jkafer's Full Review: Superman Returns for Xbox 360
The story of Superman Returns follows the same arc as the movie, but is told through cutscenes. Lex Luthor is doing something bad and Superman has to stop him. The story is inconsequential because you don't do anything in the game related to the story.
•• Gameplay ••
The developers had a challenge: How to make the player at risk of "dying" while playing a character who is invincible? And they solved it in an interesting way. Make the city of Metropolis the one at risk. As Superman, you can't die, but let Metropolis take too much damage and you have to start over from your previous checkpoint.
The main staple of gameplay is to fly to designated spots in the city and duke it out with some bad guys or put out a fire or shoot down a meteor. Needless to say this gets really old, really quickly. While you have a staple of special moves that you learn as the game progresses, you will mostly use Superman's D-pad powers: Super breath, heat vision, and freeze breath. You can also pick up various things and throw them, but the targeting system is inaccurate and difficult to use, so I found myself just brawling.
There are a few mini-games, but they are rather bad. The racing game is somewhat fun, but is too easy. The minigame in which you get to be Bizarro causing damage to the city is also slightly entertaining, but only the first time, which is true of all the minigames.
And as a final nail in the coffin, you can fly through the city and find kittens. Yes, in a city with miles and miles of terrain, you have to find tiny kittens hidden amongst billboards and ledges. This is the epitome of dull game design.
•• Graphics ••
Mediocre at best, the textures are blocky up close and the models undetailed. While the city is large and expansive, the detail goes downhill once the player gets close. All the buildings are basically the same with no detail or variety. Apparently all the buildings in Metropolis look the same. And to add insult to injury, the framerate drops during tense battles. Why? This game should certainly not be taxing to the system.
•• Sound ••
The only good thing about the sound is the inclusion of the movie soundtrack. It's dynamic and interesting and used appropriately in times of battles versus times of free flying. Of course, the developers can't take much credit for this since it was written for them and they simply implemented it.
When most game use the actual actors from the movie it’s a good thing. In this case it isn't. Brandon Routh is a terrible actor and completely phones in this performance by delivering awful one-liners in the same monotone with little regard to whether the character is currently in battle.
•• Conclusion ••
The demo showed potential, but unfortunately, the game doesn't expand on that basic dull premise.
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