First Impressions can mean a lot

by: Nathan - posted: 5/2/2008 2:43:00 AM

Just got back from the movie theater after watching Iron Man the movie. Before I begin on a brief analysis (no spoilers I promise) I would like to tell you about my experience with the Iron Man video game on the big screen. I don't mean just any big screen but the BIG screen. One of the largest in Columbus that isn't an IMAX. The UltraScreen at Marcus theaters in Pickerington, to my delight, had a demo of the game prior to the showing of the movie. While I did not get any hands on time with the game :(  I did watch for about a half hour as others (somebody shouted "NOOB" after the first player died) took the game for a spin. First Impression? It was not pretty. While the game does give you a great sense of flying around the controls were difficult at best. I watched multiple players spend a lot of time just trying to come to grips with the new found ability to fly. Why is this a problem? Well the game was obviously designed around this flight mechanic. There was plenty of space to fly around the level and it was incredibly easy to swat helicopters from the sky and shoot at targets down bellow. The problem was when the player has their feet on the ground. At that point the player was in serious danger because the AI had seemingly flawless aim and I watched time and again as players were killed by tiny men with rifles. Ick. What's the point of advance armor if the bad guys with rifles can kill you? The only other complaint I had was the look sensitivity was entirely too touchy; again something that was optimized for the high flying. When at a lower altitude, not even on the ground, looking around became disorienting. Those are some pretty small complaints though considering that flying around looked a heck of a lot of fun and I can't wait to give it a try.

On to the movie. First Impression? Wonderful. Go see it as soon as possible. Upon further reflecting though some of the CGI could have been done better. There is no point in using motion blur or camera shaking during battle sequences if it obscures the action. The story was well down if just short of well developed, I only cringed once because of the dialog, and there were some generally funny moments. Robert Downey Jr. did an excellent job, though I felt his portrayal of the "fun" child like side of Tony kind of dropped off  after the first scene. Again if you are a fanboy, like action movies, or enjoy really cool gadgets then you really should go see the movie. Note to parents there is a little "friskiness" but no nudity.