Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects - Xbox

Superheroes have always been good game fodder, and as summer turns to autumn in 2005, there’s a positive flood of 'ubermensch' titles coming out. Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects is one of these, and is truly a crossover of crossovers. As if flexing their muscles after acquiring rights to a huge amount of Marvel IP, Electronic Arts has recruited heroes and villains from all over the shop to battle against an all-new team of baddies called the Imperfects. Cherry-picking favourites from different teams and families, EA has selected loners like Spider-man and Daredevil, heroes from teams like The Thing and Johnny Blaze of the Fantastic Four, and villains such as Magneto and Electra. The Imperfects are an imaginatively concocted crowd, with a robotic Russian ballet dancer, an electrically charged prisoner from Death Row and a biologically mutated Gulf War soldier numbering among them. The result is a chunky 3D fighter featuring your favourite super heroes from all over the joint.

Dramatic violence is the name of the game, and to progress you’ll need to take advantage of your chosen hero’s unique powers. You can use the scenery to your advantage, too, by hurling your opponent into or through walls, or smashing them with huge blunt objects that shatter in your hands. Naturally, such a game makes for a good multiplayer rumpus and allows you to take part in big head-to-head battles. The arenas are based on places you’ll recognise from the comic books like the Daily Bugle and the Avengers mansion, and locations from real-life NYC like the Brooklyn Bridge, Grand Central Station and the streets of New York. If you want honest-to-goodness, no frills fighting with your favourite Marvel characters, then give this a whirl. more