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Superman Returns: The Videogame

Published By: Jess Nickelsen On: 02/06/2006 10:00

AT A GLANCE

"Superman is back in a world that will please comic and movie fans..."

The Good: Play as Superman, complete with awesome flying/fighting action and super powers!

The Bad: You may not enjoy the film-related aspects of the game.

The Ugly: Chase the villain or save Metropolis? It's up to you, but you'll face the repercussions of your decisions.

By Jess Nickelsen

The latest instalment in Superman-themed games, Superman Returns faces a bit of an uphill battle, despite all the hype surrounding the new movie of the same name. For some, the movie-licensed aspect will be a turn-off; others will have been put off by the many less-than-satisfying Superman games released on various platforms over the past 25-plus years.

Those who are willing to give their favourite superhero another go, however, should be rewarded for their patience with the upcoming release from Tiburon Studios and Electronic Arts. Superman Returns puts you straight in the boots of Superman himself, in the middle of a huge open-world Metropolis.

The game does follow the same general path as the film, however EA promises that this will be blended with over 60 years of comic book history. As testament to this, Superman Returns introduces several super villains who have never made it to the silver screen, and allows gamers to play as one of nine different versions of Superman.

Other features include:

Non-linear gameplay. Follow the missions or just cruise Metropolis.
Over 80 square miles to explore.
Super powers such as Heat Vision, X-Ray Vision, Super Hearing, Super Strength, Super Breath, Super Speed and Flight. As a bonus you receive all of these powers straight off the bat – it is up to you to decide how you will combine these in order to achieve your goals. Often there will be many different ways of solving a problem.
Battle super villains including Metallo, Parasite, Brainiac, Bizzaro and Mongul.
Voiceovers from the movie’s cast, including Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth and Kevin Spacey.
A dynamic Metropolis, which changes depending on how you play the game. Players can go anywhere, and interact with everything, whether this means hurling cars through the air or using a telephone pole as a baseball bat.
60 missions overall – focussing just on these will take around 30 hours.
25 mini-games, single or multiplayer.