The Fall of Rise
What's worse than a bad Fantasic Four game? A boring, bad Fantastic Four game.
Published: June 25, 2007
There are times when I love my job, times when I get to see games long before they come out and still walk away surprised. But for every one of those, there is the inevitable licensed game that I have to slog through to even things out. It's a balance, y'see; without the crap, I can't really appreciate the good stuff. Or at least that's what I kept telling myself as I slogged through one of the most painfully bland experiences on the PS3 thus.
If you're expecting a detailed review, don't. I'll probably spend more time explaining the setup of the license and who did what (since the game is out on PS3 and PS2, but it's kinda complicated). Instead, you can stop reading now if you like and know that your money is better spent on any number of other games -- even games from 2K like The Darkness or The BIGS if you're looking for something for the fam.
So on with the history lesson instead of the review. The first Fantastic Four game, developed by 7 Studios for Activision was a fairly weak attempt at cloning the beat-em-up (but not necessarily the RPG elements) of the X-Men Legends games. It used the license, but only barely and like the movie it was based on, was almost completely forgettable. The sequel, however, is based on the Rise of the Silver Surfer big-screen follow-up, and by virtue of the fact that the Silver Surfer is one of the better Marvel characters, should technically be a better game, right?
Except he's hardly used at all, and when he is, there's really no indication of what kind of character he is other than a foil for a chase or a hastily assembled "plot" point. The PlayStation 3 version of the game was developed by Visual Concepts, while the PS2 duties were handled once again by 7 Studios, and though the two share the same title and basic concept (team of four superheroes with tag-team powers mapped to each direction on the d-pad kick and punch their way through endless hordes of enemie), the execution is actually different.
Not that it really matters, of course. In either version the endless cycle of beating on enemies until the camera breaks out to show you something new is there. In the PS2 version, there's some added bullshit in the form of timed challenges that just make the game more frustrating, but the end result is the same: the games are just lifeless, boring exercises in button mashing. The PS3 version features a little more in the way of puzzles, but they're mostly of the switch flipping variety, so no big change in IQ needed there.
What this means is that the same basic gameplay is copied and pasted throughout a handful of environments that try to pull from both the movie plotline and the comic lore, but ultimately they lack any real semblance of interesting narrative. The PS2 version, amazingly, ends up having a bit more in the way of storyline thanks to an abundance of talking head conversations, but it's not worth slogging through the game to actually see pan out.
You know what? Forget it, there's really nothing more that needs to be said. Don't by Rise of the Silver Surfer (that kinda applies to movie tickets to the show too). If you absolutely have to get your beat-em-up fix, and for some reason the video store is out of every game but this one, then it might be worth a rental -- if only to get drunk with some buddies (drop-in/drop-out co-op, remember!) and laugh at the game. Or, y'know, you could just assemble the F4 as a team in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and at least get a little more RPG meat with your beat-em-up. Otherwise, it's probably best to stay away from anything with the Fantastic Four name on it for a while.
If you're expecting a detailed review, don't. I'll probably spend more time explaining the setup of the license and who did what (since the game is out on PS3 and PS2, but it's kinda complicated). Instead, you can stop reading now if you like and know that your money is better spent on any number of other games -- even games from 2K like The Darkness or The BIGS if you're looking for something for the fam.
So on with the history lesson instead of the review. The first Fantastic Four game, developed by 7 Studios for Activision was a fairly weak attempt at cloning the beat-em-up (but not necessarily the RPG elements) of the X-Men Legends games. It used the license, but only barely and like the movie it was based on, was almost completely forgettable. The sequel, however, is based on the Rise of the Silver Surfer big-screen follow-up, and by virtue of the fact that the Silver Surfer is one of the better Marvel characters, should technically be a better game, right?
Except he's hardly used at all, and when he is, there's really no indication of what kind of character he is other than a foil for a chase or a hastily assembled "plot" point. The PlayStation 3 version of the game was developed by Visual Concepts, while the PS2 duties were handled once again by 7 Studios, and though the two share the same title and basic concept (team of four superheroes with tag-team powers mapped to each direction on the d-pad kick and punch their way through endless hordes of enemie), the execution is actually different.
Not that it really matters, of course. In either version the endless cycle of beating on enemies until the camera breaks out to show you something new is there. In the PS2 version, there's some added bullshit in the form of timed challenges that just make the game more frustrating, but the end result is the same: the games are just lifeless, boring exercises in button mashing. The PS3 version features a little more in the way of puzzles, but they're mostly of the switch flipping variety, so no big change in IQ needed there.
What this means is that the same basic gameplay is copied and pasted throughout a handful of environments that try to pull from both the movie plotline and the comic lore, but ultimately they lack any real semblance of interesting narrative. The PS2 version, amazingly, ends up having a bit more in the way of storyline thanks to an abundance of talking head conversations, but it's not worth slogging through the game to actually see pan out.
You know what? Forget it, there's really nothing more that needs to be said. Don't by Rise of the Silver Surfer (that kinda applies to movie tickets to the show too). If you absolutely have to get your beat-em-up fix, and for some reason the video store is out of every game but this one, then it might be worth a rental -- if only to get drunk with some buddies (drop-in/drop-out co-op, remember!) and laugh at the game. Or, y'know, you could just assemble the F4 as a team in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and at least get a little more RPG meat with your beat-em-up. Otherwise, it's probably best to stay away from anything with the Fantastic Four name on it for a while.
