Ranked eighth on a Forbes fictional top billionaires list, Tony Stark is worth an estimated $3 billion where he sits between legendary caped-crusader Bruce Wayne and candy kingpin Willy Wonka. But with his latest outing in Sega’s video game adaptation of the Iron Man film, Tony Stark’s prominence doesn’t look as heroic as it could have been.
Presented in a similar fashion as the movie, the video game follows the same path of introducing Tony Stark as Iron Man. Beginning with a fight against the Ten Rings, the game throws players into a tutorial donning the original grey armor as an introductory to the game. It provides a basis on how the combat plays out which, after the first couple levels, is limited and repetitive. Soon after, players will slip on the gold and red armor and move onto new storylines that involve fighting villains from the comics not seen in the film such as Madame Masque, The Melter, Titanium Man, The Controller, and Whiplash. Of course, Obadiah Stane shows his gritty teeth to suit up as Iron Monger, so be prepared to run through the gauntlet of supervillains.
For redeeming qualities, Iron Man presents players with the ability to fly around open battlefields at fast speeds and the sole fact that players are able to step in the shoes of Tony Stark. Once players figure out how to fly, there are several moments that will have them feeling like a superhero. On top of flying, players should get a kick out of the action-timed button sequences where Iron Man is able to tear tanks to shreds and dismantle opposing helicopters.
The ability to tear apart tanks comes through Iron Man’s close quarter’s combat system that allows him to grapple with enemies. When grappling, it will ask for players to frantically tap a particular button to pull off such a maneuver, but when it’s accomplished, it is well worth it since the destruction is fun to watch. There’s also the ability to catch incoming missile and whip them back at your enemy rather than dodging and ducking.
As for the firepower behind Iron Man, the arsenal is all here including the repulsor beams, missiles, auxiliary weapons, and the almighty unibeam. With the unibeam, it’s controlled through the right bumper and the longer you hold it, the stronger the attack will be. Also one of the biggest drawing points of Iron Man is the ability to upgrade his suit and improve several areas of the suit. Though it’s a little on the restricted side, it still adds a certain flair that was much needed since the game becomes frustrating towards the conclusion.
But when it all comes down to it, the game is hindered by a level of difficulty that isn’t as inviting as Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden II, Iron Man suffers from twitchy gameplay that causes players to lose control of their flight. While it’s always interesting to fight in mid-air as you zoom around large skyscrapers and duck underneath bridges to escape enemy fire, the problem is that with the combat, you’ll need to constantly hover to be successful at taking down your enemies rather than flying by and taking them out passing by. This breaks down the rhythm of the game and makes the combat jerky.
Secret Level, the developer, also provided Iron Man essentially three lives throughout a mission. When under pressure from an immense amount of attacks, Tony Stark will lose power to his suit and fall down during a mission and take his time to recharge to get back to his feet. This occurs only three times before the game over screen is seen, so it’s essential to attack conservatively rather than aggressively.
The biggest downfall of Iron Man is that there are no checkpoints to break up the enduring missions. When players die, they’ll be sent back to the start of the level to begin all over again. After consecutive deaths, they may just opt to never play again as it’s maddening to repeat the missions several times over. Outside of this, the levels becoming increasingly drab by the end of the game although the rest of the visuals hold up well compared to other licensed video games.
Lastly, fans of the film should be excited to hear Robert Downey Jr. and Terrence Howard came along to reprise their roles as Tony Stark and James Rhodes. With several cutscenes incorporated throughout the game to provide a narrative before missions, it’s a pleasure to hear RDJ’s voice rather than a paid actor trying to mimic him. As for the rest of the audio, it’s not up to par.
While there was a lot of potential here for a quality licensed video game, it ended up being marred with problems with the controls, frustrating difficulty and lame environments. For the fans of the film, the only reason to buy the game is to play through the storyline. If you weren’t a fan of the film, then the game is definitely not for you. And for gaming fans, well…it is best you rent before buying.
