Superman Returns
Kltpzyxm!...Nope, the game is still here.
Posted December 19, 2006
After watching a demo of Superman Returns at E3, I was less than optimistic about the future of the franchise in Tiburon’s hands. Back in May, the video was definitely choppy and the gameplay was far too simplistic. Sadly, not much has changed in the months since then. The story that drives the video game version of Superman Returns is loosely based on the movie. As the presentation unfolds, key moments from the movie will intertwine with new story elements such as fighting in Mongol’s Warworld, battling with the likes of Bizarro & Metallo, or driving back an enormous tornado. Oddly, the game never allows interaction with Superman’s main arch-villain, Lex Luthor. Instead, only a few of Superman’s enemies show up to destroy Metropolis. Unfortunately, the presentation doesn’t capture the same cinematic qualities of the movie, so the game is infused with an overall sense of dreadful boredom. 
Gameplay:
The single player campaign is split into chapters, all of which occur in Metropolis. Typically, a new chapter has a cut scene spawned by flying near the Daily Planet and the XP progression begins. Superman is required to beat up enough enemies for experience points in order to move onto the next chapter. There are no indoor missions, only random outdoor spawns that pop up all over the city. There is little variety to the missions or even the enemies to a lesser extent. Superman will usually be called upon to do one of two actions, beat up big baddies or put out a building fire. The enemies are robots, genetic lab freaks, dragons, or Warworld invaders. Occasionally, a weak super-villain will show up, but it’s usually nothing worth mentioning. The general tediousness of destroying the same creatures endlessly will kick in around chapter three and last for the remainder of the game.
In order to hand out the punishment, Superman has a lengthy list of commands for controlling his actions, some of which are the same for in-flight and ground level. Super breath, Heat vision, and Freeze breath can be switched between via the D-pad. Additionally, clicking a second time on the same power will increase the powerful devastation of the ability. The ability will last as long as the power bar in the upper left corner lasts, which also dictates Kal-El’s health. Superman also has the ability to combine his three special powers with punch combos. For instance, a blast of heat vision can be added to the end of a painful combination of blows. Fighting combos are learned as the game progresses, but you can actually just stick to the basic punch and succeed.
If Superman falls during battle, he can easily be revived mid-air by slamming the Y button repeatedly. Superman will never die, but the city suffers a bit more punishment because the player’s mistakes. The power bar that controls Metropolis’s health will gradually fall during a spawned mission and carry over to the following mission. After beating up all the enemies of the city, a slight portion of health will be regained. It’s important to regain health between chapters and eliminate enemies quickly; otherwise Metropolis will fall and an old save will have to be reloaded. The game allows for saving between battles and offers three save slots to do so.
The physics engine for flying seems very clunky at first, but a bit of practice will help reduce the obvious limitations of the control scheme. While Electronic Arts claims Superman flies up to 800 miles per hour, the sense of speed just doesn’t overcome the player; even at full blast. Superman has the ability to easily travel at the speed of light, yet the game greatly hampers his power of flight to slightly more than the speed of sound. The camera angle is very problematic during flight scenes as well. Attempting to lock onto a ground target while flying usually offers a camera view that’s completely worthless. Quite often, the player is forced to land, kill the enemy, and repeat ad nauseum.
Beyond the main narrative, there are a few mini-games to complete for health bonuses or general entertainment. The most devious Superman villain, Mr. Mxyzptlk, creates the mini-games. Competitions such as racing through the skies against Mr. Mxyzptlk or turning into Bizarro for some city destruction are spread throughout the city. While both are a bit challenging, neither compares to the massive waste of time that is saving kittens. Kittens are spread across the city from the lowest sidewalk to the highest skyscraper. They emanate a blue glow and can be found by a helpful rumble in the 360 controller. Unfortunately, it’s incredibly tough to spot the kittens and finding all kittens definitely requires the purchase of a game guide. It’s an extremely inane, collection mini-game that isn’t entertaining at all.
Achievements are split into 17 objectives for a total of 1000 gamerscore points. Additionally, an extra achievement is included for cheaters, basically as a badge of dishonor. The points are heavily weighted to near completion of the game, but the majority can be racked up in less than nine hours. While a few are simply shelled out for finishing levels, many of the tasks require completing the various mini-games. Also, some achievements are given for statistic building, such as flying for 10,000 miles or lifting 20 million pounds. Unfortunately for EA, the achievements do not offer up much of a challenge; hence the replay value of Superman Returns is greatly diminished.
Graphics:
Visually, Metropolis is an ugly mess of blurry textures and poor lighting effects. An overall bland appearance immediately overtakes the viewer and makes one wonder if the 360 version was upgraded at all from the PS2 & Xbox versions. With a game like Saints Row, we have seen how sharp and gorgeous a massive city landscape can appear on the 360 hardware, yet EA decided to forgo an actual graphics engine built for the 360. The drab, monotonous landscape offers up quite a bit of distracting pop-in from an overhead view and frame rate slowdown down on the city floor. The FMV cut scenes appear very dated on the 360 hardware and also suffer from the same slowdown problems.
Audio:
The musical score vastly pales in comparison to the revered John Williams score. While it was a bold attempt to overlay original tunes during the on-screen action, one has to wonder if the original soundtrack would have been much more effective. On the other hand, the voice acting is excellent. Tiburon called in Kevin Spacey, Brandon Routh, and Kate Bosworth to record new clips specifically for the game. While the writing is a bit corny, the actors give auditory credence to their FMV counterparts. My only true pet peeve with the sound clips is repetitive usage during actions such as rescuing kittens or pounding on the enemy. Specifically, Routh’s phrases are endlessly replayed. The sound effects are well produced and capture Superman’s actions accurately.
Overall:
Superman Returns suffers from a myriad of problems and general feeling of mediocrity, but the story mode is mildly entertaining and lasts for a few hours of entertainment. Yet the absence of any multiplayer features and the simplicity of the achievements essentially annihilates any replay value the title may have had. Superman fanatics probably won’t mind shifting through the numerous, repetitive battles in order to complete the main story points, but everyone else with a 360 will be hopelessly bored within 20 minutes of gameplay. Regardless of any love for the character, I recommend leaving Superman Returns on the store shelf this holiday season.
Gameplay:
The single player campaign is split into chapters, all of which occur in Metropolis. Typically, a new chapter has a cut scene spawned by flying near the Daily Planet and the XP progression begins. Superman is required to beat up enough enemies for experience points in order to move onto the next chapter. There are no indoor missions, only random outdoor spawns that pop up all over the city. There is little variety to the missions or even the enemies to a lesser extent. Superman will usually be called upon to do one of two actions, beat up big baddies or put out a building fire. The enemies are robots, genetic lab freaks, dragons, or Warworld invaders. Occasionally, a weak super-villain will show up, but it’s usually nothing worth mentioning. The general tediousness of destroying the same creatures endlessly will kick in around chapter three and last for the remainder of the game.
In order to hand out the punishment, Superman has a lengthy list of commands for controlling his actions, some of which are the same for in-flight and ground level. Super breath, Heat vision, and Freeze breath can be switched between via the D-pad. Additionally, clicking a second time on the same power will increase the powerful devastation of the ability. The ability will last as long as the power bar in the upper left corner lasts, which also dictates Kal-El’s health. Superman also has the ability to combine his three special powers with punch combos. For instance, a blast of heat vision can be added to the end of a painful combination of blows. Fighting combos are learned as the game progresses, but you can actually just stick to the basic punch and succeed.
If Superman falls during battle, he can easily be revived mid-air by slamming the Y button repeatedly. Superman will never die, but the city suffers a bit more punishment because the player’s mistakes. The power bar that controls Metropolis’s health will gradually fall during a spawned mission and carry over to the following mission. After beating up all the enemies of the city, a slight portion of health will be regained. It’s important to regain health between chapters and eliminate enemies quickly; otherwise Metropolis will fall and an old save will have to be reloaded. The game allows for saving between battles and offers three save slots to do so.
The physics engine for flying seems very clunky at first, but a bit of practice will help reduce the obvious limitations of the control scheme. While Electronic Arts claims Superman flies up to 800 miles per hour, the sense of speed just doesn’t overcome the player; even at full blast. Superman has the ability to easily travel at the speed of light, yet the game greatly hampers his power of flight to slightly more than the speed of sound. The camera angle is very problematic during flight scenes as well. Attempting to lock onto a ground target while flying usually offers a camera view that’s completely worthless. Quite often, the player is forced to land, kill the enemy, and repeat ad nauseum.
Beyond the main narrative, there are a few mini-games to complete for health bonuses or general entertainment. The most devious Superman villain, Mr. Mxyzptlk, creates the mini-games. Competitions such as racing through the skies against Mr. Mxyzptlk or turning into Bizarro for some city destruction are spread throughout the city. While both are a bit challenging, neither compares to the massive waste of time that is saving kittens. Kittens are spread across the city from the lowest sidewalk to the highest skyscraper. They emanate a blue glow and can be found by a helpful rumble in the 360 controller. Unfortunately, it’s incredibly tough to spot the kittens and finding all kittens definitely requires the purchase of a game guide. It’s an extremely inane, collection mini-game that isn’t entertaining at all.
Achievements are split into 17 objectives for a total of 1000 gamerscore points. Additionally, an extra achievement is included for cheaters, basically as a badge of dishonor. The points are heavily weighted to near completion of the game, but the majority can be racked up in less than nine hours. While a few are simply shelled out for finishing levels, many of the tasks require completing the various mini-games. Also, some achievements are given for statistic building, such as flying for 10,000 miles or lifting 20 million pounds. Unfortunately for EA, the achievements do not offer up much of a challenge; hence the replay value of Superman Returns is greatly diminished.
Graphics:
Visually, Metropolis is an ugly mess of blurry textures and poor lighting effects. An overall bland appearance immediately overtakes the viewer and makes one wonder if the 360 version was upgraded at all from the PS2 & Xbox versions. With a game like Saints Row, we have seen how sharp and gorgeous a massive city landscape can appear on the 360 hardware, yet EA decided to forgo an actual graphics engine built for the 360. The drab, monotonous landscape offers up quite a bit of distracting pop-in from an overhead view and frame rate slowdown down on the city floor. The FMV cut scenes appear very dated on the 360 hardware and also suffer from the same slowdown problems.
Audio:
The musical score vastly pales in comparison to the revered John Williams score. While it was a bold attempt to overlay original tunes during the on-screen action, one has to wonder if the original soundtrack would have been much more effective. On the other hand, the voice acting is excellent. Tiburon called in Kevin Spacey, Brandon Routh, and Kate Bosworth to record new clips specifically for the game. While the writing is a bit corny, the actors give auditory credence to their FMV counterparts. My only true pet peeve with the sound clips is repetitive usage during actions such as rescuing kittens or pounding on the enemy. Specifically, Routh’s phrases are endlessly replayed. The sound effects are well produced and capture Superman’s actions accurately.
Overall:
Superman Returns suffers from a myriad of problems and general feeling of mediocrity, but the story mode is mildly entertaining and lasts for a few hours of entertainment. Yet the absence of any multiplayer features and the simplicity of the achievements essentially annihilates any replay value the title may have had. Superman fanatics probably won’t mind shifting through the numerous, repetitive battles in order to complete the main story points, but everyone else with a 360 will be hopelessly bored within 20 minutes of gameplay. Regardless of any love for the character, I recommend leaving Superman Returns on the store shelf this holiday season.