pace, Superman is also faced with a series of raging infernos in between these robot encounters. Then, you will be faced with the challenge of flying up and using Freeze Breath for five seconds. If that doesn’t suit you, then maybe for some excitement you can try walking up and down the streets of metropolis to find and rescue a kitten. There are 100 to save in all. Then there the random 5th dimension events that have you playing as Bizzaro and racing around metropolis. None of these kept me amused for more than a minute or two.
So you are probably wondering, how are the boss battles? Unfortunately taking on the villains aren’t that much better than fighting drones. Beating a boss normally entails repeating behaviors until the boss runs out of health. Keep in mind that Superman’s only weakness is the Metropolis ‘health bar’. For instance, to beat Mongul, you simply block/dodge an attack and then surprise attack. Metallo with his protective shield is defeated by throwing cars and such objects his way.
The game does offer a few other objectives along the way. Other missions involve saving a set of explosive blimps from harm and fighting off tornados. The blimp mission, in particular, is excessively annoying, and again, the game fails to make any of these objectives exciting.
To top it all off, the game seems to lack focus. The game does not follow the plot of the movie, but this isn’t, in itself, a problem. The problem lies in the fact that everything seems to feel like a random series of events, and the ‘story cut scenes’ are not relevant to what you are doing in the game.
Graphics:
Superman: The Videogame looks the best as you soar above the city of metropolis. Superman and his movements look fairly good, with his cape whipping behind him. There are some nice blur effects as you switch to Superspeed and cause a sonic boom. More impressively, the city below looks vast and awe-inspiring. Sadly, things change when you fly a bit closer. Buildings are fairly bland, and there isn’t anything amazing as far as citizens and cars go. When you add the choppiness that occurs from time to time, you get visuals that are below par, especially when compared to other 360 titles.
Audio:
The sound in Superman Returns: The Videogame is its strongest aspect. The soundtrack adjusts appropriately when you are gliding in the skies of Metropolis and switches quickly as you race to fight a bundle of monotonous robots. It gives you a good Superman vibe even though the game itself doesn’t. The only bad parts of the audio involve Superman’s witty one liners that pop up in various battles. This aside, sound will be one of the few things from the game that won’t have you begging for mercy.
Controls:
So how does the game fare in assigning Superman’s incredible powers to your Xbox 360 control? The game features a solid control scheme that suffers from a few annoying problems. The layout itself is not the problem here. It is just that the fighting mechanics seem a bit off, making the maneuvers a bit unresponsive at times. The targeting system and camera only compound problems. First of all, there is no easy way to switch your target, and secondly, the ‘smart camera’ does not live up to its name. You constantly have to maneuver the camera to keep enemies and Superman in the same view.
Replay:
The game lasts about 10 hours from start to finish. While this sounds short, those who have already played the game will agree with me when I say that it felt like it was much longer. The repetition and horrible encounters make Superman Returns: The Videogame drag along at a snails pace. I’m sure many gamers will be ready to call it quits after the first hour. Simply put, this title does not offer nearly enough to warrant a $60 purchase.
Summary:
Superman Returns: The Videogame was a huge disappointment. Those who enjoyed the movie will be especially disappointed, because the game is nothing close. Gameplay is unpolished and repetitive, and nothing else is good enough to make up for it. Save your money folks. Don’t worry about missing out on this title, because even a rental seems like a waste.
