Review by: Bob Mandel
Published: August 5, 2002

Lately there has been a rash on interest in comic book heroes on the computer screen. LTI Gray Matter developed for Activision a highly competent Spider-Man game, followed shortly afterwards by Spider-Man: The Movie based on the highly successful theatrical release. Then Irrational Games developed Freedom Force, and it received rave reviews. Now, without much fanfare, Infogrames is releasing Hero X — developed by Amazing Games. So can the tidal wave of interest on the virtual screen in cartoon characters with super powers continue?

Being a former super hero sidekick, you have been assigned by A.S.H.A. (American Super Heroes Association) to protect from ne’er-do-wells the citizens of a compact urban area called Smalltown. Your crime fighting abilities are aided by three special powers you get to choose; and as you overcome each challenge you face, you acquire new powers (through your mentor the Professor) to enhance your heroic capabilities even further. However, you must make sure not to kill any evildoers or hurt any innocent bystanders, as your overarching goal is the valiant pursuit of justice so that officers of the law and the court system can properly perform their duly designated roles.

One of the biggest advantages of Hero X is that the hero is fully customizable, with a choice of a wide variety of over 50 super powers including a bullet shield, a confusion creator, an earthquake initiator, an electrifying shock, extra-sensory perception, a flame thrower, a fireball shooter, a force field, an immobilizer, invisibility, mind control, shape shifting, super speed, super strength, a whirlwind generator, and x-ray vision. Amazingly, flying is not one of the options. In addition, you get to choose or create your character, select your gender, name, outfit, and pick your colors. While the selection in many areas is not nearly as wide as in either Spider-Man or Freedom Force, you do not feel at all constrained. Often you need to turn off your special powers until your power meter is full, just as you need to wait for your health to regenerate when you are injured.

In contrast, one of the major disappointments with Hero X is the lack of diversity in what you see. Most physical settings look very similar, with only a small range of colors, that are pretty stark and empty. Most of the villains, including hoods, crime lords, losers, and thugs or all sorts, are roughly the same size possessing the same kind of features, with nobody nearly as ominous as Freedom Force‘s Lord Dominion; the result is that you do not develop an immersive obsession with eradicating any of them. This combination of run-of-the-mill cookie cutter opponents and bland locales reduces the enjoyment of the gameplay.