Fantastic 4
System: PC   Publisher: Activision   Developer: 7 Studios   Genre: Action   Release Date: 06/27/05

The Thing changed more than anyone else and he did not take it as well as the others.  He has a beautiful wife that he doesn't want to lose because of his deformity.  Unfortunately he does lose her, she couldn't deal with the drastic change in his appearance.  So the Thing ends up on the bridge looking into the water when a hapless stranger wanders over to him, thinking he is a regular Joe, to offer some advice why life is not so bad.  The stranger takes one look at him and freaks out which is how you come to the next part of the game; saving people on a bridge.  Each character has their own signature color and when you see the glowing, circular color it will indicate which character is needed to perform that task.  You just set the character on the circle and follow the directions so that the hero can do their special move.

The game is not exactly like the movie, more villains were needed to make the game last longer.  For instance, another comic book character, Nick Fury, was added into the mix.  Nick Fury captures the Fantastic 4 and keeps them captive because of all the destruction they cause when trying to save people.  Of course they escape from there too and strike a deal with Nick so that they will not be captured again.  The deal is that the Fantastic 4 must undertake a mission for him, a dangerous one.  There are also gang members for them to fight, dinosaurs, and lot of robotic creatures.

For those of you video game fans that like some substance in your games, keep on looking because your not going to find it here.  On the other hand, if you are missing the old games like the ones for the original Nintendo console, look no further.  The Fantastic 4 is your typical beat-em'-up and fly through game.  This game can be beaten with relative ease, the character's moves are not hard to master at all, and the boss characters go down easy, even Von Doom.  The graphics are rather drab and the dialogue between the characters is difficult to hear over all the other noise.  The only thing that saved this game from getting a total splat is the cooperative mode which turned out to be really fun.  The way the camera is set up it is easy to maneuver your characters even when you have two people trying to be the boss.  Really there isn't a lot of choice on where to go, the path is already set for you.  It is also very easy to distinguish one character from another which lessens the confusion of which little person is yours.  So my recommendation is if you are going to rent or buy this game plan on making it a game for two, you will get a lot more out of it. 

Miranda Stites, HeroesOfGaming.com, 08/04/05