I have been a fan of Iron Man since I was a kid. Granted he is not on the top of the super hero food chain but I did pick up the occasional issue of the Invincible Iron Man.
You may or may not have heard that a summer blockbuster was just released starring Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man. On a side note I have to say I REALLY enjoyed the film. They could not have cast a better actor to play Tony Stark (Iron Man). Definitely check it out you will not be disappointed. Also be sure to stay after the credits for a nice preview into what is to come with the Avengers.
I know what you are thinking. Not another movie/game release. The last decent license title was the Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butchers Bay and that was in 2004. The last title on the 360 that even came close to a decent metacritic score was King Kong (80) and let’s just say that is a bit of a stretch! Nevertheless with the release of a major summer movie based on a Marvel character you knew that a licensed game title would be released as well.
Enter Iron Man by SEGA of America. I played the pre-release demo on Xbox Live and I was captivated by the open/non-linear battlefield and the mechanics of controlling Iron Man. Plus being the fanboy that I am it was a natural choice that I would pick it up on the same date of the release.
Overview: Let me see, um you are Iron Man; you pretty much fly around and blow stuff up. Rinse and repeat. Seriously though this is not a Spider Man Friend or Foe experience. The open battle fields, flight ability and the armor upgrades keep the levels fresh and you can replay levels with new and upgraded armor as well.
There are only two play options since Xbox Live is not supported. You have the movie based campaign as well as the One Man Army mini missions (You basically take out a certain number of enemies in a given timeframe) as the primary avenues to Iron Man based destruction. But this comes with a price as Iron Man will not be making your most days played list by any stretch as replayability is really diminished without Xbox Live Support.
The campaign mode follows some of the major events of the film with a few additions. As with a lot of movie driven titles you start with a cinematic cut scene and this plays true throughout each mission break of the game. There are thirteen missions in all. The first two missions focus on acclimating you to the Iron Man controls. Mission one with mainly primary weapons and melee and mission 2 based on mastering the flight controls. By mission three you are fully engaged as Iron Man via the MARK III suit (Red & Gold) in all of his ion beam shooting glory. From there you will participate in a number of missions expanding on the movie and leading up to the final confrontation with Iron Monger.
You will be thrown into combat against scores of tanks, SAM’s, attack helicopters, and aircraft as well as some new and familiar faces such as Titanium Man, The Melter, and of course Iron Monger are some of the primary baddies in the game, only Iron Monger appears in the film.
Gameplay: The game boasts a fairly flexible battlefield where you are ultimately in control of how you want to attack your objectives. You have specific objectives and certain elements are timed but you are ultimately in control of where the action takes place. While on the battle field you also have the option to reallocate power in your suit to either support additional power to life support, melee, weapons or your thrusters. This combined with the ability to customize your power distribution between levels allows for a decent level of customization and control.
The element I enjoyed the most was the ability to be fully involved in ground combat and a second later engaging with jets in full flight. The flight mechanics are good and don’t feel forced but they do take some getting used to as this is not Ace Combat by any stretch.
One of my favorite elements of the game is the ability to catch projectiles and redirect them. I can catch a missile in mid-flight and redirect it back to the sender for a nice surprise. You also have the option to grapple a SAM or howitzer and basically use them like big shotguns. You also have the ability to grapple with certain objects such as tanks, armored personnel carriers, jets and helicopters all can be destroyed by flying close, grappling and then rapidly hitting “B” to get a rewarding cut scene. There are also achievements tied to grappling and throwing certain items like planes.
Weapons: In this game you pretty much are the weapon. You have the standard ION beam and repulsor attack options as well as a variety of auxillary weapons from energy shields to guided missiles. As you progress through the game you will be able to upgrade your armor from the Mark 1 through Mark 3 suits (Classic Red and Gold) while gaining the ability to upgrade specific systems for better performance. You have the ability to unlock a number of different armor variants including: MARK I, MARK II, MARK III, Classic, MARK I Classic, Extremis, Hulkbuster, and the Xbox exclusive Silver Centurion models.
Online: There is no Xbox Live Support for this game.
Achievements: The achievements are not the standard complete the level get the achievement. They are tied to specific objectives in the mission such as ensuring no civilian casualties, or destroying certain objectives. It appears through the first run that most of the achievements are well achievable without a very large investment in time. Through my first play through I have been able to pull down 37 of the 39 achievements (850 points) in roughly 7 hours of gameplay. Granted I play for score so if you want to replicate this amount be sure to review the list prior to entering the mission as they are not mission completion based. Here is the full list of achievements available in Iron Man.
Ratings & Comments: If you are going to play Iron Man just know that this is not Halo, Bioshock, or COD4. It is what it is supposed to be a tie in to a summer blockbuster that is supposed to give you a weekend of enjoyment. Do I recommend buying a copy? Only if you are a fan. Otherwise update your gamefly list or go to your local Blockbuster and give it a go. I rate it a 7.5 out of 10.
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