Fantastic 4

E3 Preview 2005

It was a little more than 40 years ago when Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Sue and Johnny Storm took a fateful journey into outer space and were bombarded with life-changing cosmic rays.

Thus were born the Fantastic Four, a unique team of superheroes with diverse skills that work amazingly well together. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s creations have been one of pop culture’s endearing teams, and the comic books have been translated into 11 languages around the world.

There is a movie coming out this summer featuring the F4, but let’s make something clear immediately – the Activision Fantastic Four videogame is not based off the movie, and vice versa. The game is much more expansive, and the level of action is much broader.

There are also a host of characters appearing in the game that will not be in the movie.

Activision held a pre-E3 event in Santa Monica recently, and the star of the evening was an all-too brief glimpse at the upcoming game. 

As you are aware, if you follow the series, the FF team has diverse talents – Ben, as The Thing, is the consummate tank, with Sue using force fields and telepathic knock-backs, Johnny’s Torch (flame on!) capable of erecting impassable fire walls, as well as doing some pretty nasty damage, and Reed (as Mr. Fantastic) able to bend, stretch and shape-shift is body into a variety of forms. Couple all that with the ability to switch dynamically between characters at any time, destructible environments and the between 30-40 moves per character and you have a lot of room for deep fun.

The goal, purportedly, is to find a way to change Ben back to human form, to find the source of the cosmic rays. But there are a host of villains and other “bad” guys in the way. Because the game does allow for co-op play, gamers will be able to play the entire game cooperatively. And avatars are upgradeable as they level.

About half of the major characters from the Fantastic Four universe make an appearance in this game, including Dr. Doom, the Puppet Master, Nick Fury and Diablo. There is even a rumor that Charles Xavier’s bunch may drop in as well.

This is a game that is a real treat for the eyes. The action can be intense and players may have to rely on certain team members to solve specific puzzles, and engage certain enemies.

The gameplay was merely tantalizing, immersing players into a universe that is dynamic and full of eye-popping combat. This is a game that will be absolutely worth looking for.

Expect Fantastic Four to release in mid-June on the GameBoy Advance, GameCube, Xbox and PlayStation 2 console systems.