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[DMczaf]

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/previews/previews_story.php?id=130997

Character and story don't necessarily make for good games, but Gray believes the partnership will prove fruitful. "We had a really great meeting with Bryan Singer and he was very supportive of the game. He's a big gamer. The big decision we made early on was not to do a literal version of the film. Whereas Batman was a linear game based directly on certain events in the film, we've taken some elements from the film but introduced a lot of new scenarios and characters from the DC universe into the game. It was important to have the creative backing of the director, but we're creating a much bigger version of Metropolis, for example. If you want to have a kind of 'live the film' experience I don't think you'll be disappointed, but if you didn't want a literal version, we have a lot of surprises in store."

Tiburon's Metropolis plays a crucial role, as the primary objective of the game is protecting the city, which makes sense if you think about it. Given that Superman is pretty much invincible (give or take the odd bite of Kryptonite), it wouldn't make for much of a challenge if all you had to do was keep him alive. As Chris Gray says, "Superman is this invulnerable character, and one of the first questions people usually ask is 'how do I make a challenging game if the character can't be killed?' The answer is he's really there to save Metropolis."

As such, a system of collateral damage has been introduced, with a bar depleting depending on damage to the city or citizens. Superman also has a stamina bar himself, which recharges during periods of inactivity in much the same way as the Halo shield.

So who or what is causing this damage to Metropolis? Thus far we only have details of one supervillain, the impressively dimensioned and aptly named Metallo. Originally a fairly mundane robot about 12 feet high, Metallo worked in a car factory, where he discovered he had a magnetic command over mechanical items, sending the other robots on something of a rampage of destruction. Metallo himself kept growing, transforming into a lumbering 60-storey behemoth caked in metallic objects such as cars, trucks, helicopters and even tanks.

With swirling vortices for legs, he's an impressive sight, but naturally no match for Superman, or indeed OXM, as we discovered during our exclusive hands-on playtest. Donning the blue cape, we came across Metallo wreaking havoc in a city square, knocking down buildings and terrorising the population of Metropolis. Naturally, we weren't going to stand for that, so we flew instead, circling his head and fixing him with a blast of heat vision. In fairness, he gave a good account of himself, returning a few punches and a bit of Kryptovision, which had Superman cowering momentarily. Metallo eventually weakened though, at which point Superman clobbered him upside the head with an enormous stone obelisk, bringing the metallic pest to his knees. Superman 1, Metallo 0.

The flying was probably the hardest to implement. Tiburon has attempted to make it a dynamic experience, coming up with the concept of "swimming through the air," a phrase apparently also used independently by the film-makers. As such, Superman will thrust upwards from the ground and corkscrew through the air, rather than hovering statically like Christopher Reeve in front of a blue screen. The superpowers - including super hearing, super speed, heat vision, frost breath, x-ray vision and super breath - are there from the start, but can be augmented between levels in the Fortress of Solitude, the mystical place in the films where Supes goes to get his head together. And if you were hoping to play as Clark Kent, he does appear briefly in a mini-game.

 

[Snaku]

If this doesn't suck I'll be truly shocked.

Still can't believe after all these years that this is still the best Superman game...

 

[sprsk]

i assume those arent in game shots :/

 

[karasu]

It would be great to have a good Superman game.

 

[raYne]

i assume those arent in game shots :/

Considering the title says "art" and everything there looks like art save for the Metallo pic, then yeah.. it's not in game. The Metallo pic is weird, he (Metallo) looks like art while everything else looks in-game... and shitty at that.

I'm hoping they keep the Metallo to Superman scale ratio used in that pic. He look huge in the older pics, but not THAT huge.

 

[J2 Cool]

I want to fly down and punch the civilians, then throw a car at them. That would be awesome. GTA but with Superman powers and no upper law of containment. What are they gonna do? Block the sun and kill me? :lol

 

[DMczaf]

I want to fly down and punch the civilians, then throw a car at them. That would be awesome. GTA but with Superman powers and no upper law of containment. What are they gonna do? Block the sun and kill me? :lol

 

[raYne]

I want to fly down and punch the civilians, then throw a car at them. That would be awesome. GTA but with Superman powers and no upper law of containment. What are they gonna do? Block the sun and kill me? :lol

Cadmus!

 

[hadareud]

I want to fly down and punch the civilians, then throw a car at them. That would be awesome. GTA but with Superman powers and no upper law of containment. What are they gonna do? Block the sun and kill me? :lol

Crackdown then

 

[Quadrophenic]

So...Metallo is the villain in the movie? Wasn't Metallo originally a human/cyborg thing with a kryptonite heart? Whats this shit about him (it?) being a robot car assembler with magnetic powers?

 

[crankypants]

Sorry, the best Superman game:

Which is sad, considering all that came after it 20 years later.

 

[J2 Cool]

:lol He'd be a way better villain for Superman than Lex Luthor ever has been. Monty Burns always gets his way, and can really play the pity card, which Superman would melt like a bitch for. Then he'll destory him with his incredible power and ruthlessness. And yes, I've considered Crackdown to be the greatest gaming concept ever since it's first appearance.

 

[Fatghost]

For me the best Superman game is still the Taito arcade version. Although it hasn't aged well at all and frankly it's an incredibly repetitive piece of shit - same two levels over again and the same 10 second midi sample looped over and over again.

 

[Simo]

So...Metallo is the villain in the movie? Wasn't Metallo originally a human/cyborg thing with a kryptonite heart? Whats this shit about him (it?) being a robot car assembler with magnetic powers?

No he's not in the movie, Lex Luthor is the only villain but they're using some of the supervillains just for the game. Those shots were also in Game Informer awhile back and the 2 in-game screenshots featuring Metallo and the helicopter are supposed to be from the Xbox 360 demo.

 

[Dan]

That Metallo shot is from Xbox 360? Weak...

 

[raYne]

That Metallo shot is from Xbox 360? Weak...

Where did you get that conclusion from? Did you use your "Jump to Conclusions" Mat?

 

[The Take Out Bandit]

I enjoyed the Superman arcade game.

Made very little sense, but was fun.

My favorite part:

It is possible that the idea for the second player's red Superman came from the imaginary story "The Amazing Story Of Superman-Red And Superman-Blue" (which was published in Superman No. 162 in 1963), but perhaps this is just a coincidence.

 

[Raiden]

First real-ingame shots of Superman Returns

*troll*

 

[Shinobi]

THIS is the best Superman game ever, for the Godly Amiga...

Had a beautiful theme for the title screen as well. Wish I had a MP3 of it.

 

[civilstrife]

First real-ingame shots of Superman Returns

*troll*

DS version am get!

 

[Eel O'Brian]

 

[jett]

No he's not in the movie, Lex Luthor is the only villain but they're using some of the supervillains just for the game.

Thank GOD. Ever since the first pics of the game surfaced I thought that ugly thing would be in the movie. It'd just look like shit on film.