It’s a tough world we write in
when my headline for this story seems so negative. But that is why I am a
professional, calling it like I see it. Fantastic Four (FF): Rise of the
Silver Surfer is a movie tie-in game. And aside from the title and some really
loose interpretation of the movie, the game could have been released a year
ago under another FF title. In fact, the game even starts out with the
team going after the Skrull (long-time villains of the FF) in order to get a
better understanding of why there are massive holes being punched into
the Earth. None of which has anything to do with the plot of the movie (except
the holes). Yes, this title has got me scratching my head as to why the events
of the game are so far out of whack of the movie.
Be prepared for a workout playing
FF, the game does take advantage of the Wii’s ability for motion-fused action.
Each member of the FF has a simple attack and a heavy attack, and the
movements of the nunchuk and Wii-mote affect these movements. Now if you
inspect the game’s manual, one would think that there are several different
actions for the
heroes as they pummel and unleash justice on the hordes of bad guys you will
encounter. But in the end, you pretty much just punch towards the screen in a
shoulder-aching tedium as you complete the very well-used formula of turning
on switches, opening doors, destroying things and generally repeating the
process throughout the entire game. The game offers nothing new in terms of
innovation or plot devices. In fact, the game’s cutscene dialogue is so thin
that it helps to have seen the movie to help fill in the very big holes. But
if you have seen the movie, you wonder why they are deviating so far from the
game’s general plot. It really left me confused, I mean, literally every movie
turned into a game has been a stinker, but here, we are reaching new lows with
the very liberal interpretation of the license.
"Sear both sides and then turn to low
heat for 20 minutes."
If you have ever played "Marvel
Ultimate Alliance" then you will see where the basic game setup came from. You
can switch on the fly between the four members of the Fantastic Four: Mr.
Fantastic and his stretching ability as well as the quick spinning action of a
man made of rubber. The Invisible Woman, who uses force fields and concussive
blasts. The Human Torch, with his fire shots and burning melee attacks and the
Thing, who uses his mighty strength to beat down pretty much anything. Now, I
make it seem like there are four effective combatants here, in reality you
will spend most of your time as the Torch or the Thing. Actually, that’s not
true, in reality you will tire of this game long before you reach the point of
being able to determine which hero is the most effective. So take my advice
when I say the Thing and the Torch are the best.
For a platform action title, the
game does not show much snap in the graphics. Repeated location designs,
bajillions of the same style baddie and a general poor design of our four
heroes do not do the game any favors with the bland shading and details that I
was expecting the game to have. There is the occasional ray of hope that comes
when the Torch lights something up big and the effects come clean, but the
tradeoff is the instant slowdown the game experiences when this happens.
Otherwise, the game is a muddled, bland-looking experience. And to further
that action, the game does not manage to get any of the original cast to do
the voiceover work. Rather several sound alike voice actors step up to the
plate and manage to completely run the voice work into the ground. Normally
you can get the original cast to do voice over work, but somebody must have
known something was wrong in 2K because, the movie’s actors wisely are no
where to be found except on the cover of the game. In fact, in my research,
the lovely Miss Alba doesn’t even allow her likeness to be present on the game
character of Sue Storm.
"Double Dutch anyone?"
The game does allow for four
players to jump into the mix at the same time, but does provide it’s own set
of problems. The camera angle for one (and this occurs in the single-player
mode) makes its own mind up as to where you are going to look. It is a sort of
dynamic overhead view that tilts around the screen. Sometimes it puts you in
the perfect position to fight, other times, enemies are hitting you from off
screen and you can’t do anything about it. But the biggest problem with
playing four people, is you need to be really aware that there are three other
people punching in the air constantly and the chances of you getting hit are
very good.
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Gameplay: 4.5
You pretty much spend the time doing button mashing in the form of
punching. You can’t control the camera and only two of the four characters are
suited to successfully beat this game.
Graphics: 5.3
The lag kicks in quite often, the
backgrounds are rehashed visuals from other levels and the character design is
poorly designed. At least the lighting effects look cool for a split second.
Sound: 4.4
They didn’t get the actors from
the movie, they got people to recite some of the lamest dialogue in gaming
history. Was there background music?
Difficulty: Medium
Aside from the very formulaic
approach to the game of opening doors and deactivating switches, there are
parts where baddies swarm the room instantly. If you die, then you are
instantly transported back to the FF building, healed and returned within 30
seconds. If you are playing the single-player game, that means the AI
teammates will continue to do the fighting without you.
You can only save at the end of
the level, that means you can conceivably play 25 minutes, die before the end
and then have to start over, really far back.
Concept: 4.0
A video game based on a movie
based on a comic book? Where do I sign?
Multiplayer: 4.1
Playing with your friends doesn’t
add any depth game to the game; if anything it could get you a black eye.
Overall: 4.6
This is an abysmal experience. If
by some chance you are a obsessed Fantastic Four fan, then maybe, just maybe,
you will find some enjoyment in this title. But I just can’t in good
conscience say anything redeeming about this one.
