ClubHooligan.com - Burning it up at both ends

A promising Start: Drawing on the wealth of characters and images from Iron Man's 40-year history, Sega has created a superhero action game that will probably appeal to more than just fans of the genre.

There is no doubt that Iron Man is a busy superhero. After the fallout from the events in Marvel Comics blockbuster Civil War last winter, it seems like he is everywhere. He's already starring in practically every comic Marvel puts out, and we wouldn't be surprised if he started showing up in DC's Batman books too. And he's not going away anytime soon, since this summer he'll be making his big screen debut alongside Sega's video game adaptation. It's a great time to be an Iron Man fan.

Even for those who aren't familiar with the character, both the game and movie are origin tales and should provide good jumping on points to the character's rich 40-year history. Comic magnate Stan Lee created Iron Man's alter ego, billionaire playboy Tony Stark, in 1963. Lee wanted to create a character loaded with personal demons and character flaws, so he used American entrepreneur Howard Hughes as a model. Stark is an engineering genius and inventor who finds himself struggling with a heart condition. Not content to settle for a pacemaker, he creates a suit of armor to help regulate his health - then, logically, starts - fighting evil.

Time is not an inventor's friend. To stay on the competitive edge in the ever-evolving world of technology, Tony must constantly tinker with his armor. Sega sees this as an important element of the mythos, and has decided to make it an integral part of the game. Iron Man is already a destructive force capable of ripping turrets off tanks and knocking waves of soldiers down with a single repulsor blast, but players will be able to customize and upgrade their armor further by adding new weapons and defensive measures to Iron Man's already ample arsenal.

Game Preview

'Iron man'

Format: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360.

Category: Single-player action.

Publisher: Sega.

Release: April.

However, some of Iron Man's greatest weapons might be his own enemies. Players will be able to take advantage of a series of contextual actions that allow Iron Man to turn his enemy's own attacks against them. In the example we saw, Iron Man wrenched a missile out of the air from its flight path, and then sent it back to the battlement that had launched it.

The team at Sega didn't want to confine old Shell Head to the close quarters of a New York alley or subway, and are designing a lot of large open environments to showcase his aerial abilities. Iron Man is basically a flying human tank, but even so he weaves through enemy fire and past factory smoke stacks at speeds approaching 300 mph. He needs his space.

Sega has a wealth of comic lore to draw from, so the game won't be limited to the movie's plot. Not only does this mean that we will see popular characters from the comics such as Jim Rhodes, Jarvis and Pepper Potts, but we'll also face off against a variety of old comic villains and don some of the more popular Iron Man suits from years gone by. The game is off to a promising start, and if Sega can pull all the pieces together it might end up with a game that can appeal to more than just comic enthusiasts.

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