by
Ted Kritsonis
Faze Video Game Editor

The way movie-based video games have been lately, you would be inclined to think that the deck is stacked against a game like The Incredibles, especially when it has some significant plot ties to the film.

Without giving too much of the movie away, The Incredibles is the story of how superheroes went from being a positive force in everyday society to disgraceful retirees after lawsuits forced them to hang up their spandex costumes. But when an overzealous wannabe supervillain threatens the world, Mr. Incredible and his family are prompted to put on some new spandex and save humanity one more time.

Heavy Iron Studios deserve a great deal of credit for completely capturing the look and feel of The Incredibles. Clips from the movie act as cutscenes between missions, and they work seamlessly with the visuals and gameplay. The graphics are excellent and the environments are a carbon copy of the movie.

The gameplay is definitely standard for a game like this, but the characters are so true to the movie that you won’t really care (unless you hated the movie, of course). At various times you’ll use each of the Incredible family members in certain missions. Mr. Incredible will be yours for power-based missions. His wife, Elastigirl, handles missions where she needs to move from place to place quickly and attack enemies from a distance. Violet, the shy teenage daughter, uses her invisibility and force field powers to be stealthy. And young Dash uses his speed to outmaneuver the enemy.

It truly is a family affair and it’s a big help in breaking up the repetitive gameplay that sometimes drags the game. Dash is especially fun to play with because of the speed factor, while Mr. Incredible’s missions are too much alike. The two female Incredibles are a mixed bag because they can be entertaining to play with, but at the same time, some issues with the game at large impede this.

If you’ve played The Incredibles and you’ve had some problems with the camera, then you already know what I’m talking about. The targeting reticle for Elastigirl will disappear at the slightest turn of the camera, and other strange movements almost suggest that the camera has a mind of its own. One incredibly (pardon the pun) frustrating thing about the camera is how it doesn’t centre properly. On one of the earlier missions with Mr. Incredible, the camera just decided to maintain a view from the top. I couldn’t see ahead of me unless I looked in first-person view, but when I tried the mission again after clearing it, the camera was back to normal again.

After passing the whole game, you also might feel like you were short-changed a little bit. It took me about seven hours to pass it all, and with no major replay value to speak of here, there’s not much to do after you’re done. I’m not sure what would’ve worked well as a replay value element, but some mini-games or more meaningful unlockable items might have helped a great deal.

The Incredibles is a very good game, despite the lack of polish in some areas. The atmosphere is a dead ringer for the movie and all the voice acting and sound engineering is very well done. If you saw the movie and loved it, you will probably love the game too, but if you’re unsure, it is certainly worth a rental because it is a game that just about anyone can play.

Publisher:
THQ
Developer:
Heavy Iron Studios

Platform:
Gamecube/Xbox

Rating: 8/10