For all their respective triumphs, the film and video game industries have always shared a rather laboured and unhappy marriage. Each Hollywood blockbuster inevitably spawns a ghastly interactive twin, rushed to meet its release with the same opportunism as any other form of merchandising and watered down to appeal to wider cinema-going audiences. More considered adaptations, such as Rare’s iconic treatment of GoldenEye 007, have demonstrated that there are exceptions to the rule – unfortunately, Iron Man 2: The Video Game just isn’t one of them.

The game’s storyline (or lack thereof) picks up where the events of the film left off. Don’t worry if you haven’t seen the movie – fans and newcomers alike will be absolutely baffled by the disjointed and poorly explained narrative. Tony Stark’s technology has once again been maliciously appropriated, this time by a nasty American industrialist who wants to meld himself with a 100-foot robot and use a weather machine to cause global storms. His actual motive for doing this is just one of many insoluble questions to consider as you travel across the globe, blowing up tanks, helicopters, Russian terrorists and a crazy Scotsman. There are no cutscenes to speak of; the glib, often cheesy dialogue between levels is delivered by cardboard cut-outs of the film’s actors that drift in and out of the foreground to indicate who is speaking. Don Cheadle and Samuel L. Jackson reprise their roles, while other characters are impersonated with varying accuracy – Tony Stark’s voice actor is admirable, while Natasha Romanoff appears to have been voiced by a computer phonics program, so listless and robotic is her delivery.

The Wii version of the game was developed by High Voltage Software, a company that prides itself as one of the greatest technical innovators on the console. It’s sad, then, that Iron Man 2’s graphics and level design are so explicitly underdeveloped, even by the Wii’s comparatively modest technical standards. While the game’s levels are distributed across such diverse and colourful locales as California, Russia, Budapest and Malaysia, they are all universally bland, grainy and uninspired; the textures and character models are rendered with such coarse simplicity that it often feels as if you’re playing an early Gamecube title. The environments feature few destructible elements, and these are fairly contrived – destroying the occasional deliberately-placed wall doesn’t make you feel powerful when, not two minutes later, you find that you’re incapable of breaking down a hotel room door. Given the game’s minimalism, it’s astonishing that the framerate still manages to falter at times, particularly during the on-rail flying missions.

Iron Man and War Machine are both playable, and they’ve apparently been designed to provide different play styles (agility and brute force respectively). You’re also able to upgrade and customise their weapons as you earn tech points, giving them new effects and applications. While these choices are clever in theory, they are really only cosmetic in execution; most enemies hurl themselves mindlessly against you, and they’re easily dispatched regardless of which weapon you use. Neither is there any great difference between the two heroes – they’re both equally awkward to control and have comparable firepower. The Wiimote’s IR sensor makes aiming relatively easy, though it can be a little sluggish at times.

Closing Statement:

There are, unfortunately, very few redeeming qualities in Iron Man 2: The Video Game. The suit customisation options and collectible “tech trophies” hidden throughout each level provide a marginal degree of replayability, but once you’ve played through the game once (which should take only a few hours), the tedious and unrefined gameplay offers little incentive for you to return. Even the most hardcore Iron Man fans should think carefully before purchasing this – they may not find their hero well served.

Final Score: 4.5

With the release of the sequel soon underway, there’s no doubt that there’s going to be a video game tie-in. However, with the first Iron Man video game, the story wasn’t well represented. This is what brings us to this announcement.

SEGA announced today that renowned comic book author, Matt Fraction will be creating the game’s all-new storyline, including familiar elements from both the movie and comic book universe, for Iron Man 2.

Iron Man 2, the video game, allows players to truly feel the power of Iron Man with new destructible environments, epic enemies, and innovative hand-to-hand combat moves, as well as other features from the film and comic book.

Iron Man 2 will exclusively offer fans a chance to play against enemies such as the unforgettable Crimson Dynamo, not found in the film.

“Iron Man 2 presented me with the challenge and opportunity to work with both SEGA and Marvel on creating something wholly unique- a story that exists at the cross-roads of the comic I write, the film universe which I was lucky enough to be asked to contribute to, and a wholly- immersive interactive experience like a game,” says Fraction.

“A game presents an entirely new challenge, where the audience/consumer/player engages with the world, with the big and small aspects of the place and characters. They’re a co-conspirator in the narrative. I hope it’s as exciting and challenging to play as it was to write.”

Beside being leaked on the internet a couple of weeks ago, it seems that it didn’t stop the beast from unleashing in the box office this weekend.

According to USA Today, the fourth movie in the X-Men franchise, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, took in an estimated $87 million in the box office since its release on friday, which, in short, means that the movie surpassed the studios expectations of $70 million – but, sadly, it still didn’t meet the standards set by Iron Man last year ($98.6 million).

“We sweated this one out,” says Chris Aronson, senior vice president of distributor 20th Century Fox. “But the exit polls are terrific, with nearly half the audience saying it’s better than they had expected. It really comes back to Hugh (Jackman). I think audiences have a tremendous appetite for both Hugh and his character, Wolverine, that he really created.”

Despite an inglorious first episode, Marvel Studios was willing to move forward with development of the second Iron-Man movie video game, Iron Man 2: The Video Game, as it is know for now.

The filming of the movie hasn’t begun yet, but with a title like that SEGA wasn’t willing to turn it down. The game is being developed at the publishers San Francisco-based development studio, Secret Level.

The release is planned for something around the movies release in 2010, I can’t believe that I’m saying that, were does the time go?

“We are thrilled to build on the success of the Iron Man phenomenon and work with Marvel and Paramount on another epic project,” says Simon Jeffery, President of SEGA of America, Inc. “SEGA and Marvel are collaborating closely to ensure we deliver an authentic Iron Man experience.”