Superman Returns

 Xbox 360
User Score
1.5

Overwhelming dislike- based on 225 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 225
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 225
  3. Negative: 188 out of 225
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  1. ESS180
    Nov 14, 2010
    1
    This is the worst game i have ever played. I only got up to the second level!

    It's really hard!

    Also it is boring.

    Terrible all in all terrible
  2. BatmanRising
    May 26, 2012
    10
    This game has brilliant exploration. It is an absolute joy to just fly around and explore. The powers are fun to use and although it has flaws, the game is great.
  3. RKB.
    Feb 9, 2007
    1
    Sad and miserable experience. Listen to Rob B above. I'm a huge Superman fan but this game was half baked at best. I picked this up expecting a living breathing world full of things to do, people to save and earth shattering scenarios to play. What I got was a game that pretends its giving you mission choices ala Spiderman when all of the choices are the SAME spread out around the Sad and miserable experience. Listen to Rob B above. I'm a huge Superman fan but this game was half baked at best. I picked this up expecting a living breathing world full of things to do, people to save and earth shattering scenarios to play. What I got was a game that pretends its giving you mission choices ala Spiderman when all of the choices are the SAME spread out around the city. Over and over and over! For variety you can save kittens, play as Bizarro or race Mr. Mxyzptlk - sounds like more fun than it actually is. Superman the game had money and talent behind it... sometimes it shows. Metropolis is beautiful, Supes powers are incredible. Everything else seems lifted from some lousy 90s first gen 3D title and pasted into place. Anyone else feel like this was just junked after they missed the movie deadline? I think games like this are an insult to gamers. And I think everyone should demand better games than this for next gen systems like 360. For people who like to buy things only.… Expand
  4. KyleM.
    Jan 1, 2007
    8
    It seems everyone either loves this one or hates. it. I'm going to say that people are going on the deep end in both regards. In my opinion it's a good solid game, but certainly not the best super hero game (I enjoyed Hulk, Spiderman, etc). Try the demo that's available on Xbox Live Marketplace - if you enjoy it, this is a solid rental. I got it for Christmas (after asking It seems everyone either loves this one or hates. it. I'm going to say that people are going on the deep end in both regards. In my opinion it's a good solid game, but certainly not the best super hero game (I enjoyed Hulk, Spiderman, etc). Try the demo that's available on Xbox Live Marketplace - if you enjoy it, this is a solid rental. I got it for Christmas (after asking for it, having enjoyed the demo), and I'm happy with the game. It's better suited for a $40-45 purchase than a $60 purchase in my opinion. FYI, yes certain parts were slightly repetitious, but nothing awful... I usually play this in 30-60 minute incriments. As for there being no story, that's also true, but by no means breaks the game.… Expand
  5. AdrianV.
    Dec 12, 2006
    6
    The gameplay is pretty good, but they could have made the game much more interesting. It's just the same thing over and over again. Beat up these robots, then beat up some more robots, save a kitten (i'm not kidding), beat up yet more robots... You get the idea. The game definitely needs more depth and some climatic moments such as saving the plane in the movie, but sadly it has The gameplay is pretty good, but they could have made the game much more interesting. It's just the same thing over and over again. Beat up these robots, then beat up some more robots, save a kitten (i'm not kidding), beat up yet more robots... You get the idea. The game definitely needs more depth and some climatic moments such as saving the plane in the movie, but sadly it has none. The foundations are good in this game, but it could have been so much more.… Expand
  6. MonkeyBone
    Dec 17, 2006
    10
    This is the best game i have ever played and it never gets boring, Its fun to fly around Metropolis and use all of supermans powers, its just a great game.
  7. RobB.
    Jan 17, 2007
    1
    The pros: Superman's powers are accurately displayed - finally! The flying is undoubtedly the highlight of the game, and there's plenty of enjoyment to be found in just cruising around the Metropolis city limits (when you can). The heat vision and freezing breath are great as well - the super breath is cool too. Strength and endurance are completely unlimited - however, the The pros: Superman's powers are accurately displayed - finally! The flying is undoubtedly the highlight of the game, and there's plenty of enjoyment to be found in just cruising around the Metropolis city limits (when you can). The heat vision and freezing breath are great as well - the super breath is cool too. Strength and endurance are completely unlimited - however, the endurance of Metropolis isn't, and that's your concern. Cool touch, I thought. Very cool that they got the cast of the movie to lend their voices as well. Pros? That's about it. The cons: Saving Metropolis from losing health. At times, the game can be VERY difficult and frustrating. Metropolis loses health over EVERYTHING you and your enemies do...a citizen accidentally gets punched and Metropolis loses health. Not realistic. Saving citizens restores health to Metropolis, but the ambulances are often times extremely hard to find, and you won't be able to rescue all of the injured people before another combat sequence begins. Very frustrating. The super powers are almost useless in actual gameplay. Flying is, of course, very cool - however, most of the aliens/robots/dragons you fight throughout the game seem to be immune to heat vision or freezing breath (or both). The super breath power is completely useless as an offensive weapon as well. Your strength is great, but the impact counter is very poor and it's frustrating at times even trying to land a punch. The combat is EXTREMELY repetative and boring. Even after beating the game at 100% completion, random monsters still generate for no discernable purpose - not cool when you're looking for a break in the action and just want to enjoy the game for a while. Very little variety - either you're facing off against robots, aliens, or dragon-things. Over and over again. That's it. For a break in the routine, you occasionally get to put out fires using your freezing breath. Either that or you can spend 20 minutes looking around the city for a fire truck to take over to it - but of course, it's not even remotely worth the time nor the effort to do so. Side missions? Virtually non-existant. You can recover 100 lost kittens that are scattered around Metropolis. Whoopie. The camera and lock-on is horrific. The camera is among the most annoying and dysfunctional I've ever seen in any video game, and the lock on features often times fix on an enemy on the ground - who you can't target again until he gets up - or some other feature (car, etc), which renders combat even more difficult during a first play. Often times you'll find yourself simply button mashing in frustration. The game follows the events of the movie only peripherally - anything that actually occurs in the movie only occurs in the game during cut scenes (which, of course, the player has no interaction with). At no point in the game do you have any interaction with Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, or Perry White, nor do you get any time in as Clark Kent (other than in a brief cut scene in which you have no control over). Very, very lame. Apparently, night never falls on the city of Metropolis, either; upon reaching 100% completion, the day just keeps on going indefinitely, and this doesn't add anything to credibility for the game. You'll never get a chance to explore anything of Metropolis, other than flying around the city. Buildings cannot be destroyed apparently, nor can you fly through anything. The city IS massive, but there's very little to do with it. Unfortunately, Metropolis doesn't appear very accurate either - the city seems to be surrounded by either endless miles of water or endless miles of sand, and you can't really explore any of those areas. Additionally, there are several industrial zoned islands - but apparently no roads or bridges leading to them, leading you to wonder if all of Metropolis' citizens can fly... Flying up takes you high, but you'll never actually progress beyond a certain point - being able to leave the city limits for a spell and/or being able to fly into space would have made this game SO much more enjoyable. One of the biggest selling points the game offers is it's free roaming. True enough - however, once you reach 100% completion, the monsters keep on generating at random, meaning you'll never really get any opportunity to simply relax and enjoy flying around for the sheer sake of doing so. This is very disappointing, considering the flying is really the best aspect the game has to offer. It seems as if the developers of the game focused solely on representing Superman's powers well and basically sluffed off on the rest of the game. Even once you've beaten the game and have acclimated yourself to the poor combat layout, once you know the enemies particular weaknesses, the game is a VERY easy play and you'll beat it inside of 4-6 hours, tops. If you can stand replaying it that long, and I know I certainly couldn't. The flying and super powers are fabulous, though, and for that it gets 1 point - without those elements, I would have scored this a zero, because it wouldn't have deserved any better. The game is worth $7.95 in a cut out bin and will no doubt soon be there. When it is, I'll pick it up strictly to enjoy the flying and that'll be it. Hopefully a sequel game will be given to different developers or the reviews that are all saying the same negative things about the game will be adhered to and a REALLY GOOD Superman game will come next. Hope springs eternal...… Expand
  8. KMarx
    Jan 8, 2007
    8
    It is crazy fun to fly so fast around in such a huge city. The game is really short but it is different for everyone that plays it. The story sucks and the voice acting is comical but the game play has really grown on me. The physics are unbelievable and are the real reason to check Superman out.
  9. JeremyT.
    Nov 20, 2006
    10
    Superman is the coolest open world game I've ever played! It's like GTA but you can fly at a bajillion kph and it really makes you feel like a super hero. Wow I'm totally impressed by the demo and can't wait for the final game.
  10. LoriF.
    Nov 22, 2006
    0
    Iwanted to buy this game but after playing it at a friends house - no way. Flying and using powers are fun at first - until you realize there is no gameto support it. Maybe EA can take what has been made and now create a good game with a good story and villians. Of course all of the hard work that went into this game will go to waste in the end. Shame on EA for blowing this one.
  11. JackT.
    Nov 25, 2006
    9
    A solid game. Great music and sound. Love flying around Metropolis. It is the foundation of a new great game franchise, just as the film was.
  12. JeffN.
    Dec 11, 2006
    9
    The game is rather easy to play, which is great for the young professional who has little free time and has moderate to poor gaming skills. Unfortunately, those with more time and skills will find the game too easy.
  13. JohnZ.
    Dec 22, 2006
    0
    A depressing experience all round. Flying around metroplis is boring with nothing to do but zig zag from one side to the next repeatedly destroying robots or aliens. Jeff N, Jose M, Steve C and Jack T all look like they work for EA Tiburonof, trying to improve the games rating. I hope it's "unmatched group of managers and producers" all quit the gaming industry.
  14. JoseM.
    Dec 5, 2006
    10
    Its just simply amazing. People had high hopes and thus said that they where betrayed and then they complain about it to people who don't care.
  15. StevenC.
    Dec 3, 2007
    9
    A far better game than most would say. It's the ultimate Superman sim, with a sense of freedom like no other, and does well with it's boss battles and the feeling of power you get. It is repetitive at times, but I haven't played a game that isn't.
  16. LarryH.
    Nov 22, 2006
    7
    The best Superman game ever, just not enough to do. And the citizen A.I. can be silly. Sometimes they run right towards the battle to get away. But the game is good for Superman fans like myself who are still waiting for an awsome S game.
  17. ACE5
    Nov 28, 2006
    5
    I would say EA has messed up another franchises name, but in this case, all previous superman games were bad anyway, and EA has made this one better. It is still a bad game though, just not as bad as the others.
  18. Zilcell
    Apr 16, 2012
    5
    This is the best Superman game to date, and it makes up any mistakes found in previous ones like Superman 64.There is quite a challenge here. The game is long. The open world in this game is among the largest ever. The story and voice acting are okay. There is a lot of variety in combat and the controls are great. Now for the bad: The graphics aren't perfect. The game constantly throwsThis is the best Superman game to date, and it makes up any mistakes found in previous ones like Superman 64.There is quite a challenge here. The game is long. The open world in this game is among the largest ever. The story and voice acting are okay. There is a lot of variety in combat and the controls are great. Now for the bad: The graphics aren't perfect. The game constantly throws missions at you so there is little time to explore this large open world. The extra missions with Bizzaro are too short and very tedious. The best thing I can say is that while it isn't perfect, it is a signifigant improvement from all the other Superman games.… Expand
  19. gameguardian21
    Aug 8, 2016
    4
    Gets boring, repetitive, sloppy, and just a mess. The controlls are confusing. The graphics are decent, and exploring around metropolis can be fun, but there's no story to back it up though. At least this game isn't superman 64.
  20. danuffo
    Sep 29, 2021
    1
    English: Too bad frames so it feels slow, low textures, too dark, the game causes depression. If you want to know more details read the spanish review.

    Español: El juego por lo que veo tiene baja iluminación, se siente muy poco fluido se siente lento como si fuera a 15 frames por segundo, las texturas son muy básicas da la apariencia de un juego de PlayStation 2 en fase beta(sin    English: Too bad frames so it feels slow, low textures, too dark, the game causes depression. If you want to know more details read the spanish review.

    Español:
    El juego por lo que veo tiene baja iluminación, se siente muy poco fluido se siente lento como si fuera a 15 frames por segundo, las texturas son muy básicas da la apariencia de un juego de PlayStation 2 en fase beta(sin ofender a esta asombrosa consola).
    Tampoco fue traducido ni doblado para el mercado de Hispanoamérica donde hay más hablantes de español pero sí en España donde solo un bajo porcentaje habla el mismo idioma ¿osea?    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

90
#90 Best Xbox 360 Game of 2006
38
#38 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2006
7
#7 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2006

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
51

Mixed or average reviews - based on 48 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 48
  2. Mixed: 23 out of 48
  3. Negative: 20 out of 48
  1. Worth Playing
    60
    As a game that manages to encapsulate the feeling of being Superman, Superman Returns does an excellent job.
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  2. GamePro
    50
    Feels more like a botched sandbox-styled game with what little there is to do both poorly implemented and boring. It may be the best Superman game so far, but that's not saying much.
    Read full review
  3. MS Xbox World
    65
    The game play becomes very repetitive and you feel that a lot more could have been done with the powers Superman has and the whole city being open for exploration. However what you are left with is dull combat missions the odd fire-fighting and of course kitten hunting, racing and some destruction thrown in for good measure.
    Read full review
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