Definitely one of the worst side-scrolling action games ever made, Iron Man/XO Man o' War in Heavy Metal boldly continues Acclaim's trend of ruining a good license. This time, you get to play Iron Man or X-O Man o' War, two almost identical superheroes who fight exactly the same way with beams of red and yellow power. The basic plot: Iron Man and X-O Man o' War have the task to stop the two villians from collecting the broken pieces of a Cosmic Cube, a magical artifact that will confer ultimate power to the evil duo. The only good thing about the game is that it has numerous villains from Marvel Comics' universe including Yellow Jacket, Absorbing , Melter, Titania, Goliath, Mr. Hyde, Arnim Zola, Blackout and Baron Zemo, and from (admittedly much less known) Acclaim Comics' including Mistress Crescendo, General Krytos, Dromak Gladiator, Armorines, and Spider Aliens. But you'll most likely be too bored with boring backgrounds and gameplay to notice the identity of each foe. The heroes, for all their flashy weapons, are interchangeable, and have very limited fighting capabilities. The controls are very sluggish, the action mind-numbing, and the fun nonexistent. If you think Judge Dredd from Acclaim was bad, stay very far from this game - it's even worse. Recommended only (and I mean only) to die-hard fans of these heroes (who are both, incidentally, now dead). Reviewed by: Underdogs |