Crossover: Shadow Of Apokolips
Bruce Timm is one of those animators whom I've worshipped from afar ever since I was um... nevermind. I'm not going to reveal how old I was when Batman: The Animated Series first aired. For some reason, though, as much as I adored Timm's rendition of the Dark Knight, I really enjoyed his version of Superman even moreso because he managed to take a character I'd never really cared for and made him into someone both interesting and likable. One of the key things which I particularly liked was the fact that Timm's team took a being of godlike power and made him a bit more vulnerable, which in turn made him a bit more... well, human.
Big Blue, unfortunately, hasn't had much luck getting incarnated into the gaming world. Timm's vision was spectacularly butchered when the godawful Superman 64 was brought onto the Nintendo 64, but it was (in my opinion) at least partially redeemed when Superman: Shadow of Apokolips was released for the PS2 a little while later.
The game's plot was straight out of a particularly well-written episode of the animated series. Essentially, Intergang once again rears its ugly head and it's revealed that both Lex Luthor and Darkseid have some connections to the hardware which goons are using against the Man of Steel. Other villains like Metallo and Parasite make appearances as well, but I can't remember why. I think it had something to do with a convention being in town. Or something.
In terms of gameplay, Shadow of Apokolips was a pretty decent action title that was somewhat hampered by wonky aiming mechanics and a slight lack of overall depth. Combat became particularly easy and repetitive thanks to Kal-El's heat vision, which served as an overly effective long-range weapon against enemies. While developers tried to limit the cheapness of this attack by forcing a recharge, all one had to do was simply wait for the meter to charge back over a few seconds before unleashing hell all over again. Where the game was particularly breathtaking was when players were given the option to soar around Metropolis, which beautifully reproduced the world from the cartoon. Unfortunately, these sequences were few and far between, which was a shame. Had there been a more open-ended nature to the game -like Ultimate Spider-Man, perhaps- I imagine that the game would've been received with far more favorable reviews.
Seeing as how one can actually pick up this title for the PS2 (or the GameCube) for less than $10 at a used game store, it's a pretty worthwhile investment and makes for a decent way to kill an afternoon. Well, that and the fact that Tim Daly reprised his role as the titular character. Mmm... Tim Daly.
Boy of Tomorrow
Posted to Comics on 5 September 2007
Other stuff like this: bruce timm, crossover, darkseid, ps2, shadow of apokolips, superman, tim daly
