Considering the mix of crappy games based on comic books like Spider-Man 3, Superman Returns and Catwoman (remember that one?) and good ones like X-Men Legends or Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, we can’t say it’s always an automatic win situation. Is Iron Man a win or lose?

I’ll grab a martini after this one...

Iron Man is an action game based on the 2008 movie of the same title starring Robert Downey Jr. In the game, you will play as billionaire industrialist and P.Diddy style player Tony Stark who decides to build a kick-ass armor that turns him into Iron Man. With his suit, he gains the ability to fly, blast repulsor rays, hurl missiles and destroy everything that comes into his path with ease.

Gameplay

Since Tony Stark spends all of the action in his Iron Man suit, you’ll have access to his weaponry and abilities. The repulsor ray, shot either from his palms or from a node on his chest, which are more powerful than those from his hands, but will drain more energy. He also has the ability to grab incoming missiles and redirect them back to the launcher that shot them (good luck doing that) and grab either tanks or choppers and destroy them with his bare hands by pushing on a button really fast. Iron Man can also “hover” or “fly. While hovering lets him drift from side to side, enabling easier firing of repulsor rays, Iron Man uses a fun flying system that lets you either escape or engage enemies from a distance. Players will find the combination of both hovering and flying very hard to manage in the first moments. There’s definitely a learning curve here, and it’s easy to get frustrated with the game as a result but the player will com around.

Oh no...not again...

Before each mission, the player has the option to purchase upgrades to the Iron Man armor in one of the suit’s five subsystems: Core Systems (for better defensive capabilities), Repulsors (high damage output), Power Core (better energy efficiency), Auxiliary Weapons, and Mobility Enhancements. You’ll be able to purchase new upgrades for your armors by winning money. Yes, billionaire Tony Stark has to win money! How you may ask?  By completing the mission’s main and secondary goals. Completing these chapters within a certain time limit or defeating a set number of enemies will also give you the possibility to earn more money. 

The game will offer the players different armors to use from the first iteration of the Mark armor to some other cool models straight from the comic books. Gameplay changes slightly with differents suits, adding some replay value but once you’ve finished the game, the whole experience will leave you with a bad taste in your mouth and it won’t be that appealing the second time around.

Upgrade me please!!!

In order to add a little extra to the game, the developers at Secret Level went deep into the character’s 40- plus years of comic book history to include battles with Iron Man baddies like soldiers from Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M.) and the Maggia, as well as arch villains such as the Titanium Man, The Melter and of course Iron Monger. While these additions add something interesting to the game’s overall experience, tying it all together isn’t the easiest thing to do.

Sounds

The developers managed to get some of the cast of the movie involved for voice-over work, including Terrance Howard as James Rhodes, and of course Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. This gives the game a certain extra level of connection to the film, but the whole comes flat on delivery. If developers decide to hire Hollywood actors to be in a game, they should have the insurance that the voice acting will be delivered correctly. Or else, they should stay at home.

On the plus side, environments sounds and explosions are very cool but nothing really special to write about.

Graphics

While the main Iron Man model is sharp and well defined, developer Secret Level had to sacrifice some detail in the environments department. While the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions offer the same visuals, the PC and Wii versions of the game are inferior. In the end, the game’s overall graphics falls into the category of being good, but not great.

So long suckers...

Conclusion

If you can get past Iron Man’s head-scratching learning curve, what are you left with? A game that’s far from perfect, but still better than a lot of movie and comic book tie-ins that have come before ( *wink* Catwoman). For Iron Man fans, the game is a solid entry to add to your video game collection, when the price drops. For everyone else, it’s a rental.