Fantastic 4 is a high-speed action game loosely based off the recently released movie starring Jessica Alba, Ioan Gruffudd, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis as the superheroes. These actors also perform the voice overs for the game, along with Julian McMahon who plays Victor Von Doom, the primary villain for both the game and the movie. The Fantastic 4 originally started as a comic book about five people that were changed biologically by a blast of cosmic radiation. One of those characters turned evil due to his selfish nature, but the other four decided to use their powers for the betterment

of the world. This is why they are called the Fantastic Four. The game begins with an animated clip depicting how the five characters got their powers. The video clip could have been done much better, it is very grainy and the sound is choppy. The characters hardly look anything like the actors that they represent. The clips that are shown throughout the game are pretty similar in that respect also. After this video clip you begin to play the game as Mr. Fantastic, the stretchy man, who pretty much leads the group. At this time none of the characters are sure what has happened to them and what is going on with their bodies. Mr. Fantastic awakes to find himself locked in a room while total chaos ensues outside his door. He needs to find someway to get out of these confines to see if his friends are alright so he picks the lock to his door. When he is released he finds a robot to help him fight his way to free his friends and to free himself. If you are playing in cooperative mode the second player will use the robot character. The second character that you will use is the Human Torch, whose body is on fire throughout the entire game. When playing in cooperative mode it is easy to tell one character from the other due to the vast differences in looks. The Human Torch must also learn about his new powers while fighting the evil robots that are trying to kill him. His main goal, as is Mr. Fantastic's, is to find and help his sister Sue; also known as the Invisible Woman. The Invisible Woman is the cause of much jealousy between Von Doom and Mr. Fantastic who have both had strong feelings for her for a long while now. Her and Mr. Fantastic were in a long-term relationship a few years back, but he put his work ahead of her so she had to leave him. Of course she still has feelings for him even though she was working towards a relationship with Von Doom; at least that is what Von Doom thought. The Invisible Woman is a strong character in this game; however her hand to hand combat is a little weak. The Thing changed more than anyone else and he did not take it as well as the others. He has a beautiful wife that he doesn't want to lose because of his deformity. Unfortunately he does lose her, she couldn't deal with the drastic change in his appearance. So the Thing ends up on the bridge looking into the water when a hapless stranger wanders over to him, thinking he is a regular Joe, to offer some advice why life is not so bad. The stranger takes one look at him and freaks out which is how you come to the next part of the game; saving people on a bridge. Each character has their own signature color and when you see the glowing, circular color it will indicate which character is needed to perform that task. You just set the character on the circle and follow the directions so that the hero can do their special move. The game is not exactly like the movie, more villains were needed to make the game last longer. For instance, another comic book character, Nick Fury, was added into the mix. Nick Fury captures the Fantastic 4 and keeps them captive because of all the destruction they cause when trying to save people. Of course they escape from there too and strike a deal with Nick so that they will not be captured again. The deal is that the Fantastic 4 must undertake a mission for him, a dangerous one. There are also gang members for them to fight, dinosaurs, and lot of robotic creatures. For those of you video game fans that like some substance in your games, keep on looking because your not going to find it here. On the other hand, if you are missing the old games like the ones for the original Nintendo console, look no further. The Fantastic 4 is your typical beat-em'-up and fly through game. This game can be beaten with relative ease, the character's moves are not hard to master at all, and the boss characters go down easy, even Von Doom. The graphics are rather drab and the dialogue between the characters is difficult to hear over all the other noise. The only thing that saved this game from getting a total splat is the cooperative mode which turned out to be really fun. The way the camera is set up it is easy to maneuver your characters even when you have two people trying to be the boss. Really there isn't a lot of choice on where to go, the path is already set for you. It is also very easy to distinguish one character from another which lessens the confusion of which little person is yours. So my recommendation is if you are going to rent or buy this game plan on making it a game for two, you will get a lot more out of it. Miranda Stites, HeroesOfGaming. com

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Author:
Miranda Stites