Problems
Unfortunately, the fun begins to fade rather quickly. Outside of boss battles, the gameplay is a repetitive mess of fighting the same basic enemies over and over and over, putting out fires, and finding 200 kittens that have been hidden around the city. You’ll get really tired of the combat after the first couple of battles, and after that the game just becomes a chore to play. The game is also a bit of a glitchy mess. Superman has to be in the precise correct spot to pick objects up, so you’ll be grasping at air and coming up empty handed a lot. Also, when trying to lock onto an enemy, use super speed (whether flying or running on the ground), I found myself being flung backwards rather than towards the enemy more often than not.Do It Yourself Fun
EA
Despite these problems and overall poor game design, there is still some fun to be had here since you are free to do whatever you want. I like picking people up and leaving them in inconvenient places. Or throwing cars out into the lake. Or blowing up gas stations. One particularly funny thing happened when I was experimenting with my heat vision when I first earned the super beam ability. Superman unleashed a heat blast that incinerated every car on the block and set every tree on fire. Then I ran around putting the fires out and “apologizing” to people. That is another key, doing your own commentary while you are playing is a must to really get the most out of the game. It is often unintentionally hilarious, and is probably worth a rental just for the quick and easy laughs and so you can pick up some easy achievements.
Graphics and Sound
Graphically, Superman Returns is a mess. The city is initially pretty impressive since it is so huge, but then you notice the bland textures on everything, plain looking citizens, bad looking cars, and overall lack of detail. Also, Superman looks downright scary because he constantly has a blank, unblinking stare on his face that burns through your TV and right into your very soul.
The sound is similarly bland. The actors from the movie all lent their talents to the game, but their performances can only be described as uninspired. It is also slightly disappointing that the real soundtrack from the movie wasn’t used in the game. Instead, there is a “close, but not the same” track that sounds okay, but I think we should expect more out of a licensed game like this.
Bottom Line
EA
I think that most gamers took it as a good sign when EA decided to delay the release of the game when it was originally scheduled to launch when the movie hit theaters. We all thought that they would spend the extra six months and really polish it up and make it something special. That didn’t happen, however, and the result is pretty disappointing. On the other hand, though, I shudder to think what it would have been like six months ago if this is the final product of all of the extra work. Superman Returns suffers from bland graphics and sound, repetitive and boring gameplay, and an overall lack of polish that is simply unacceptable. There is still some fun to be had if you don’t do missions and just goof off, but it is only worth a rental at most.
