November 23, 2006 – StuffWeLike

What comes to mind when you hear the name Superman Returns: The Video Game? It should be the term ‘movie based game.’ Movie based video games are some of the worst known to man. Extra Terrestrial (E.T.) screwed the genre over, but thankfully it has gotten better overtime, mainly due to the Spiderman movie based video game series.

In that regards I wasn’t expecting much from Superman Returns. I hated the Superman Returns movie. Smallville is one of the worst shows on television now. And so a video game based on the Superman franchise well those are the horrible. Superman 64 was unplayable. To my surprise Superman Returns The Video Game, is the most amazing game that I have played on my 360 and it could very well be one of the best super hero games out there along with movie to video adaption!

Yes I know that that seems impossible but Superman Returns is like Grand Theft Auto, but without the hookers. Flying around Metropolis is some of the most satisfying gameplay experience that I’ve had in a long time. As you fly at super speed the controller rumbles, making the experience all that greater. Fly into the skies of Metropolis and see the city from miles high. The invisible barriers that usually plague games are few to be found here. For the first time ever I feel like a bird in the sky.

Pick up any object around you: cars, robots, street lamps, etc. Smash them into your enemies. Use your blowing power, laser eye beam, or your icy breath to attack your enemies. Punch your enemies into the sky. Run at super speed. Fly into buildings and see the walls crumble from the force of the impact! Seriously the list of awesome gameplay goes on and on!

The power of the 360 is fully shown in this game as there are no load times. Fly from point A to point B without any hesitations. The graphics are crystal clear and obviously take full advantage of the system’s high definition capabilities.

If you ever wanted to fly, if you ever wanted to be Superman, if you ever wanted to play a good movie based video game Superman Returns is it! Sure it has its problems such as repetitive gameplay, but seriously what game doesn’t get repetitive at points?! Superman Returns: The Video Game is definitely a game that I’d be proud to show off in my 360 game collection.

BloodRayne is the type of movie that isn’t that bad, but definitely isn’t good. It isn’t the type of movie that you want to vomit at all the horrible acting and dialogue sequences, but is on the verge.

The issue with BloodRayne lies not within the directing of Uwe Boll, for this is actually a huge improvement over his original video game movie House of the Dead. The visual effects in BloodRayne are actually decent and overall are the best part of the film. The music does absolutely nothing, I mean if this film didn’t have any music in it, the quality of the film would have just been the same. That’s how useless the music is in this film. But again it’s the acting that absolutely sucks.

Hearing B-quality actors try to speak in 18th century dialect hurts thy ears. Sure it could have been a lot better if the script writers actually knew how to write in this form without every sentence feeling tacked together.

I’ve never played a BloodRayne video game so I cannot compare how exactly this film works in relation to the video game. But I know that if I was a fan of this game series, I would want to suck my own blood.

The story itself leaves the viewer feeling nothing what so ever. It’s pointless. Need I say more?

I myself have to ask, why would I bother watching this film? First off I saw it for free on On-Demand. Secondly I liked the visuals: the gory blood splattering and Rayne’s rage sequences. Would I pay money to see this film no. Absolutely no. But if I came across this on a Wednesday night with nothing else to do, right before Thanksgiving, and I could see it for free, wasting an hour and 35 minutes of my life doesn’t sound that bad.

Again BloodRayne is not the worst movie of all time, but it surely isn’t a good movie.