Iron Man 2: The Video Game Review (PS3)

This time he's alongside his companion War Machine, for a fight that picks up almost directly after the events of the original Iron Man. The story's fairly well told during missions and cut-scenes, but feels a bit archaic and dragged out. That said, those looking to go deeper into the movie's lore will find merit in the game's story-telling, while others will just need to know that the other robot things are bad.

Iron Man 2 features a fairly average length campaign, with a spattering of upgrade features and new costumes to tempt you back for a second playthrough.

Iron Man 2 is not a good video game. It suffers from the same problem as countless movie tie-ins before it: time constraints. Everything here is done by half - the animation looks slack, the visuals dated, the controls horrific and the mission structure simplistic. That said, there are occasional flashes of brilliance in Iron Man 2. Moments where you'll run into a chamber, kick a generator until it explodes, launch into the air and soar out as the wall's collapse around you. Those moments make you reconsider your stance on Iron Man 2. "Maybe it's not so bad after all," you declare, "I really do feel like Iron Man. This is awesome." Then you glitch through a wall and remember that down disengages flight (why?). As enemies fill the room, you attempt to better them with Iron Man's range of advanced weaponry - only to be dealt the complete kicker. "Why," you ask, " Do all Iron Man's weapons feel like different permutations of poking pins in my eyes?" You're no longer Iron Man.

For a game called "Iron Man", Iron Man 2 has a distinct lack of weight to it. That's a real kicker because it means flight and combat feel about as fun as pouring acid on the palm of your hand. I.e. not very. The sole problem really revolves around the fact that Iron Man is not a fun character to play as. Iron Man 2 could have been a better game if it only felt better. Little things like the way controls are mapped, and the way weapons react could have brought things to life. As it happens, you'll find yourself locking on too incredibly unexciting robot enemies, squeezing R2 and L2, and waiting for a suitably unsatisfactory explosion to occur. Rinse, repeat. Alternatively, you can press Square to punch metal people in the face - but while they take damage, Iron Man'll blatantly not make contact. Who said wrestling was fake, eh?

Basic games should end up with basic menus right? Not Iron Man 2, as it has some of the most convoluted menus we've ever seen. Would you like to go to headquarters? Erm, sure ok. Would you like to research? Fine. Would you like to research this weapon? Erm, sure. You can't research this weapon. Ok. Would you like to update your suit? Yes. You can attach this weapon to your suit. Ok. You can't attach this weapon to your suit. Oh. But you can attach this IA-25001 missile launcher if you like. Awesome - what does it do? No idea. Ah. Would you like to --...

In an era where the Playstation 3 is home to games such as Killzone 2, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and God Of War III it feels a bit, what's the word, unfair to be playing something as bad looking at Iron Man 2. Look, we realise there has to be the bad for the good to look so awesome - but didn't we play Iron Man 2 already? Like... On the Playstation 2. We heard it looked amazing back on that system - five years ago.