Another blockbuster hit at the movies, another game released alongside it, how often have we heard this? And how often have we been let down by a lacklustre game that feels rushed out for the movies release day? Well I am afraid to say that it’s the same old story this time around, everybody say hello to Iron Man the Video Game.
Iron Man sees you play as Tony Stark as you don the Iron Suit and take out all in your path. The story is pretty basic and at the beginning sees you imprisoned by a group of militants who have captured your industries weaponry and are determined to make you build them the ultimate weapon, however with the help of your fellow inmate you construct a powerful suit that will help you escape from their grasp.
The start the of the game involves you escaping and then later on destroying all the weaponry you have created to stop the militants from getting their hands on them. The first few sections introduce you to the combat while also acting almost like a tutorial, showing you how to control your character and how to use your weapons, this is fairly standard stuff but welcome all the same.
As you play through each level you will unlock new missions, therefore once you complete one you are then able to go to the main menu and choose whichever mission you wish. In between missions you are also able to upgrade your weapons and armour depending on how much you have used them, upgrading each item has different effects, the repulsor for example, which will probably be one of your most used weapons can be upgraded four times and becomes very powerful. You can also upgrade your armour which allows for more powerful styles of attack such as a floor punch, power stomp and kamikaze (which severely damages your opponent but also deals you some damage).
The Wii controls for Iron Man are pretty user friendly, but to me it is the sort of game I would rather play with a pad, for instance the D-pad allows for you to distribute the suits power to different areas, such as weapons, armour etc, whereas the nunchuck as usual is used to control your characters movement , B allows you to use your weapons while C allows you to hover. My main sticking point with the controls is the use of the Wii Mote, this has basically been attached to the camera, so any movement you make will be replicated on screen, while this is a fairly decent system for aiming at an opponent, however when it came to flying it was very awkward and only resulted in making me feel quite dizzy by the end of the level, another problem with this is that it is also very difficult to take part in combat and fly at the same time.
Another let down about the game is that it is quite easy, you will find yourself getting through the first few levels certainly without taking much damage, even helicopters and tanks are quite simple to take down without getting yourself into too much bother, even if you do get killed you will be given numerous chances to continue, and although at least this stops the frustration of having to begin again it also means you will get through the games levels pretty quickly.
Graphically the game is fairly poor, there is certainly nothing that sticks out at all, you will find yourself working through each level without even remembering anything that just happened, it’s not only that the environments are pretty basic but also that they are fairly empty too, unfortunately the cutscences don’t even help to make up for this as they are poorly constructed, in fact the voices don’t even match up to what the actors are saying, what’s that all about I ask you?
It may come as no surprise to you to hear that Iron Man is a poor game, everything about it just screams mediocre, unfortunately at this rate we may never see a decent movie/game tie-in because for every one that is half decent follows another twenty that are for want of a better word, garbage.
