Iron Man 2
Review
Bargain bucket game at best
by Ryan Cope
reviewed on X360
That's Some Hi-Tech Equipment You Got There
At the end of each level you collect a certain amount of "field data" which acts as the equivalent of a currency. In between each mission you return to the headquarters screen where you can spend your field data on researching new (weapons, ammo, modules and moves) or customised weapons or armour. You earn a set amount of field data from each level, the higher the level the more field data, but you get bonus data for the more kills you earn and the less armour damage you take. All missions are replayable, so you can keep earning field data in order to save up for the more expensive upgrades.
As an added bonus, you will unlock a new Iron Man suit to pilot if you score well on a level. These vary from most of the suits seen across both movies to designs from the comic books. Fans of the original Iron Man comics will love the classic armours, while lovers of the more recent styles will also be pleased. Regardless of what suit you choose to wear it will make no difference to the gameplay or player's abilities, unfortunately it is only for show. What's more is the fact that there are no alternative costumes for War Machine, an aspect that does injustice to the option of playing as another character.
Customisation
While the customisation in Iron Man 2 is not the best, there is still some satisfaction in taking an interest in it. Each character has a set of four weapons equipped to them in each level. During the mission you can only have two selected at once, one for the right trigger and the other for the left, but you can flip between all four at anytime with the directional buttons. Both Iron Man and War Machine have a unique main weapon that is not available to the other. Iron Man has his classic hand repulsors, while War Machine has the iconic gatling gun. The other three weapons are the same for both characters; a missile launcher, rocket launcher and shotgun. Iron Man is the only one of the two who has a fifth possible option. By replacing either his rocket launcher or missile launcher, Stark can have a laser beam that fires a constant stream of pure energy into the enemy.
In the research area of the headquarters, you can use your field data to create new ammo types. Once you have created one you can then customise your different weapons with the new ammo, however some weapons and ammos cannot be used together. For example, you can equip concussion ammo to Iron Man's hand repulsors but not drill ammo, which depletes enemy health over time. Modules are a secondary item that can be equipped to a weapon after the ammo. They do things like allow you to fire for longer but with less powerful shots, or have extremely powerful shots, but can fire for less time. By upgrading your weapons, ammo and modules, you will make life playing Iron Man a lot easier, but it takes time to collect enough field data for the really useful items, so expect to spend most of your time grinding the same mission over and over again.
5.0
fun score
Pros
You get to play as Iron Man or War Machine… that's pretty much it.
Cons
Almost everything, length, graphics, sound, gameplay, you name it.
