Superman Returns: The Videogame – XB – Review

What could be more exciting
than being Superman? Aside from the ability to leap tall buildings and
withstand immeasurable pain, being the Man of Steel means you’ll be looked up
to – and not just when you’re 100 feet in the air. It guarantees expectations
of heroism and dedication, leaving little room for a love life, let alone time
to go to the bathroom. (Lucky for him, he can do the latter while
moving faster than a speeding bullet. But I don’t think that’ll help him with
the ladies.)

What
could be cooler than being in control of these superpowers? To be able to jump
in the air and fly as naturally as any other human walks across the street. To
stop a cluster of meteorites en route to Earth, catch vicious bad guys, and
squash every villain’s attempt to rule the world. What could be more amazing
than that?

Sky High

Superman Returns, the
video game adaptation of Bryan Singer’s first Superman flick, is accomplished
in its flight mechanic efforts. The game’s focus is on the hero’s ability to
fly, an action that might feel a little a weird at first. Superman Returns
doesn’t control like any of the previous Superman games. Compared to other
games where you control a human or human-like character who can fly, Returns
is very different. Move into other genres, however, and you’ll start to see
where the developers drew their inspiration.

Hold the Y button and
Superman will lift himself into the air and soar over the city. The right
analog stick guides his aerial movement; push up to descend, push down to do
the opposite. Use the left stick to control his space while suspended.
Superman will float around the screen without moving forward – not a necessary
function, but it does make the game a little more intuitive.

Superman Returns is not
without its control issues – fighting the camera (which goes crazy near tall
buildings, and sometimes for no reason at all) is no small undertaking. But
the soar feelings (not to be confused with sore feelings) are quite
surreal.

Truth, Justice, All
That Stuff

Metropolis is a large
world, with several different islands to pass through or visit. Each island
represents its own area, but none are defined as much as those in other
free-roaming games. You won’t land on a new area to learn of new and optional
mission objectives. The game gives you what it wants, nothing more.

Exploration is minimal –
players can scour the streets if they’d like, but there’s not much of a point.
Doing so won’t trigger a random, surprising event that sends you on a special
mission. In the comics, movies, and TV shows, Superman’s work is never done.
In Superman Returns, you don’t hunt for criminals or seek out those in danger
– you merely follow the mission plan.

Superman Returns doesn’t clutter the game with too many menus.

Not Hollywood’s Land

The original Xbox hasn’t
had many moments of graphical disbelief. It’s considered to be a dated
platform with the 360 in full gear, but I look back on its previous years –
from launch in 01 through Christmas 05 – with nothing but good memories. When
ports alone (Onimusha, Silent Hill 2, etc.) can benefit from its superior
graphics engine, Xbox led the way for unprecedented beauty in console games.
Halo looks old compared to Gears of War, but few gamers will forget how
amazing it was for its time, and how incredible its gameplay still is today.

Superman Returns defies
logic with graphics that are nowhere near what the console is capable of
producing. Whether stuffed with Man of Steel admirers, or vacant to make way
for one more arrogant enemy, the game doesn’t feel populated – it feels dead.

Pedestrians walk
aimlessly and repetitively. Signs of realism are absent from their bodies,
while buildings could be described as large cardboard boxes that look heavily
pixilated whenever you approach. Vehicles are square, slow-moving boxes that
also look like they were made out of cardboard.

The sky is plain and ugly
– shouldn’t this be an essential part of any Superman game? A place where
players look up and stare in awe? You know, as we did with many Xbox games
five years ago?

Superman himself looks
awful. Aside from being a very poor representation of the film’s actor, it is
also a bad example of how Superman should look in a video game. He’s big and
bulky, but not properly defined. He doesn’t come across as being tough – he’s
just a bouncer enforcing rules. Which is ironic when you think about it.
Because even The Bouncer, a first-year PS2 title bashed by every critic on the
planet, had quality graphic elements. Superman Returns doesn’t have any.

Superman Returns is [was]
a potentially great action game that doesn’t play like a completed product.
There’s no excuse for bad missions – complete or not, the action isn’t too
rewarding. Underneath the darkness is a comic book adventure that could’ve
been really special. The portion that could’ve been great – the controls,
world exploration, graphics, voice acting and story, etc. – don’t have the
markings of a finished game.

Review Scoring Details for Superman Returns

Gameplay: 5
Superman Returns
has a terrific setup, but the missions aren’t any more creative than Catwoman,
and aren’t much more enjoyable than the forgettable Wolverine game.

Fans will recognize the
significant difference between Superman Returns and other Superman titles:
this game has the controls of a fighter jet from Ace Combat. It’s fun to just
fly around in circles, but its value can only last for so long. Eventually
you’ll want to do something, and that rarely turns out to be anything
worthwhile. Flight aspect aside, this is just another bandwagon action game.

Graphics: 1
The Man of Steel?
More like The Man of Close Your Eyes – Shelter Them From The Horror!
While most games look their brightest and best during a console’s final days,
Superman Returns looks like it was designed as a 2001 launch title. Animations
are choppy, characters are underdeveloped, the frame rate isn’t entirely
consistent, and the backgrounds lack any form of realism. It’s sad to think
about it, but there are PSone games that look better.

Sound: 6
Repetitive (and
not at all amusing) one-liners from the Man of Steel. They’re annoying at
best. The sound effects are cheesy, and the music doesn’t stand out.

Difficulty: Easy
Straightforward
guidelines with cheap repercussions.

Concept: 7.9
The great and
somewhat unique flying controls are offset by a muddled combat system. His
powers sound cool – project ice or fire, attack with extreme power, etc. If
this were 1980, it’d be a new concept to the gaming world. Today, it’s hard to
think of a game that doesn’t incorporate ice or fire in some way.

Overall: 5
Superman Returns
shares Spider-Man’s flaw of repetitive combat, but it has several mistakes
that stand alone: a jerky, unreliable camera; boring mission objectives; and
graphics that sit well below the standards of the first Xbox.