Superman: The Man of Steel

It is growing more and more evident that DC's two biggest superheroes, Batman and Superman, will never inspire a decent video game. Numerous failed attempts over the years on every game console imaginable, you'd think they could eventually get one right. Add Superman: Man of Steel to the list of stinkers. This one got closer than any before it, but it's still not worth renting or buying.

As a huge Superman fan, I looked forward to this game. Sadly, I was let down again. The story is fairly decent, taken from the pages of recent comic books. Supes faces off with President Lex Luthor, Metallo, and Braniac 13 technology. The open-ended flying across town isn't quite as open-ended as it should be to make it any fun. A very strict, old-school boss- level formula makes up most of the gameplay. Also, there is a time limit with many levels which is maddening.

I can overlook the animation, which is base, but it was clearly lacking a big budget. Utilizing the great cell-shading graphics of the game Thirteen would be much more appropriate for a comic book game, but they were lacking those kinds of funds. Also, a very generic and repetitive soundtrack made me want to play the entire thing on mute. It's almost like they rushed this thing out. Is there such thing as a "B-game", kind of like a "B-movie"? Because that's what I'd call Superman: Man of Steel.

The gameplay is the worst part of this flop. Controlling Superman is nearly impossible. The 3-D controls of his flight shouldn't be that hard to program, should it? With the technology we have now? The recent Spiderman games have been awesome and they are 3-D, flying through the air, open-ended games. So don't tell me it can't be done. Maybe someday the people behind those titles will make all of us Superman fans happy by making a decent game for him. Until then, Supes needs to stay in the comic book and film universe.