Mere moments before I sat down to craft this very review, my neighbor’s 11 year old son came knocking on my door. The excitement in his eyes could have fooled one into believing that today was perhaps his birthday, or even Christmas. Instead, he was quick to brag about his trip to Gamestop with his Mother where he had picked up a new game for his XBOX. I asked him, as curious as I am about what the kids are getting these days, what that lucky game was.
“Fantastic Four!” the boy exclaimed.
My heart once a flutter in shared excitement was crushed in the moment upon a wave of horror and guilt -- knowing that somewhere out there, this very scenario was being played out by other hapless children created a snap reaction in my gut, forcing the bile to surface. Activision’s Fantastic Four may not actually induce vomiting while playing, but it’s decent into the realms of mediocrity may lead one to believe that more fun could be had with a bottle of Ipecac.
The bar for film to video game adaptations has been raised significantly in the recent year’s thanks in part to titles like Starbreeze’s The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and even Activision’s own Spider-Man 2. Electronic Art’s even proved that the once stale beat-em-up style of said adaptation can be turned into an engaging experience with their Lord of the Rings titles – which is exactly the type of title that Fantastic Four is. A simple beat-em-up.
Taking control of Marvel’s first super hero family, players guide the team in smashing anyone who gets in their way in a typical manner that perhaps steps on one too many toes. In an attempt to spice up the mindless button-mashing, Activision has incorporated a variety of gameplay functions that were innovative in other recent titles but come across as shallow, and out right ghetto versions of the original, lifted material.
Each member of the team brings a unique talent to the field and Activision has made steps to further the concept. Furthering the concept however has led to a variety of insipid mini-games; while charming at first only prove to be an annoyance in later levels. Each one of these mini-games requires a different, but repetitious action such as mashing the A button to fill a meter or solving a mind-numbingly easy puzzle. Perhaps if these moments proved to be some sort of challenge, they would be a more welcomed. In the state they exist, they’re just another tiring pause in an already mundane game.
Taking the plunge into the lacking depths of originality come some of the more interesting concepts to the title such as the manner in which bosses are defeated. Fans of Sony’s God of War may have a series of déjà vu as boss fights in Fantastic Four typically end in the same manner; a PaRappa the Rapper style mini-game. Only where God of War had simply button presses, Fantastic Four goes the whole 9 yards featuring the timing bar from the famous rapping title, scrolling and all. The stab at variety is nice, but the overall presentation and lack of impact on gameplay makes the whole experience feel shameless.
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