Iron Man glitters but he isn't made of gold

Poor Iron Man. He should be flying high right about now. After all, his new movie is opening in theaters and audiences will no doubt crowd the local cineplexes to ooh and ahh at his antics. But then comes along a video game adaption that could have, should have, would have been the nice cherry on top of a delicious pie but instead leaves a bad taste in the mouths of gamers everywhere. Read on as we tell you why this movie licensed game might be worth avoiding.

After he's kidnapped by the same sorts of goons he used to sell weapons to, industrialist Tony Stark dons the mantle of Iron Man and embarks on a quest to destroy his former customers. Too bad this righteous turnaround is just a prelude to a ridiculously repetitive assembly line of unspectacular destruction.

Battle Fatigue

You'd think that stepping into a powerful suit of futuristic armor would have translated into a thrilling video game experience. Who wouldn't want to hover in mid-air using blast jets, disperse guided missiles with a flick of a hand, ram a private military corporation gunship like a human missile, or peel the top off a tank like you're popping a can of soda? Iron Man might not be a mutant or an alien, but he's still undeniably dangerous.

And while the combat in Iron Man has its moments, the execution leaves much to be desired. You engage in some awesome feats-catching and hurling a missile back at whoever fired it, for example-but the vast majority of combat is spent endlessly blasting through brainless automatons who rarely do more than sit in place and unload ammunition in your general direction. Even the bosses, who prove to be rather anticlimactic opponents, rely more on brute force and overwhelming firepower rather than intelligent tactics and cunning skill.

Misplaced Priorities

The level design is also surprisingly dull, with vast landscapes that have little character or depth. There are entertaining optional "hero objectives" like stopping missile launches or downing jet sprinkled throughout the levels but I'd gladly trade it all away for something that actually affected the gameplay in a positive fashion, like an upgrade system that didn't force you to horde credits just to buy some lame suit or weapon improvement.

Oh, and get this: the game also features a terrible difficulty curve. Imagining being forced to restart a mission because some super-cannon one-shot kills you through an obstacle. Or how about losing all of your lives in rapid succession because your suit's lock-on targeting refuses to target the rapidly regenerating blaster that's defending the submarine you're attacking? Any way you cut it, it's just not worth the aggravation to play through what is just another botched licensed movie game.

PROS: Large and open environments filled with targets and objectives; Iron Man's suits look nice; some decent explosions.
CONS: Painfully repetitive; poor difficulty balancing; brain-dead enemies; upgrade system is broken.

Comments [45]

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emaheevul

Been a comic book geek for more years than I care to count and I've been anxiously awaiting this review. I was hoping that this would be one of the rare instances where the game adaptation is good. Guess that isn't the case. Bummer.

dlocdabudsmoka69

the demo sucked, and besides is anyone really that surprised that this game game also sucks.

dlocdabudsmoka69

the demo sucked, and besides is anyone really that surprised that this game also sucks.

RandyFD

Well that sucks, they should have gotten some pointers from Metroid with the whole suit of armor thing.

MikeTheGreat

Yet another game based on a movie example. I wish these games would be as good as....The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. That is the only good game based on a movie that i know of and own.

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