Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (Xbox 360)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 2.5 stars OK
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 5.0 (2.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Aaron Thomas
• Reviewed on: 06/21/2007
• Released on: 06/15/2007
• Originally published on GameSpot: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (Xbox 360) Review

It's no secret that games based on movies often get a bad rap. It's also no secret that games based on movies that are based on comic book characters tend to be among the worst offenders when it comes to portraying their source material. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 does little to buck that trend. There's nothing inherently broken with the game, and until it fizzles out at the end the story's not bad, but the gameplay is so contrived and repetitive that it's unlikely anyone will garner much enjoyment from the game.

Fantastic Four loosely follows the plot of the movie, but it takes several liberties with the story. As in the movie, Reed (Mr. Fantastic) and Sue (Invisible Woman) are all set to get married when the Silver Surfer and Dr. Doom show up and complicate matters. Galactus, unlike in the movie, where he plays an integral role, is mentioned in the game but never makes an appearance. This omission means the whole plot falls apart at the end of the game, which is a shame because, until that point, the story is pretty good.

FF: Rise of the Silver Surfer is a standard beat-'em-up. You can play alone and switch between characters by pressing the D pad, or you and up to three friends can play together on a single system. You'll play as Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, The Thing, and Human Torch as they brawl their way through the game's six levels, which will see you do battle in locations such as the Skrull lair, outer space, New York City, and Shanghai. The locations may be exotic, but the mission objectives certainly aren't. You'll spend most of your time activating doors so you can deactivate lasers so you can activate an elevator so you can activate a door, which lets you do it all over again. There are a few levels where you'll fly through barren caves and a repetitive subway system with Human Torch. Simply put, these levels are awful--though they're a tiny bit better when playing with the Sixaxis' motion-sensing controls.

All the characters have basic strong and weak attacks, and if you mix up your attacks you can string together combos. Of course, each person has special powers that you'll need to use from time to time. Invisible Woman can turn invisible and use telekinesis; Mr. Fantastic can stretch and bend to hit hard-to-reach switches; The Thing can lift heavy objects and damage bad guys by pounding the ground; and Human Torch can toss fireballs and even fly. Unfortunately, the game does little to take advantage of these superpowers. Human Torch can fly like a bird during cutscenes, but he's limited to an altitude of about 15 feet when you're actually playing. The Thing can smash his way through a few walls here and there, but most items in the game are impervious to his strength. Mr. Fantastic is generally useful only for hitting switches that are high up, and Invisible Woman is pretty worthless as well, able to go through only some lasers and not others.

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