Features
* Switch on the fly among the Fantastic Four
* Upgrade powers as you battle Dr. Doom
* Enemies and environments inspired by the comics and movie
* Unlock comic art, character bios and more

What could have been another by-the-numbers movie-based game becomes something more, thanks to the varied gameplay and unlockables. Fighting is mostly button-mashing, but your ability to choose whose buttons you're going to mash mixes things up. Well-done cinema sequences, minigames and side missions add to the replay value.

You'll give the D-pad quite a workout, because that's what the members of the Fantastic 4 are mapped to. Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) is up, Sue Storm (Invisible Woman) is left, Johnny Storm (Human Torch) is right and Ben Grimm (The Thing) is down. Any of the four can take out most minions, but only one can finish off a particular boss.

Having four superheroes go at it in a roomful of thugs can make for pretty frenetic action. Less-than-stellar camera AI occasionally gives you a splendiferous view of The Thing's back but a lousy view of who he's trying to beat up.

You can break practically everything in your environment, except, it seems, sliding doors. These must be hacked by Mr. Fantastic or pushed open by Human Torch or The Thing.

The particle effects are excellent. Human Torch's flames look particularly good. On the downside, character models and environments are decent, but lack detail. You'd expect the corridors of Von Doom's lab to be glossy marble, but instead they look like they need a good mopping. And the designers' favorite color is apparently blue.

Fantastic 4 is rich in unlockables and bonuses. Complete sub-objectives (for example, protect a human or destroy a certain number of enemies or objects) to gain points that can be used to upgrade your character's powers and unlock concept art, comic book art and pages, character bios and cast interviews.

Hidden Fantastic 4 icons unlock more bonuses, such as arenas where you take on waves of enemies. Defeat the game on medium or hard difficulty to unlock bonuses based on Latveria, the obscure kingdom ruled by Dr. Doom in the comics.

You can go solo or, in the true spirit of the Fantastic 4, with a friend.