Staying true to the fiction
Anyone that grew up around the time when the first Superman films hit our screens will probably have fond childhood memories of the tight-wearing super hero. I remember jumping off my garden shed on numerous occasions hoping that I’d fly high up into the clouds where I’d meet a semi-naked babe who’d want to marry me. I even had a pair of Superman pants that I wore on special occasions.
Just in time for the pre-Christmas rush and the DVD release, Superman Returns hits the Xbox 360. I spent some hands-on time with the game to see if it could stir up any of those fond childhood memories and discover whether it would get me excited enough to give those pants one more airing.
If you’re expecting Superman to look like Brandon Routh from the film you’ll be sorely disappointed. EA have instead given the game a cartoon-style feel when it comes to the characters. The Superman model looks like a cel-shaded character as do many of the citizens who wander the streets, but that’s not an entirely bad thing, after all it stays true to the original fiction.
Click for larger imageThough there’s a main plot to follow, Superman Returns allows for a great deal of free-roaming across the 80 square miles of game space where you can parade the streets in your tight pants melting cars with your heat vision for the pure of hell of it or fly right to the top of the tallest skyscraper in order to get an eagle eyes view across the sprawling metropolis.
There are numerous objectives that can be carried out which are displayed on a Saint’s Row style map that sits in the bottom corner of the screen. As you travel across the city you’ll see various icons that point to those objectives and you can then pick and choose between dozens of interesting and extremely fun missions. When it comes to movie tie-ins we don’t expect much, but EA have done a decent job in ensuring that there’s plenty to do and keep your interest, and although Superman Returns wasn’t the best game on show at yesterday’s private Microsoft event (how can you compete with Gears of War), there’s more depth to the game than I initially expected.
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