Preview: Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk for Xbox 360

Sometimes I hate my job and sometimes I love my job. Yesterday was a mix of both. Luckily it ended on a more pleasant note. Why? Oh, I don’t know, maybe it’s because Sega decided to drop by the office and let me play Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk before launch.

The demo for Iron Man dropped on Friday for the 360 folks and I dabbled with it for a few minutes. It’s a hard game to play, I’m not going to lie. You’re using every single button on the controller and missiles are coming at you from every which way. But it’s a demo and it’s meant to give you a taste of the real thing. With most games it takes a bit of time to acclimate yourself to the controls and Iron Man is no different. Rather than dumbing down the controls and making it an easy game, Sega decided to up the ante and unleash the full potential of Iron Man and his capabilities. I think they met their mark. I played a few different levels and learned to snatch missiles out of the sky and launch them back to whoever or whatever shot them in the first place and rip the tops off of tanks. Unfortunately, my miserable play ended with the demise of Pepper Potts. But I did get to fly around and play with most of the armor suits. They’re all different and give you an edge in different situations. This game is no joke. It’s a pain in the ass, but I’m sure after a few hours I’ll get the hang of it. I can’t wait till it’s released next Friday.

I also played Iron Man on the DS and it was actually fun. Controls were simple and the lower touch screen of the DS is utilized for weapons. Feel like throwing flames 360 degrees with the Mark I suit? Just tap the screen and drag it around. Super easy. Super fun. I also liked that controls can be flipped if you’re a lefty. So instead of using the D-pad to navigate, you can flip the controls to the other side (whatever they’re called).

I hadn’t seen much, in terms of, footage or even screen grabs for The Incredible Hulk until yesterday. I’m weary of Norton’s upcoming Hulk movie so my expectations were pretty low for the game as well. I still have a bad taste in my from the first movie and I realize it has nothing to do with the game, but it does simply because I’m weird like that. But I was actually impressed. Who wouldn’t want to run around Manhattan and destroy buildings? You can bring down the Chrysler building or any other building you want in the game. My favorite part was the smashing of an ice cream, taco, and donut truck. Why? Because the large novelty food item that sits atop each vehicle could be used as a weapon and watching the Hulk pummel a pedestrian with a ginormous taco is funny. My stance on this one is neutral until I have more time with it. I wasn’t overly impressed or disappointed.