Reviewed: July 12, 2007
Reviewed by: Mark Smith
Publisher
2K Games
Developer
Visual Concepts
Released: June 15, 2007
Genre: Action
Players: 1-4
5
6
5
5
5.2
Supported Features:
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
The Fantastic Four have never been as popular as the mainstream superheroes like Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man, but they have managed to make a noticeable appearance in two major films and two video games. I really enjoyed the whole X-Men Legends vibe that the original Fantastic Four game had back in 2005 so I was understandably excited about the sequel, even if Activision and 7 Studios weren’t at the helm.
2K Games and Visual Concepts (known more for their sports games than action titles) join forces to bring this summer’s movie to video game consoles, and while they try to mirror what has already been done before, for some reason (actually several reasons) Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer just comes off as a cheap and rushed movie-license spin-off void of challenge or fun.
Rise of the Silver Surfer, the game, attempts to retell at least a portion of the film story while blending in a healthy amount of original content including a lot of classic comic book lore and a few guest appearances from historical arch villains. Sadly, the story comes across as thrown together. You start in what seems like the middle of the game with no explanation of what is going on and the ending is, well, rather abrupt.
The game plays out much like the previous Fantastic Four title with a control scheme based on the D-pad to select your active hero then using the analog stick to movie them and the face button and triggers to utilize their unique abilities. The HUD displays health and cosmic energy used to fuel your super-powers, otherwise you are just punching and kicking.
One thing that has changed, probably for the better, is there are environmental sections and puzzles that are keyed to specific characters forcing you to switch around a lot more than the previous game did. Then again, if you find yourself enjoying a certain character, being forced to switch is probably a bad thing.
Even so, you never really feel that you are playing DNA-enhanced superheroes, at least the way they perform in the films. The Four seldom work together as a team and you end up going from room to room performing endless beat downs on countless enemies. It’s Cosmic Streetfighter.
The only thing more repetitive than the gameplay are the levels in which you are forced to play. While there is a decent selection of environments, each one is so repetitive in design and textures that you’ll be suffering from endless déjà vu. When you aren’t busting heads you’ll be busting crates to find upgrade tokens used to enhance your characters for future and more difficult levels and enemies. Personally, I prefer the experience through combat system rather than hunting down coins.
There is also the issue of balancing. While all four characters play their part in various puzzles and challenges, when it comes to brawling nobody can touch the Thing, especially after you pump him full of a few dozen token upgrades. Then it’s ground pound all the way baby. Everybody else on the team became mere tools so you could get the Thing into the next area.
Rise of the Silver Surfer is a last gen game, not only in gameplay but in visuals as well. Granted, there are a few next-gen niceties like lighting and a few cool textures. The character models are okay and their animation for their respective powers comes across well enough, especially the stretchy Mr. Fantastic. Johnny steals the show with some killer flame effects while the model for Sue is so generic (compared to Alba) you’ll keep her invisible. The Thing is rock solid.
Levels are bland and repetitive with little detail and while parts of the world are destructible, those pieces quickly disappear from the playing field. It’s hard to create any type of permanent destruction when the levels are constantly cleaning up after themselves.
There is a decent soundtrack that ranges from action themes to a more subtle score, but for the most part you’ll be listening to the same sound effects over and over and over again. Then you have those frequent instances where actions that normally produce sound won’t for some odd reason.
While you might recognize a few names from the voice cast, none of them are the major players from the film, so look forward to sound alikes that get the job done with the exception of Mr. Fantastic who sounds like something between a robot and a Vulcan. Oh yeah…expect a lot of references to Sue and Fantastic’s wedding.
Environmental effects are weak to non-existent. There are a few key sound effects for major items but for the most part, these levels are as void of sound as they are of texture and detail.
Fantastic Four is a much better experience if you have multiple players. The game supports up to four, but only locally, which I suppose isn’t that bad considering it would be nigh impossible to coordinate with others using voice online in a game like this. With multiple players you won’t fall into that rut of constantly having to switch characters to accomplish some objective, and the game really becomes more of a team effort.
For the lone gamers, expect 10-12 hours of repetitive combat and box smashing as you seek out the 36 upgrade tokens and 12 Doom Spy Bots. There are 19 Achievements that are fairly easy to accomplish by simply completing the game. None really force you to go out of your way except for the collection achievements.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is a linear and repetitive brawler masquerading as a superhero game. Considering this same style of game has already been done successfully in both X-Men titles and the previous Fantastic Four I can only assume this game fails because it was an uninspired quick-out-the-door movie knockoff to cash in on the film release.
While I did have a few moments of fun, mostly with the Thing, I never felt I was playing as any of the real Fantastic Four. Fans of the comics and the films will be sorely disappointed, so if you feel obligated to purchase this game out of fan loyalty, at least wait until it hits the bargain bins.