Superman: Man of Steel - Xbox

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Superman: Man of Steel (Xbox)
Also for: GBA, PlayStation, Game Boy Color
Viewed: 3D Combination Genre:
Adventure
Media: CD Arcade origin:No
Developer: Circus Freak Soft. Co.: Infogrames
Publishers: Infogrames (GB/US)
Released: 13 Dec 2002 (GB)
Unknown (US)
Ratings: 3+
Accessories: Xbox Memory Unit

Summary

Jimmy Saville certainly had his work cut out for him in the 1980s, what with scores of us writing to him on a weekly basis deploring the guy to fix it for us to be Superman. Technology was not too great back then, so it can't have been the easiest of tasks. If only he'd have had an Xbox, because Superman: Man of Steel presents the best opportunity yet to step into those famous blue tights, wear underpants on the outside and fly around, saving mortals from the threat of evil.

As is often the case in the dangerous city of Metropolis, supervillain Lex Luthor is up to no good. Brainiac 13 is attempting to take control of advanced technology that would enable him to destroy the city and take over the world. Players assume the role of Superman, the Last Son of the Planet Krypton, and are charged with protecting the citizens caught within the ensuing chaos, finding the technology to stop maniacal robots from taking over the city and defeating the evil masterminds behind the diabolical plot.

Thankfully, as we all know, the Man of Steel has a fair few powers under his belt, which come in handy when up against the forces of evil. The full list, including super strength, heat vision, x-ray vision and ice breath are all available in the game, spicing up both the ground and air-based combat in the epic battles that take place with baddies such as Bizzaro #1, Metallo, Mongul and the Cyborg.

As well as simply kicking butt, players also have to deal with other issues that plague our hero regularly, such as disaster prevention, damage management and civilian rescue. These are all in a day's work, however, and also none too tedious, as the 15 levels of the game are all abundant in eye candy. For the more technical amongst you, the game engine is packed with vertex and pixel shaders, bump-mapping, environment-mapping, as well as a host of particle effects.

With a story penned by none other than one of DC Comics' own authors, Man of Steel is possibly the closest gamers will get to experiencing the comic book crime fighting for themselves.