System: X360, PS2, Xbox, DS, GBA
Dev: EA Tiburon
Pub: Electronic Arts
Released: Nov 2006
Players: 1
Review by Vaughn

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Review Rating Legend
1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid
2.0 - 2.4 = Poor
2.5 - 2.9 = Average
3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
3.5 - 3.9 = Good
4.0 - 4.4 = Great
4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
5.0 = The Best

Superman also has a collection of combos to unleash which require a variety of button presses, some up to 5 or 6 button presses long. The problem with these is that the input timing and the execution timing is off-sequence and after awhile you’ll most likely just button mash the buttons in hopes of pulling off a cool move. Some of the moves are extremely cool such as the ground pound Superman can execute from flight, which knocks back everything within the impact radius. This move coupled with the superspeed flight take off straight up in the air are eerily reminiscent of Neo’s in the Matrix trilogy. Since Neo was kind of modeled after Superman, I no longer know whom “borrowed” these moves from whom. They’re cool nonetheless.

Superman Returns does sidetrack here and there allowing gamers to take a moment away from saving the city to do some flying challenges, find lost kitties and even play as Bizarro Superman. Bizarro is the opposite of Superman and thinks he’s doing good by destroying the city. He’s not inherently an evil character, he is just the exact opposite of Superman. If you’ve ever seen Bizarro eat a cheeseburger, you’ll know exactly how opposite he is. Nuff said. These side-missions if you want to call them that, help elongate the overall play length, which at just shy of 6 hours for the main game is very short. Superman can free-roam after the main “story” has been completed, but the game doesn’t ease up on you. The city will still have its health bar and you’ll be faced with the same missions such as putting out fires and stopping robot rampages. There are some extra costumes to unlock and some cheat codes that will stop the city from losing health which will allow gamers to fly around and ignore the constant panic in the streets if they so desire.

From a visual standpoint, you’re going to get the most bang for your buck on the X360 which looks the best out of the console versions. Since the city is as much the star of the show as Supe’s himself, Metropolis does manage to look very impressive. It doesn’t quite have the gritty realism of New York in the Spider-Man games though as everything in Metropolis looks too clean. The streets, pedestrians and vehicles have a distinct generic quality to them which does detract from the experience somewhat, although when you’re soaring around the buildings high above the streets that won’t matter squat. The ingame Superman model is well animated and his flight, combat and superpower moves are expertly crafted. The CG scenes don’t fare nearly as well and I have to admit that the CG version of Lois actually frightened me. Not flattering in the slightest. Thankfully the CG scenes are kept to a minimum as you’ll spend most of the time within the actual game world.

Gamers looking for the John Williams Superman theme will be disappointed that it didn’t make the cut, most likely due to expensive licensing costs. Those with an X360 will be able to play it on their custom soundtrack if that’s something that will make or break the game for them. The score that is present is certainly Superman worthy. Voice-acting is the game’s aural sorespot whether you’re watching a largely irrelevant CG cutscene from the movie or listening to Brandon Routh spout his lines as unheroically as (super)humanly possible. Kevin Spacey manages to sound convincing but he’s not in the game all that much. Why is that again? Wasn’t he the fairly instrumental in the overall plot? That’s like passing over Doc Ock in the Spider-Man 2 so Spidey could fight the flu or a bad case of food poisoning. An EVIL bad case of food poisoning of course.

Tiburon’s take on the Man of Steel is certainly one of the best efforts afforded the character. Unfortunately its lack of direction and predilection for almost completely ignoring the plot of the movie, while forcing players into déjà vu missions is the fundamental flaw that erodes the game from achieving greatness. The flight, powers and city are spectacularly well done and these areas alone may very well have Superman fans divided over the quality of this game. Some gamers may find that flying around Metropolis and battling the same threats is good enough for them, because Tiburon has actually created a game in which they can actually feel like Superman. Others will decry the lack of plot and shun the game for its shortcomings, recognizing that while certain areas are solid and fun, the product doesn’t equal the total sum of its parts.

I can recognize that Tiburon is definitely heading in the right direction and that a true next gen Superman game which isn’t created with the limitations of the current gen consoles at the forefront, may address all of these issues and more. What we are left with though is a fairly short game (artificial elongation of finding lost cats not withstanding) that can be beaten inside a day which offers little to no replayability – unless you’re content with just flying around at your leisure. With games like Radical’s The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction and Activision’s Spider-Man games, the free-roaming superhero bar has been raised pretty high. Superman Returns is definitely a renter for casual Superman fans and only those who want to fly around Metropolis at the end of a hard day should consider a purchase.

Features:

The only thing more damaging to Superman than a glowing lump of kryptonite, is a glowing lump of bad video game coding. Can the Superman video game curse finally be lifted by EA? by Vaughn Smith

February 15, 2006 - No matter how you look at it, the Superman industry hasn't been exactly kind to those most closely associated to the man in the red cape. Case in point: Superman creators, Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, were royally screwed over by the company that purchased their unknown hero back in the late 30's having been paid only $130 for their efforts. But a deal's a deal, right? I mean, who knew? Eventually the creators names were unceremoniously removed from the bylines of the comics after attempting to sue DC Comics for a larger piece of the Big Red S pie. What transpired wasn't a windfall of cash, but rather Siegel and Shuster signed even more creative control away and were fired. Ouch. It wasn't until the success of the blockbuster movie starring Christopher Reeves and Margot Kidder that Warner Communications took pity on the two destitute creators and bestowed upon them an annual pension of $35,000 per year and health benefits for life. One has to look no further than actor George Reeves, who portrayed the Man of Steel on TV. George proved once and for all that while the son of Krypton can stop bullets with his steel-like body, a mere human cannot. Typecast as Superman and depressed over lack of roles after the Superman TV show, Reeves ended his life with a single shot to the head. How about Christopher Reeve (coincidental last name alert!) who was the silver screens most popular man in blue tights? Reeve took a fall off a horse and was paralyzed in 1994. He passed away last year due to physical complications of his injuries.

If you still don't believe in the "Superman curse" we could list every Superman video game ever created, save for the Atari 2600 game released in 1978, which is still the most outstanding Superman game released (and oddly enough, the first one ever created). Superman on the NES? Crap. Superman: The Man of Steel on Xbox? More crap. Superman 64? Mega crap. Gunshy fans are cautiously optimistic regarding the next Superman game slated for a late June release to coincide with the summer blockbuster starring Brandon Routh and directed by Bryan Singer (X-Men, X-Men 2). All we have to say is, it certainly can't be much worse than what we've seen already. Maybe if we all hold hands and pray, everything could be all right.

In the hands of Tiburon, the talented developers who have been at the helm of Madden Football games for the last X amount of years, Superman Returns looks a lot like the previous Spider-Man games. It's shaping up to be a free-roaming adventure, unlike EA's Batman Begins title which was linear and level oriented. We assume the game will be loosely following the plot of the movie, but will also embellish other aspects of being the world's greatest superhero with other activities - perhaps retrieving a child's lost balloon. Umm...yeah. Okay, sarcastic swipes at Spider-Man games aside, we're hoping Tiburon gives us a great big Metropolis to play in, jampacked with bosses and evil villains. We also hope that Supes will have all of his powers at the getgo instead of the usual super powered neutering that goes on. We've been told that Supes will have to combo his powers - heat vision, ice breath, super strength, flight, x-ray vision - to solve puzzles. That could be cool as long as we don't have to suffer through something along the lines of "Find the skull shaped key to open the door". Supes doesn't need keys, okay?

From what we've seen, the Xbox 360 screens look pretty darn sweet and tasty. Superman looks actually super for once, and is seen lifting something that looks as big as the Washington monument while in flight, during a boss battle with a huge ass robotic boss. Tiburon, you had us at huge ass robotic boss.

The game is a mere 4 months away, which is insane considering we haven't really seen or heard anything about this game since it was announced years ago. We expect the floodgates to open any moment, at which time we'll post the screens that we have. Until then, keep your eyes on the skies.

By Vaughn Smith
CCC Site Director