Iron Man

THE BAD:
Music isn't all that great or memorable - phoned in for sure. Enemies simply respawn so you can blow them up again, and ground troops show no sign of intelligence, and will just stand there waiting to be blown up while they fire at you. Targeting system makes it hard to spot an enemy when they are in your field of vision unless you are really close to them, yet when you turn around the target marker appears to tell you they are in a specific direction behind you - often results in you having to connect the tracer fire to sift through ground rubble to find the offending enemy soldier.

Some voice work is great, but most of it is pretty hammy. Robert Downey Jr. and Terrence Howard's voice over lines are cheap and quick, though Jr.'s usual tonal inflections stand out way too much to keep him grounded as Tony Stark. (Wasn't taken seriously) Though you can hear them act much better during the CG movies, where they likely had to lip sync to visual footage instead of talk into a mic and read from a game script.

Some game play elements are disabled when you would otherwise use them, such as fast-forward flight when in long corridors, or when fighting certain bosses.

The game also sloppily pieces together bits of the movie plot just enough to be coherently played, but leaves out some seriously important scenes, such as the cause for Stark's new mechanical heart, and some background information on other characters.

SUMMARY:
Iron Man for the PSP is based on the 2008, May released "Iron Man" film, starring Robert Downey Jr. as billionaire weapons developer Tony Stark, with a supporting cast of Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jeff Bridges as Stark's rival, Obediah Stane.

The game starts out with Tony Stark imprisoned by enemy forces in the middle east. He, along with another scientist by the name of Yensen, have apparently been captured and have been ordered to create missiles for their captors. Having finally realized the downside to weapons development, Tony Stark decides then and there to fight back and change his ways as a weapons developer, already labeled a merchant of death. Using the resources available, Yensen and Stark create a suit of armor that Tony can pilot, using the advanced power source that keeps his heart in check.

[size =1]The game does not tell you this, but in the film this is based on, Tony Stark is running demonstrations for his weapon designs out in the middle east for US Forces. Their convoy is attacked. Stark is captured by rebel forces. During the attack Stark is also injured as shrapnel comes close to piercing his heart. With the help of another captive by the name of "Yensen", Stark is outfitted with a module that protects his heart, and also powers his body. This new power source is untested, and is capable of powering the Iron Man suit. As captives, Stark is ordered to work on missile technology for the rebels. Stark realizes the sad truth to weapons development, and realizes he has to make a change and right the wrongs he's responsible for. Pairing his genius with that of Yensen, Stark instead uses the provisions he's given to creat the first incarnation of the Iron Man suit of armor. (In the comic, known as the Tin Can model) Stark's unique power source allows only himself to pilot the suit, and Stark and Yensen plan their escape using the suit as the jail-breaker element.[/size]

Before their captors can realize what they've really been up to, Stark dons the Iron Man suit and literally bursts from his cell. In the escape process however, Yensen is killed before Stark can reach him. Stark eventually flees the scene and returns stateside to Stark Industries, where he shuts down weapons development and stops funding various contracts. He also goes on to improve on the Tin Can design, creating the Mark I (unpainted streamlined test bed), and eventual Mark II (red and gold finalized version of the Mark I suit) Iron Man designs.

Meanwhile, the private military contractees have become dissatisfied with Stark's decision, and Stark Industries soon comes under fire both in form of a hostile takeover and literal attacks on Stark facilities. Enter Stark in the guise of Iron Man to right the wrongs and send the enemy into oblivion.


Game play:
Game play is relatively simple, but complex enough to be adequately played to satisfaction. The game is a third person shooter when Iron Man fires any weapons, but when not actively shooting, the game is a more of a third person-sandbox style game, where the layer can run, fly, jump while moving toward or away from the screen.

Movement:
Iron Man moves in all eight directions of the horizontal plane using the analog nub.

Aim/Look:
The four face buttons on the PSP, (Square, Cross, Circle, and Triangle) respectively move the camera view left, down, right, and up. When used with flight mode, Iron Man can fly downward, upward, and strafe.

Flight:
The L button, if tapped once, makes Iron Man pull a booster assisted jump about 15 feet high. Holding L for a second makes Iron Man jump, but then sustain hover mode, unless L is depressed further, which will cause Iron Man to fly vertically. Regular movement can be combined using the analog nub to move iron man to the left, right, forward, and away from the player's perspective.

Double tapping L when in hover mode enables fast flight, utilizing Iron Man's repulsor technology to speed forward, crossing large distances in seconds.

Combat: The R button is the all-purpose combat button, which reacts differently to enemies depending on what weapon is selected, and how close the enemy is to Iron Man. When Iron Man moves within melee range, he will be able to pummel enemies with his fists. When farther away he will fire repulsor rays, rockets or missiles, and gatling rounds, or pulse rounds.

Targeting is automatic when the player aligns the target reticle with the enemy indictor, which is supported by a slight auto-aim feature, so aiming doesn't have to be dead on (which can be hard given face-button aiming doesn't have the sensitivity of an analog stick/nub).

Upgrades:
Iron Man's suit is complemented with various upgrades as the game is played. Armor upgrades occur as missions are cleared. Weapon upgrades are rewarded for using a weapon enough times successfully. A weapon 'progress' bar is always present for the selected weapon so you can track progress. Arm mounted weapons and back missiles/rockets are selected as they become available, during mission selection.

Weapons and Power Channeling:
Iron Man can select from his three carried weapons (Repulsor rays, gatling gun OR pulse cannon, and rockets OR missiles). By default, gatling and rocket technology are initial equipment on the Iron Man Mark I and Mark II suits. Continued use of these weapons opens up missiles and pulse cannon options. In-game, weapons are switched with up and down on the d-pad.

Power can be redirected to Armor, Propulsion, or Weapons systems, or can be Even amongst the three systems. Adding power to Armor increases Iron Man's damage resistance. (In short, his max HP increases) Adding power to propulsion makes Iron Man fly at twice the speed when in fast-forward flight. (Afterburners)
Adding power to weapons switches out the palm-based repulsor rays for the chest mounted Unibeam, which after brief chargup, can take out bigger targets in one or two hits. Keeping power evened out allows Iron Man to fire from both hands when using regular repulsor rays. Using repulsor technology depletes energy, which is recharged when holding fire. Flight consumes energy too, which is recharged when landing, or when power is routed to the propulsion system. Armor power is lost when attacked, but due to Iron Man's technology, will repair itself over time and when in safety and repairs faster when power is routed to the armor system.

Vehicle Destruction:
Iron Man can tear apart certain enemy vehicles when they are first weakened, and then you enter melee range of the vehicle and press circle when the circle icon appears. A tiny minigame ensues, which isn't so flashy on the PSP. Press the right buttons and the vehicle is torn asunder.

Death/Resurrection- HEART system:
When Iron Man's energy is depleted (armor loss), his suit will attempt to restart his heart. A lifeline appears, and depending on severity, a certain amount of buttons will appear as the lifeline passes across the screen. Press the right buttons when they appear, and you will be revived. Failure will result in automatic repair, though this is limited in times it can occur depending on difficulty. No penalties for reviving via the lifeline minigame.

General overview:
Game play consists usually of following waypoints and clearing various objectives. Blowing up certain items, enemies, or toggling switches or shutting/destroying doors, to taking out missiles and bosses.

Sound effects are pretty crips, and match with the effects they're paired with. Explosions, blasts, bullets, missiles, all satisfactory.

Music is pretty bland, generic at points, and didn't seem like it was based on the film's score, though isn't horrible enough for you not to dismiss it as ambiance.

There are a few bonus videos to unlock, and concept art as well. You can replay any mission after clearing it, an can continue to finish upgrading all of the Iron Man technology. Though the stage designs are big enough for Iron Man to fly around in, there's not much else to do other than blow enemies to hell, or hunt for hidden crates which unlock more concept art. You can select various Iron Man suits to use in replay missions, they do not carry any special effects and are just aesthetic. Even using the Tin Can suit again outside of the first mission, it'll still use repulsors, have flight capabilities, and rocket/missile and gatling/pulse tech, INSTEAD of the flame thrower it starts with in mission 1.

Suits that can be used: Tin Can, Mark I (film, unpainted), Mark II (film, painted) Stealth (comic), Gold (second version used in comic), Classic (first red and gold Iron Man suit in comic), and the game version of Titanium Man's suit.

Overall the game is a decent playthrough. There aren't too many like it on the PSP. The game delivers better than expected for a film-to-game adaptation, and to date is the best Iron Man game (next gen) to date. The only other game on the PSP that features Iron Man is Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, which is another i'd recommend if you were interested in other Marvel super hero games on the console. I give it a 3.8/5

(That's a 7.6/10 for the mathematically impaired)