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2K Games is treading the waters normally populated by companies like Activision, THQ, and EA; and has unleashed a slew of games based on the latest Fantastic Four movie, Rise of the Silver Surfer. The results are unfortunately predictable. Basically identical on both the PS3 and Xbox 360, (except for a few Human Torch levels that use the Sixaxis control) neither version is going to satisfy super hero fans in search of a good time..

It’s Clobberin’ Time!

Taking the 80s-old tradition of making a team-based game entirely focused on mindlessly beating the crap out of objects and bad guys, Rise of the Silver Surfer is a lot like the X-Men Legend and Marvel Ultimate Alliance games—only not good, or interesting, or smart. Those games had a great array of characters with interesting levels, villains, and storylines, but Rise of the Silver Surfer is just boring.

Rise of the Silver Surfer takes the overall plot of the movie and expands on it, as the team travels all over the world to find the cause of the global disturbances. Much like coin-op games of old, you control the Fantastic Four as they run through a variety of levels spread over the globe—including an underground Skrull lair smartly placed in an active volcano, Shanghai, the Himalayas, and other exotic locales. Unfortunately, they aren’t there to sight see or uncover the intelligent mysteries of the universe. It’s clobbering time, all the time.

Repeatedly clobber thugs, skrulls, and the usual bland array of comic book villains, and then stop for a second to hit a switch or utilize one of the team’s special powers to overcome some pointless obstacle. Do this for about six hours, either by yourself or with friends. Then, feel the burn of wasting $60. This is a shame, because there are some good aspects of the game. For one thing, you have access to the whole team through most of the game. You can switch between them at will, or when you need a specific character’s powers. The inclusion of four-player cooperative play is a nice, if necessary, touch, but most players are bound to get bored of the gameplay fast.

Team Imbalances

Combat is bare bones. Each character has special moves specific to their unique ability, plus a weak and strong attack. You can chain basic combos, but mostly it’s all button mashing and no strategy. Unless playing with friends, the logical choice to blast through the game is The Thing. His super attack plows through a group of villains easily, while the Human Torch’s fireball distance attack is the second most useful ability. Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman just feel outclassed and ineffectual, and usually are only useful when their ability is required to unlock a door.

The plot isn’t terrible, but the dialogue is awful. As for voice acting quality, the game doesn’t use the actual actors, but the stand-ins are decent. Rise of the Silver Surfer doesn’t look all that hot either. The graphics are certainly passable, but the level design is remarkably bland—rooms tend to all look alike, and despite the different backdrops, everything ends up feeling the same. Character design is problematic as well. The same enemy types are recycled too much, and even the Fantastic Four models look unpolished.

Not So Fantastic

Somewhere out there is a developer who can see more potential in licenses than this. A Fantastic Four game is, in theory, a good idea, and there’s no shortage of background material to draw from—even if the original source material is a middle of the road movie. Unfortunately, Rise of the Silver Surfer is worse than the usual mediocre movie spinoffs, which is saying something. Youngsters might have the attention span to find completing the game entertaining, but everyone is better off playing Ultimate Alliance—a vastly superior game.

Article by: Jason D'Aprile