Stan Lee has been a very busy man lately, as it seems like all of his most beloved characters are being pulled from the comic books and plopped onto the silver screen. The X-Men, Spiderman, Daredevil, and The Hulk have all gotten their time to shine on film, but now it’s time for Stan Lee’s first creation, and the one that made Marvel Comics a household name, to get its time to shine. The Fantastic Four will see Stan Lee’s beloved hero team immortalized in celluloid in a summer release, and as always with a big superhero movie, there has to be a big superhero video game to go along with it. Activision has stepped in to fill this void, and the Fantastic Four promises to finally be the game to create the Fantastic Four experience the series justly deserves. FLAME ON!

One of the things that the Fantastic Four had always emphasized was teamwork – previous comic heroes like Superman and Batman were always loners, with the occasional sidekick. However, the Fantastic Four were a unit, each member with their own distinct personality and powers to add to the group. This concept has been brought over to the video game as well, as teamwork makes up a large part of the game. At its core, The Fantastic Four is a third-person action game with an emphasis on team play, similar to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Much like Return of the King, the game will in fact feature character-specific special moves and abilities using each character’s specific power. Reed Richards, AKA Mr. Fantastic, can stretch and change his shape, as well as hack into enemy computers and override security systems. Sue Storm, AKA the Invisible Woman, can disappear from sight to get past obstacles, as well as create powerful force fields and use strong psionic attacks. Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, can shoot fire attacks as well as change his body into flame to fly at high speeds. Lastly, Ben Grimm, AKA the Thing, has incredible resilience due to his rocky visage, and has immense strength. Each character has 40 unique maneuvers to make use of, each of which can be powered up into completely different moves, allowing players to customize their characters any way they wish.

However, although each character is unique in their own way, it is the power of all four together that will truly allow players to succeed in this game. Players will be able to switch between both Fantastic Four members chosen (and all 4, on certain occasions) to use their specific abilities for different tasks. For example, the Invisible Woman can distract enemies with force fields while the Thing annihilates them. Also, the Human Torch can throw fireballs at enemies while Mr. Fantastic attacks with stretching kicks and punches. Strategy plays as much of a role as brute strength does in this game, as players must coordinate attacks to accomplish tasks and defeat tough bosses, throughout the game’s interactive, destructible environments. And by tough, we mean tough – not only will players do battle with perennial nemesis Doctor Doom, but other legendary Fantastic Four villains such as Diablo, Puppet Master, The Mole Man, and Annihilus will do battle with our heroes, and only the combined might of the Fantastic Four will be able to save the day.

Although word has not come out if any of the Fantastic Four actors will reprise their roles for the game, don’t be surprised if they do, like Patrick Stewart and Tobey Maguire before them. The Fantastic Four video game looks terrific, and with all these unique features, looks to be much more than the average blockbuster movie cash in. Get ready, because on June 27th…IT’S CLOBBERIN’ TIME!

Eric Jones