Sega's Iron Man game needs the Proton Cannon... Demo Impressions

I played the Iron Man demo today, which is up on Xbox Live Marketplace now and after two run-throughs (the demo is timed), the gameplay is not that deep as I thought it would be. First of all, the demo is timed, which is nine minutes to destroy tanks, helicopters, turrets, and crates as Iron Man. I have a feeling the final game's objectives will be more variations of what I played in this demo, which seems repetitive to me. All you do in the demo is fly, hover, and shoot, and repeat at what I mentioned. Occasionally, you can use the Uni Beam attack with the right bumper to take out tougher sets of enemies, but it takes time to set it up and leaves you wide open for to be hit. As seen in the demo trailer, you can use enemy vehicles to your advantage back at them, but nailing it in action seems sketchy and wonky to do. Quite simply, the overall controls for Iron Man feels really sketchy. Hovering and flying seemed confusing at first, but you will notice the differences after some play-throughs. Once you nail the flying controls, it makes you think you're freaking Iron Man flying at supersonic speeds boosting around, but I am worried after the playing the demo is that the combat doesn't make you feel like you are Iron Man especially when he is a high-tier beast in Marvel vs. Capcom 2 with Proton Cannons, Smart Bombs, Repulsor Blasts, and Infinite combos.

The graphics are at least the only good thing I can say about Sega's Iron Man game. At least Iron Man himself looks good and sharp, but the backgrounds can be somewhat dull in the final game (that's a prediction). The voice-overs also seem half-assed like most games based on movies with no emotion coming out of it from Tony Stark and your computer friend. Before jumping into action, there are some customization / RPG elements which is your basic spend money on upgrades ordeal. Even on Easy and Normal, the computer A.I. does not really put up a fight with your health being rechargeable quickly and a matter of avoiding missiles.

The Iron Man demo feels like target practice as Iron Man with its auto-aiming system. The controls feel sketchy for both movement and combat. I wished he had more of a move list or other available weapons in the demo (maybe there's more in the final cut) other than a normal blast, Uni Beam, and melee when close. Graphically, it looks good and shiny as well as having the effortless voice overs as seen in other movie licensed games. In the end, Iron Man might as well be just another crappy licensed movie game that feels rushed to coincide with the movie itself on May 2nd. Then again, everyone will be playing Grand Theft Auto IV, but this Iron Man game can be a decent rental at best if you're a fan.

Okay the world is coming to an end... MK vs. DC

I thought I was going to the end the night with my last post, but this is just totally crazy.

This seems like the worst kept secret yet, but Mortal Kombat vs. DC Comics seems official according this poster even though the url there doesn't work for now. More details will surface tomorrow or in a matter of hours, but for now, this is nuts...

UPDATE - Here's the announcement trailer with some gameplay revealed as Ed Boon mentions "Klose Kombat" and "Freefall Kombat" as some of the new features to the fighting. Then again, this is still crazy stuff.

Clip of the Night (4/17/08) - The "death" of the new ECW??

I didn't watch ECW this week, but I was aware of the announcement of Joey Styles heading up WWE's website instead doing his ECW announcing thing. Sucks for Tazz, with his replacement being the horrible Mike Adamle. If Vince really wanted to kill the new ECW, this seems to be the solution with his abysmal announcing as shown in this clip.

More Good Times with Rob & Big

Here is some more of my favorite moments in the best MTV show that came to an end two days ago, Rob & Big.

He Does Whatever A Spider Can.... Another new Spidey game for the Fall

So Activision announced the latest Spider-Man game today, which is called Web of Shadows. Not  a lot of details have surfaced regarding the plot for this one since it is not based on any of the movies (Well, good since the movie Spidey games suck). Treyarch is developing it again for 360 and PS3 while Shaba Games are doing the other versions (PS2, Wii, PSP, DS, etc.). The main thing Activision is promoting so far with Web of Shadows is letting the players choose which Spider-Man to go with, which is your typical superhero saving, or someone out for himself. For any clues regarding Web of Shadows, check out the teaser thanks to ign and Yahoo.

Let the Countdown begin.... GTA4

Less than 2 weeks to go for perhaps the biggest game of this generation of consoles (sorry Halo 3), Grand Theft Auto IV. We read enough previews, heard people's doubts, and screamed about the delay. It is only a matter of time when Rockstar's juggernaut takes over the world again and controversy stirs with the government's problem. The commercials / ads have been rolling out in the past week worldwide and the whole $400 million in the first week possibility according to analysts can happen because there are enough 360 and PS3 owners that will buy this opus in a heartbeat. It is also a good time to rock a new screenshot as my new wallpaper. Be prepared for a mini series of blogs to my progress throughout single-player as well as multiplayer impressions before my biggest review yet sometime next month.

Soul Calibur Madness... The Soul still burns

Namco had a recent press event with no Tekken 6 PS3 (which stinks) but headlined by Soul Calibur IV. A whole slab of previews are now up at various web sites as well as this trailer above with some new footage (no official gameplay matches yet). The game is still coming out in July 29 with a limited edition and they are promising future DLC with costumes, weapons, etc. (maybe Darth Vader on 360 and Yoda on PS3). It still looks pretty good and while others complained about the boobage with the female characters (almost DOA quality to some of them), some are still wandering whether or not the fighting will be balanced with no arcade version to back it up like Tekken 6. Will the Critical Finishes (instant kill moves) break the game? Will online performance be pretty laggy? There are still many questions to be answered when we all play the game in July.

As if SC4 is enough, Namco announced today that the Soul Calibur 1 will be on XBLA sometime later this year (maybe around the time SC4 is out??). They might as well bring the best fighting game critically to please the fans. For now, no online multiplayer is planned for this XBLA port, but they promised HD graphics, achievements, and leaderboards will be in it. No PSN version announced yet which pissed off the PS3 fanboys and Namco themselves have been screwing the PSN for XBLA releasing their classics, but then there's still Tekken on the PS3 with DR Online and that's good enough for me since the franchise has been a staple for the Playstation brand. At least Tekken 6 is staying on PS3 for now.