E3 2002 – First
Look
Two Superman
titles will be released by Infogrames, each based on two versions of Superman
media, Superman: Shadow of the Apokolips for the PS2 and Superman: Man of Steel
for the Xbox. Each will be a third-person action based game but will
have completely unique storylines, features, and feel.
In this preview we
will look at Superman: Man of Steel which is being developed by Circus Freaks
Studios for the Xbox. In this version, based on the comic book, Superman faces
“his greatest challenge ever!” (after all, what’s so fun about Superman facing
the trials and tribulations of the market, carwash, or other routine activity?)
and must once again save problem-plagued Metropolis. This time, the villain is
Brainiac who has unleashed a robotic fury on Superman’s hometown. Superman must
stop Brainiac and his army of robotic drones from building a Brainiac monolith
and controlling Earth.
The arcade action
of the game is similar to Superman: Shadow of the Apokolips (SOA) for the PS2,
with various objectives needing to be completed to clear each environment.
Several objectives can be raging at once, requiring Superman to decide which
objective takes priority over the other. For example, a toppling building in
the middle of downtown should be dealt with before pursuing a villain on the
run. Missions will take you through Metropolis, Warworld, and outer space
completing tasks such as chasing villains through asteroid belts, dismantling
seemingly indestructible super-sized spaceships, and relocating buildings.
Standing in your way are Metallo cyborgs, Bizarro, and an insanely huge Brainiac.
You’ll want to play through this game as far as you can to unlock the Bizarro
mode, which puts the player in control of Bizarro, Superman’s super-opposite,
causing havoc around the world.
Unlike Superman:
SOA, Superman: Man of Steel abandons the kiddie cartoon hero and features a
bulkier, ripped Superman. Even in the games pre-Alpha phase, attention to
graphics resulted in spectacular effects, particularly in Superman’s cape, which
flows in the wind with all the fluidity of its real life counterpart, and the
reflective properties of Metropolis’ glass window buildings, which shimmer and
mirror objects with glorious realism. The overall magnitude of Metropolis is
breathtaking as well, and being able to fly anyway through it seamlessly is fun
in itself.
Look for Superman
later this year.
