Fantastic 4

"Fantastic? No. Decent? Yes."

One will be bad…Four will be Fantastic…perhaps the movie, but not the game. Fantastic Four as you can tell is a game based on the movie adaptation of the legendary comic series. Created by the famous Stan Lee, the Fantastic Four brought a cohesive superhero team with great character development and some of the best characters to ever grace comics. As you can tell, I am a big fan of Marvel and by default; I had always loved the Fantastic Four. I have always loved Reed Richard's intellect, Sue Storm's nurturing and caring nature, the Thing's intimidation, and Johnny Storm's flamboyant nature. Together, the Fantastic Four is simply one of the best superhero teams to ever be assembled. When I heard that Fox decided to make a Fantastic Four movie, I was completely ecstatic about the possibility. I also knew with a movie incarnation that a video game would likely follow. I had always hoped for a Fantastic Four game that was done right, which pains me to say that I will have to wait a bit longer. While Fantastic Four does not fail on all aspects, it is hardly a fantastic or even a good game. Simply put, Fantastic Four is what I would define as plain, simple, and reeks of mediocrity.

Prepare for the Mediocrity.

Susan Storm, Johnny Storm, Reed Richards, and Ben Grimm have been battling evildoers for decades now; ranging from cosmic beings to a power hungry villain named Doom. Fantastic Four has been the first family of marvel and now with a new movie and a game, the F4 can now showcase their unique and cohesive team off to the whole world. One of the best parts about the F4 is their ability to stand united in the face of adversity despite having internal issues every now and then. Perhaps that is the biggest reason why I hold the Fantastic Four with such regards.

With that said it pains me to say that the first Fantastic Four games I have ever played is simply average. It lacks any substance that makes good games good; it simply does not possess any redeeming qualities for me to even say it is solid. For one the game is a simple button masher. Although, one can perform a set of combos through a series of buttons, these combinations are nullified because of the lack of difficulty. You walk up to an enemy and smash them to kingdom come and then move onto your next objective. Fantastic Four as a whole is quite linear, you will never get loss because of the limitations of the game's map. For the most part, a building or something else that prevents any exploration will block you off.

While the Fantastic Four certainly has some unique powers at your disposals, the powers are lost in transition due to the lack of depth. The Thing who wields unlimited power can pick things up like poles and nail the enemy with it, however, given the ease of the game, this is definitely unnecessary. The Invisible Woman can also create force fields, turn invisible, and shoot a form of energy out of her hand. I must say the Invisible Woman's power is what saves this game from utter garbage because I really enjoyed turning invisible and walking up to an enemy and destroying he/her/it. Human Torch is certainly one of my favorite characters in all of marvel, his powers in this game seemed a bit limited. Mr. Fantastic and his ability to stretch are also quite unique, but again, the lack of depth really nullifies the ability of this character.

As mentioned before, the game lacks any depth and is so easy that my 3-year old nephew can probably dispose of the enemies without any hesitation. While a mindless action title at heart, the name of the Fantastic Four and the ability to play as these heroes does put some incentive into fans to try and enjoy this game. Given the characters names, I did find myself enjoying this game at times because…well…the Fantastic Four is simply an astonishing group of heroes. Once can definitely find some enjoyment here because of the character's history, however, if you get past that, then what you find is a mediocre at best. On a side note, the puzzles at the beginning were quite interesting. The camera for the most part is also quite solid, but there are times where it will get caught up and makes it a bit hard to see.

Although I did not get the chance to experience it, the coop mode adds some incentive to play with a friend. However, you can only play with 2 players when there are 4, so it pains me to see such lazy developers neglect simple foundations. The game would be much better if it allowed for 4 players. However, with that said, one can play by oneself and team up with computer controlled characters and reek havoc on thy enemies.

Flame On!

Flaming on has new meaning because it certainly does not look as cool as before. After watching the movie, I was really amazed at Chris Evan's portrayal of the Human Torch and also the CGI effects. This game, while a solid looking title, certainly lacks the eye candy that I have associated myself with certain PS2 games. When it comes to graphics, this game is a second tier PS2 game that falls behind the great looking games on the PS2. On a side note, I won't dock off as many points for the graphics department because of the PS2 hardware, but had I bought this game for the Xbox, then this game would get a major lashing from me. However, since it is not and I have seen worst looking games on the PS2, I can forgive the developers a bit. On the positive side, the frame rate is great and it runs at a coherent pace. Also some of the powers performed by the Fantastic Four are also quite beautiful to look at. But, overall the game simply isn't anything special.

Perhaps the best thing about this game is its voice acting. The voice acting features a strong cast and the cast also does a great job at portraying the Fantastic Four. What I really liked was the Thing's voice; it was simply pleasing to hear. I thought the music was also quite solid and with very good voice over, there isn't really anything to complain about. I really felt the developers outshined themselves in this area of the game. However, with grief, I must say, this is the only thing that they did a good job with.

With the exception of the voice acting, the next best thing is perhaps the name brand. Yes, I know it sounds silly, but the name Fantastic Four was enough for me to enjoy it a little. Fantastic Four is simply a name that brings a smile to my face. Being that this game is based on the Fantastic Four, I went out and bought the game despite the horrible reviews. The game also presents itself quite fairly; the game follows pretty closely to the movie and the comics.

In the end, Fantastic Four is not fantastic, but it doesn't have to be. While the game is very much mediocre, it does have some qualities that can give you some enjoyment. I know I enjoyed it, even though there were countless problems. However, I do suggest that you wait for a price drop. If you are not a Fantastic Four fan, then chances are you will find this game horrible. If you are F4 fan, then I think you will find some enjoyment out of this game. And if you are unsure, then give it a rent or wait for a price drop.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/12/05