This week I had the pleasure of renting Fantastic Four for PS2 (also available for Gamecube and Xbox). As a comic gamer it is essential that I had to watch the movie and essential that I had to play this game.

I?ve never been to big a fan of Fantastic Four but now I can certainly say with the utmost sincerity that thanks to both the movie and this game that?s not going to change any time soon.

Fantastic Four operates an awful lot like and looks an awful lot like X-men Legends to me – not too surprising since both were made by the good people at Activision. For the most part of this action adventure game you have the whole team ? Mr. Fantastic, the Human Torch, the Invisible Woman, and the Thing ? at your disposal and take control of one character at a time.

Each character can punch, kick, grab, block but depending on a character?s abilities he or sue will be stronger or weaker in certain areas. The Thing can pick up heavier objects whereas Mr. Fantastic can stretch to pick up objects from a distance for example. Each character also has upgradeable combos and upgradeable cosmic attacks.

There are times in the game when a specific character must be used in order to defeat special enemies or perform certain tasks. In these circumstances, a specifically coloured ?Four? indicates whom to use and you?ll have to move your character over and either repeatedly tap a button or rotate the analog stick. Other times you?ll move your character over and press one button to just watch them execute the move. For example, I recall a level in which after moving above one of these symbols the Thing would leap in the air, grab onto a balcony and you?d have to start tapping a button to make him rip the balcony down with an enemy along with it. But imagine if could cling on to anything and tear it down, smash through any wall, pick up any object, after all, the Thing is comparable to the Hulk, he?s a big, dumb, walking, talking, ugly bulldozer of a man made of rocks.

Fantastic Four pretty much mirrors the movie in terms of level-progression and story except a few sub-plots have been plugged in with enemies from the comic books such as the Mole Man for example. Fantastic Four is also packed full with movies and there are cameos from comic book characters such as Nick Fury, who interestingly enough appears in his Ultimate form.

To cut to the chase now, I think I can summarize the Fantastic Four video game in one word ? meh. For starters, I don?t know why game developers still insist on making cut-scenes where game models are used because it looks awful. It?s always a nice touch to have most of the actors from the movie doing the voices in the game but ho-boy does it look bad when you hear a voice and see a Thing model standing there opening and closing his mouth; ironically enough, in truth, this typifies the movie in terms of acting.

The graphics in general were just fine but I imagine the game looks smoother on Gamecube.

The game doesn?t take long to fire through in order to see the ending but at least there are plenty of things to unlock such as interviews with movie?s cast and levels. The co-op mode is actually a blast but it?s only two players?I mean, shouldn?t a game titled Fantastic Four allow I don?t know?four players?

As mentioned before this game feels an awful lot like X-men Legends but that game had the feel of something that developers took their time and put in some real effort to make. With the exception of Spider-man 2 and perhaps the Punisher, with games such as the Hulk, Wolverine?s Revenge, Batman Begins, and Catwoman, it?s getting downright obvious to the point that it?s insulting that these comic book movie games are getting slapped together in an effort to make sales off the movie hype.

I definitely don?t recommend buying this game before trying it but if you like Fantastic Four you might enjoy it.






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