''Iron Man'' is an

action-adventure An action-adventure game is a video game genre, video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Definition An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements f ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

based on the 2008 movie of the same name as well as the classic iterations of the character. It was released by

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

on May 2, 2008 to coincide with the release of the movie in cinemas for

Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...

, and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. The game features

Advanced Idea Mechanics A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics) is a fictional criminal organization appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, it First appearance, first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #146 (July 1966). A.I ...

, the Maggia and the Ten Rings terrorist group. The

supervillain A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...

s in the game includes Blacklash, Controller,

Titanium Man The Titanium Man is the name of two supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The original Titanium Man, Boris Bullski, first appeared in '' Tales of Suspense'' #69 (September 1965) and was created by Stan Lee and ...

Melter The Melter is the name of three fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The original Melter, Bruno Horgan, first appeared in ''Tales of Suspense'' #47 (Nov. 1963). He was both an enemy to Iron Man and a f ...

, and

Iron Monger Iron Monger is an alias used by multiple fictional characters, supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The most well-known version, Obadiah Stane, first appeared in ''Iron Man'' #163 (Oct. 1982), and the Iron ...

Robert Downey Jr. Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965), also known as RDJ, is an American actor. One of the highest-grossing actors of all time, his films as a leading actor have grossed over $14 billion worldwide. In 2008, Downey was named by ''Time ...

(only as Tony Stark),

Terrence Howard Terrence Dashon Howard (born March 11, 1969) is an American actor performing on film and television. He has received a Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Golden ...

and

Shaun Toub Shaun Toub (born February 15, 1958) is an American actor. He has played the character Yinsen in ''Iron Man'' (2008) and ''Iron Man 3'' (2013); Farhad in '' Crash'' (2004); Rahim Khan in '' The Kite Runner'' (2007); Majid Javadi in the Showtime ...

reprise their roles from the movie.

Plot

During a

business trip Business travel is travel undertaken for work or business purposes, as opposed to other types of travel such as leisure trips or daily commuting between one’s home and workplace. It typically involves travelling - often by air, rail, or roa ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

to demonstrate

Stark Industries Stark Industries, later also known as Stark International, Stark Innovations, Stark Enterprises and Stark Resilient, is a fictional multi-national conglomerate appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Frans Robe ...

' new weapon,

Tony Stark Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, the character first appearan ...

is suddenly kidnapped by the

terrorist group Several national governments and two international organizations have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups lists groups designated as terrorist by current and former ...

gang A gang is a social group, group or secret society, society of associates, friends, or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over Wiktionary:territory#Noun, territory in a ...

Ten Rings, ordering him to build a

missile A missile is an airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight aided usually by a propellant, jet engine or rocket motor. Historically, 'missile' referred to any projectile that is thrown, shot or propelled towards a target; this ...

for them. Instead, he and fellow captive Yinsen secretly build a powered suit of armor. During this time, Yinsen also acts as Stark's mentor, showing him humility and telling him of the horrors his company has caused, making Stark reconsider his life. Armed with a flamethrower and missiles, Stark uses the armor to destroy the terrorists' weapons stockpile and escape their camp, but Yinsen is killed, and the armor is destroyed. Upon being picked up by the Air Force and returning to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, Stark declares that his company will no longer manufacture

weapon A weapon, arm, or armament is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime (e.g., murder), law ...

s, a move disapproved by his business partner Obadiah Stane. With the help of his personal A.I. J.A.R.V.I.S., Stark develops an updated and more powerful version of his armor, adding Stark Industries' new repulsor technology and flight capability. While testing his new suit at Stark Industries, Tony uses it to fend off an attack by the Maggia crime family, who have been providing weapons for the Ten Rings. Using his new Mark III "Iron Man" armor, Stark destroys the Maggia's weapons stockpiles and an armored hovercraft. On the way home, he establishes contact with his friend Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes and reveals his identity as Iron Man. After these events, Tony returns to his place, where Pepper Potts realizes what he has been doing. Rhodes also agrees to assist Stark with these desires, informing him of a weapons transport in Afghanistan. Stark follows the transport, destroying the weapons, defeating the villain Blacklash, a former Stark Industries worker, in the process, before proceeding to the Maggia's compound to destroy the rest of the weapons, and after infiltrating the mansion, he confronts

Madame Masque Madame Masque (birth name Giulietta Nefaria but legally renamed Whitney Frost) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan, the character first appeared in ''Tales of Suspens ...

, who is killed when a wall falls on her. Stark soon destroys the Maggia's flying fortress, ending the threat. Meanwhile, Stane secretly recovers the Mark I Iron Man armor in Afghanistan and starts working with the company

(A.I.M.), Stark Industries' former top buyers, to create a power source. After A.I.M. attacks a nuclear facility in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, Iron Man foils them and also fights Boris Bullski, who created a

titanium Titanium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...

armor similar to Tony's. Stark then thwarts A.I.M.'s attack on a military ship in the Arctic, fighting and defeating the Controller. After returning to Stark Industries, Tony fights off an attack by A.I.M. forces under the command of Titanium Man, who Stane sent to steal the Iron Man suit. After discovering Stane's involvement with A.I.M. and the Ten Rings, Tony is ambushed by Stane, who steals his arc reactor to create a power source for his armor. Rhodey rescues Stark and learns that A.I.M. has kidnapped Pepper to use her as bait. He saves Pepper from an A.I.M. facility and prevents the explosion of their reactor. Stark decides that A.I.M. is a bigger menace than Stane and decides to confront them first. He heads to their island and destroys their proton cannon before defeating the

and destroying A.I.M.'s space tether. Stark then returns home and battles Stane, who has donned the "

" suit. As the battle reaches the top of Stark Industries, Stark orders Pepper to overload the arc reactor at the building. The plan works, and Stane is killed. With all the villains gone, Tony Stark continues to help mankind as Iron Man.

Reception

The

version received mixed reviews while the

PS2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 November, in Australia on 30 November, ...

and PSP versions received generally unfavorable reviews on

GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...

and

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. These versions suffer from gameplay, graphics and controls frustrations. The UK-based ''

Official Nintendo Magazine ''Official Nintendo Magazine'', or ''ONM'', was a British Video game journalism, video game magazine that ran from 2006 to 2014 that covered the Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Wii, and Wii U video game consoles released by Nintendo. Originally p ...

'' rated the Wii version of Iron Man 15%. The

version received an average score of 46% on

and

, and the

PS3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

version received an average score of 43%. These versions were critically panned for the same things as the other versions of the game, with ''

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...

'' awarding it 3/10 and ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

'' 3.8/10. It was awarded "Worst Game Everyone Played" by ''

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

'' in their 2008 video game awards.

Sales

Iron Man sold 2.6 million copies as of March 2009.

Sequel

A sequel game, ''

Iron Man 2 ''Iron Man 2'' is a 2010 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Iron Man. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures, it is the sequel to ''Iron Man'' (2008) and the third film in the Marvel Cinem ...

'' was written by ''Iron Man'' comic book writer

Matt Fraction Matt Fritchman (born December 1, 1975), better known by the pen name Matt Fraction, is an American comic book writer, known for his work as the writer of '' The Invincible Iron Man'', '' FF'', '' The Immortal Iron Fist'', '' Uncanny X-Men'', an ...

, and was loosely based on the film ''

''. The game was released on May 4, 2010.Busch, Jenna
"Comics' Matt Fraction on how he wrote the Iron Man 2 game"
, Blastr, August 3, 2009

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Marvel Cinematic Universe, selected=Inspired 2008 video games Action games Behaviour Interactive games Iron Man (film series) Marvel Cinematic Universe video games Nintendo DS games Paramount Pictures video games PlayStation 2 games PlayStation 3 games PlayStation Portable games Sega video games Single-player video games Superhero video games Video games based on adaptations Video games based on films Video games based on Iron Man Video games developed in Canada Video games developed in the United States Video games scored by Mark Griskey Video games set in Afghanistan Video games set in Los Angeles Video games set in Russia Video games set in the Arctic Wii games Windows games Xbox 360 games