Iron Man the game sucked major repulsor rays, but then most video game movie tie-ins do. Witness James Cameron’s Avatar, hailed by most as a breakthrough movie (even if it wasn’t) which even the pros at Ubisoft Montreal (Assassin’s Creed II, Prince of Persia) couldn’t rescue in game-form from the curse of “crap by association.”
So this week we have Iron Man 2, still published by Sega but designed by a different studio. I expect it’ll suck considerably less than its predecessor, but after games like InFAMOUS and Arkham Asylum and Crackdown, I’m not holding my breath. (And since I hated the otherwise enjoyable first movie’s offensively stupid ending, I’m not sucking air for the cinematic sequel, either.)
If you’re in more of a PC groove, there’s the Total War Battle Pack for $30–also from Sega–that bundles the Rome and Medieval II games with expansions. On the backend, it’s missing 2000’s seminal Shogun: Total War–still my favorite in the series–and if you’re looking for the second newest game in this series, Empire: Total War, it’s not included and still $30 standalone. The latter’s one of those rare gems everyone scored bizarrely high while savaging the AI in text. Hey, who says game writers have to be congruous?
In the handheld bin, Monster Racers for the Nintendo DS sounds like another Pokemon clone. “Players will embark on a quest that will take them around the globe in search of monster breeds to train, nurture and race.” Nah, doesn’t sound familiar at all. Survival horror game Dementium II (also for the DS) with its 3D environs, flashlight, sledgehammer, and “just how demented are you?” angle sounds more interesting, and the original was well-reviewed.
Fat Princess, Sony’s formerly PS3-only team-oriented capture-the-chunky-damsel game makes an appearance on the PSP this week as Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake. Everyone seems to love the PS3 version, so if you’re looking for a quick and simple class-based strategy game you can tote around and play online, you might want to check it out.
Oh yeah, don’t forget Dance Sensation for the Wii. It’s another dance game, of course, and that’s all I’m saying about that.
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