Also Available On: PS3, PS2, PSP and DS (PC out May 16)
Publisher: Sega
Age Rating: 12+

With the movie riding high in the charts and now this official video game sitting in the top 40, Iron Man is likely to stay firmly in the nation’s mindset for a few weeks yet.

Boasting the talents of Robert Downey Jr. - well, his voice at least - this third-person, free-roaming action game begins with a short, uninspiring CG sequence. It explains how main character Stark is kidnapped by terrorists in Afghanistan and handed an ultimatum: build a super weapon or face death.

The sequence is poorly visualised, and as it lasts barely a few seconds it’s clearly a job that has been far too hastily put together and the end result leaves a rather bad taste in the mouth from the outset.

Once into the game, you are placed in a bland desert with rocks, enemies and explosive devices. You can move the camera around and behind Iron Man freely, but it never feels right and you often end up viewing the action from a hindered perspective.

As you move Iron Man, your weapons include a simple flamethrower and missiles. The flamethrower cannot travel very far, but it’s useful for enemies close to you, while the missiles are there for taking out distant enemies, buildings or vehicles.

A yellow arrow directs you where to go, while an on-screen box appears to give you your next simplistic objective, such as eliminating all enemy weapons. You then run around the level, while being bombarded by hordes of enemies that have all the intelligence of a headless chicken, as you attempt to complete your mission.

No matter how far you reach in this game, these hordes of bad guys irritatingly charge at you with guns blazing, ultimately proving themselves to be a major headache.

As you are shot at, your suit loses power. You can alter the suit’s resources so that it ups your weapon power or life support, but the frustration aspect of being constantly bombarded soon wears thin.

While in the Iron Man suit, Stark can fly and perform a range of other impressive feats. Flying is the most fun part of the game, both visually and in terms of gameplay, but Iron Man can also grab onto a flying missile and send it back where it came from, rip a vehicle to shreds and more.

Despite some of the levels looking a little bland, everything moves smooth enough and, although there’s little spectacular here, the graphics are more than up to the job.

Disappointingly, there’s no support for Xbox Live, which is unforgivable these days, and there are not even any co-op missions. Why developer Secret Level left these out is a mystery.

In all, Iron Man is a game that has clearly been rushed so that its release coincides with the movie. With a poor camera system, poor enemy structure and bland levels, this game has little to offer. And when you take into account the overtly repetitive gameplay then you know you’re far better advised to leave this and go and watch the movie instead.