Only a few short years ago games based on super heroes usually turned out to be complete crap. The first real decent game in recent memory that changed all that was Freedom Force for the PC (which many will tell you broke a curse that seemed to doom any super hero based game to inevitable cancellation of supreme mediocre status), which helped gamers realize the full potential of a game based on one of America's favorite pastimes - comic books. With that gem on the market the luck had changed for the industry and it seemed like a major hurdle had finally been cleared.

Good things started to happen for licensed games based on Comic books (and the movies that they spawned). The first good thing that happened was the release of several big budget films based on classic Marvel Comics franchises like X-Men, Spider-Man, etc. The second, and most important thing was that developers working on these types of games began to fully utilize the material and their creative talent to create decent games like Spider-Man 1 and 2 and X-Men Legends.

The original 'force' power

The super hero game curse had indeed been lifted by Freedom Force, paving the way for games like City of Heroes and several blockbuster hits from Activision, moderately successful endeavors from THQ and VU Games. This is not to say that all videogames based on comics in the last couple of years have been grand achievements in the interactive entertainment space, but certainly this sub-genre has come along way.

Activision continues to lead the charge, and has made great strides in creating some decent titles based on its Marvel licenses. The latest game, The Fantastic Four, hopes to achieve the grand success that Spider-Man and X-Men have, letting players take on the role of the popular super hero foursome, The Fantastic Four, as they act out the plotline of the upcoming 20th Century Fox film hitting theaters in August. We don't know whether this film and the subsequent game will make Jack Kirby proud or not, but you know he's got to be smiling down from heaven at all the success these characters he helped define and refine have had.

The game will follow the film's visual style and storyline pretty closely, offering new looks for Reed Richards, Johnny Storm, Benjamin Grim and Reed Richards and a reinvented plot path. Comic book fans will notice a few small changes to the characters: Johnny Blaze (aka The Human Torch) and Sue Richards (The Invisible Woman) no longer have blond hair, While Ben Grim's (The Thing) face has been round a bit. Ultimately the success of the game is going to weigh heavily on how well players accept the film's premise and creative liberties that might not mesh with the long running Marvel comic series. The storyline was penned by Zak Penn, the writer of the movie X2: X-Men United, so expect some revision to the history of the comic's timeline and details.

The Thing vs giant spiders

Whatever the story is (it's hasn't been completely revealed, though we know that Victor Von Doom aka Doctor Doom will be the big bad antagonist of the film and the game), players will get to tap into the powers of the team in single-player or two-player cooperative mode, battling a variety of enemies in a environments like New York City, forests, in-door areas and locales taken directly from the movie and some created especially for the game.

Players will utilize the powers of the team, working together to take down larger than life bad guys like robots, armed hoods, monsters of all shapes and sizes and more. Mr. Fantastic's stretching ability, which allows him to change his mass and get in tight spots and attack from a distance, will be available to players, as well as his superior intellect which will allow him to hack computers, heal other characters and take over enemy weapons. There will probably be some limitations to his powers, but what's included sounds fun. Players will also have access to The Thing, the rock skinned, cigar smoking juggernaut who possesses super strength that can devastate event the toughest of enemies. Grim's bag of tricks include raw brute force to pick up objects or tear them apart, break through walls and obstacles and obliterate enemies with his big hammer-like fists. The Human Torch will have access to a variety of fiery powers including the ability to create walls of fire and supernova fireballs, shoot fire from his fingertips and bend flames to his will. The obvious benefits include being fire proof and the ability to fly. Finally players will don the role of The Invisible Girl who will use her special powers to support the team. Sue's arsenal will include the ability to turn invisible and perform stealth moves and telekinetic powers to immobilize enemies.

Whoever you want to try first, players will be able to dynamically switch to any character they like while playing, as they take on the games numerous challenges. The game will also offer lots of other activities to keep players busy like puzzle solving, team-based attacks that offer more wallop than a single character attack and lots of obstacles that will be overcome by specific characters' powers. Finally, as we mentioned briefly above, Fantastic Four will also offer co-op mode for two players and head-to-head combat in multiple arenas.

An epic team battle

Fantastic Four is set for release this summer, right around the time the film hits theaters in North America. The PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox versions of the game are being developed by Seven Studios, while the PC version is being developed by Beenox Studios. Here's to hoping that both the movie and the games will be solid and entertaining fare for long-time fans of the comic book series like myself. We should hear more about this game later this year at E3, by in the meantime, have a look at these brand new screenshots .