Raging Inferno

Where should we start? Well, Let's just say, Iron Man wasn't really what I was expecting.

Graphics

The graphics were very good. It had realistic fire effects and the moving parts on machinery was fantastic. The environments looked quite real and his suit was flawless. there were no problems with limbs going through the ground or walls and when you fly around, you have an amazing sense of speed. The cut scenes had some pretty amazing graphics as well. only problem there was, the words didn't match the character's mouths too well.

Graphics - 9 out of 10



Sound

The music was pretty good. In some levels, you occasionally heard the song "Iron Man" by black sabbath. The sound effects, however, were a bit low quality and cliched for high-tech games. The voices are okay. They sound exactly like the characters in the movie and if you closed your eyes, you'd be able to make out who is who.

Sound - 6 out of 10



Controls

The controls in Iron Man seemed pretty normal to me. The controls when I'm flying seemed a bit awkward and hard to get used to but I couldn't come up with a better control set of my own. I guess it would be hard to decide which buttons you would use for the game since there are so many actions you can make Iron Man do. I didn't really like the way you have to target things. In my opinion, it may have been better if pointing the Wii remote didn't play such a big part in it. Sometimes, if you turn too far to one side, the controls will get a bit jumpy and hard to manage. This is to be expected since it's not really possible to keep your hand completely still while playing. I like how the game had a "Shaking reducer". It helped a lot during play. It would keep the targeting reticule from bouncing around too much.

Controls - 5.5 out of 10



Story

I was actually very unhappy about the story. I expected this to happen since games based off of movies in general have screwed up plots due to reduction of spoilers. I was hoping for some decent missions that were directly related to the movie. There were few. Some missions even had stories behind them that made no sense at all and even when you apply the Iron Man story to it, it gets more confusing. There was a boss battle against one of Tony Stark's former workers whom he fired. The former worker moved to an organization called the "Magia" and they have a confrontation. The boss is supposedly stretchy just like Mr.Fantastic and we pops out of the ceiling and the floor. This was a very random and pointless fight. I don;t know, maybe this fight was remotely related to the movie but even so, the story of the game made it too confusing to understand.

Story - 4.5 out of 10



Gameplay

The gameplay was very action packed and exciting. There were a few problems, though. The first problem is that the enemies died to easily. In the first mission, you were given a flamethrower just like in the movie. The thing is, the instant you shoot it at someone, they die. the INSTANT. This wasn't appealing to me at all. The enemies didn't even catch on fire. they simply fell once they made contact with the flames. Now, this could be overlooked in many cases because the first level was mainly used to get you used to the controls and the basic ropes of battle. Well, after I passed that level and moved on, I was displeased to find that the repulser beam killed the enemies on contact as well. This made it a bit pointless to have different weapons. If every weapon you have kills your enemies on contact, what's the point? The only time you will need the Machine gun and the missiles is when you either have a boss to fight, a tank to destroy or a wall to break. Also, the enemies could kill you. now, this may sound like a stupid reason to criticize but you'd have to figure that enemies who die on contact with a few flames aren't that strong. Let's just say it was like fighting red ants. you could crush them while barely lifting a finger but after time, if you let them be, they'll kill you.

Gameplay - 6.5 out of 10



Other Comments

I was really disappointed with the limited mobility. It was like playing a game of sonic. You can go along the tracks and small environment they provided you, but when you reach the boundary, you can't fly over the buildings in view, you cant smash into walls. I think they should have added a free roam mode to the game. What would be more fun than flying around Tony's city? I've seen HUGE environments that seemed almost limitless in game before. they could've done it with this one too. You can't fly too high either. After flying about a couple hundred feet in the air, Jarvis will ask Tony if he's lost or He'll say, "Sir, Please remain in the boundaries of the compound". Also, I think they should have made the environment more destructible. I know you play as a super hero and all, but is it possible for things not to be messed up after Iron Man has a huge fight? they should have made it so we can destroy trees, burn plants, break glass, and for the love of God, get dirty. The game only allows us to destroy objects if they have a purpose. only if they play a significant part in the game. I would love to be able to destroy things at random.


My Overall Rating - 6

It was pretty good for a game based off of a movie. I must say, the system where you balance out the power from weapon, to armor, to energy was a great idea. I think that the game designers didn't have as much time to work with this game as they usually do -- Iron Man launched only about a month or two after it's advertisements started appearing everywhere. I think the game definitely would have been better if they had more time to think things through.


Well, there's another review by me. Hope you enjoyed it.

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