  Our personal favourite minigame - Chuck the Thug.
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Another big budget movie released in theatres almost always means another big-budget video game, now that people are realizing just how popular interactive games are becoming. The latest is Activision's Fantastic Four, a third-person punch-and-bash (a term I just made up) game that is about as good as the movie (which isn't very).
The game revolves around you running around different levels basically smashing everything in sight. You sometimes have the choice of alternating between different characters but it's all the same when push comes to shove. Even combos that are opened up throughout the game are the exact same no matter what player you use.
There is a lot to be destroyed as environments are almost completely destructible (it's kind of cool to see the pavement crumble after The Thing lands from a jump) but after a level or two it just becomes mind-numbing. There's only so much you can smash before it becomes downright boring.
The actors from the movie lend their voices to the game but really, who cares? Make a game that can hold my attention for longer than 10 minutes at a time and then I'll be impressed. The worst part of all is that the Invisible Woman character looks nothing like Jessica Alba (whose looks were one of the few good things about the movie).
The in-game camera works will with few hiccups and the graphics are mostly competent. The cutscenes are slick-looking and despite sometimes having all four superheroes on screen at once using their respective powers, there isn't much slowdown to be found.
There are a few extras here that should keep some gamers' attention for a little longer. Hidden bonus icons found in each level can be used to open up trailers, interviews and production art. There is also an Arena Fight mode available. This is basically a section of a level where waves of enemies appear and it's your job to dispose of them all before a given time limit. There's really not much to it other than to maybe hone your skills with the different combos.
There isn't much more to this game. There is no Xbox Live functionality (it would have made things a little better if you could hook up with a friend online to kill time playing a few levels), not a lot of challenge and any puzzles or other elements used to break up the gameplay don't do much to make for much more excitement.
Fantastic Four is another failed attempt at making a great game out of a movie. If I were a cheesy supervillain straight from a comic, I'd be spouting lines like "Fantastic Failure!" or "Foul Four!"
