Four to keep you floored

Fantastic 4
PS2

Firestarter: Fantastic fans can live the life through the game.

The game:
Battle your way through Dr Doom’s legions of robots and other monstrous foes, re-enacting key moments from the film.

The play:
In the game, you’ll control four different heroes, each with unique powers and abilities.

All four heroes aren’t available to you at all times and, in most of the levels, you’ll be limited to one or two characters.

Switching between heroes can be done quickly and, when your team-mate is not under your direct control, he or she is controlled by artificial intelligence – which can be annoying when they occasionally stand by and let you take a beating.

Each character has three special cosmic powers that can be unleashed with double-button presses, as well as combination moves done by pushing the two attack buttons in different order. A worthy point of note; you can grapple or combination-grapple with your team mates.

The terrain:
The targeting system in the game is disappointing, it is sometimes difficult to lock on to anything. Characters sometimes clip through solid objects, and enemies can get stuck in the air (or in corners).

Things often look so similar that after a long fight in a room you can’t tell where you came from – there’s no mini-map for guidance. Character voices are aligned to the movie actors, but the ho-hum sound effects made me take notice of the soundtrack – boring.

The experience:
Though Fantastic 4 does allow for a co-op beat ’em up, it’s fairly bland compared to other titles on the market. On the flip side, at least you can win it through the Gamesman.

– Squadron Leader Nick Hogan

Worms 4 – Mayhem
PS2

The Gamesman has a copy of Fantastic 4 and Worms 4 to give away. E-mail adfgamesmen@telstra.com with the game name in the subject line. Include your name and work address.

The game: The Worms are back, but this time in a 3D landscape, and they’re ready to create havoc among the new battlegrounds.

The play: Spread over five zones, with more weapons, it will continue to entertain the hardened Worms fan.

In single-player modes there are also side missions, with objectives such as recovering items or destroying the landscape, as well as the standard blow (the more impressive the better) the opposition off the map.

There are tutorials that allow you to get used to the new layout and mode play or you can just roll straight into single-player mission mode or quick missions.

The only annoying point of this game is the amount of time it takes to load maps and missions. This is more than made up for with the new and improved ways of handing out punishment to any opposing worm.

The terrain: 25 missions with different maps plus 20 multi-player specific maps make for varied killing grounds. The graphics are simple but the beauty of the environment is that it can add to the carnage and destruction – so knowing your maps is a huge advantage.

Customise your worms and their weapons for the maximum effects then take them online to spread around a little cyber destruction.

The experience: I always loved the concept and, while it takes a little while to get used to the new aiming mechanism with the 3D maps, it’s a whole lot of fun. Despite the G rating there’s plenty of killing to be done.

– Squadron Leader Nick Hogan

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