Metropolis is a vibrant city and we watched open-mouthed as Superman zipped between streets and over buildings, before rocketing into the blue sky and pausing to take in the sheer scope of the world. As you streak across the cityscape the orchestral music evolves, becoming deep and booming on street level and light and airy when up among the clouds.
Brilliantly, Metropolis citizens will even cheer your arrival on the scene of a disaster. But it's when the smelly stuff hits the fan that Superman Returns begins to lose its crowd-pulling potential. We witnessed a battle between Superman and Metallo - the 60-storey robot-thing - that didn't explode our senses like fighting a gigantic city-mashing monster really should.
Above: Taking on mega-robot Metallo isn't quite the mind-blowing experience we wanted
Without taking on Metallo first-hand we can't truly judge the excitement levels, but at the moment the action seems leaden and lacking in the frantic dodging and zipping here-and-there that we were hoping for. We were also shown a street-level brawl that, despite showing off Superman's impressive fist-fighting, could almost have been Spiderman or The Incredible Hulk but with different moves.
That's not to say that Superman Returns is already heading for disappointments-ville. The soaring and swooping flight mechanic really works and there are only a few wrinkles in the game's otherwise smooth appearance. But we're going to have to be challenged by some huge, dramatic and all-action moments if Superman Returns is ever to live up to the strength of its superhuman star.
