Iron Man kicks off the anticipated summer movie season on May 2, and Sega plans to accompany the impressive looking film with a 3-D open-world video game. Developed by Secret Level, this gorgeous superhero extravaganza casts you as the impenetrable Iron Man and drops you into huge war zones, as you use your suit's special abilities to give enemies the business. It looks sweet, but with images of the horrid Spider-Man 3 and Superman Returns fresh on our minds, we're a little skeptical.

To be fair, Secret Level didn't design either of those games, and Iron Man has a lot going for it, starting with its sprawling environments. In a sense, this is Iron Man: Grand Theft Auto, as it drops you into these gigantic areas with the freedom to do as you please. No, you're not carjacking people and bludgeoning hookers. Instead, you can fly hundreds of feet in the air and take on fighter jets, or crash land and square off against ground troops, tanks and other vehicles. And for each one, Iron Man has a signature move, as you'll watch him rip the cannons from tanks or bust through helicopter tails.

With that said, expect to decimate the opposition using Iron Man's weapons and abilities, including his brute strength, flying and repulsor rays, fired from the palms of his hands. Furthermore, you have the option of upgrading the armor, leveling up specific parts and adding new weapons to better destroy your foes.

Sega also deserves credit for going beyond the movie. The game loosely follows the film, the rest of it comprised of new content and stuff pulled from the comic book series. Expect to see such enemies as Iron Monger, Titanium Man, The Melter and A.I.M. (Advanced Ideas Mechanics), as well as signature armor, including the Classic armor, Classic Mark 1 armor, Ultimate Iron Man (PlayStation 3 exclusive) and Silver centurion armor (an Xbox 360 exclusive).

Voice acting is another key addition, and fans should enjoy Robert Downey Jr.'s performance as the billionaire industrialist turned super hero. His performance will add value to the Iron Man experience, and he's not the only actor from the film that signed up for the video game. Terence Howard and Shaun Toub, Lt. Col. James "Rhodey Rhodes and Yinsen respectively, reprised their roles.

All of this could amount to a superb action adventure experience that'll trump previous superhero games. At the same time, publishers have tried and failed to recreate the open world brilliance that is Grand Theft Auto. Iron Man looks sweet because it lets you go anywhere and destroy everyone, but the fear of spreading the action too thinly hangs over this project like an ominous rain cloud. But with a release date of May 2, we'll find out soon enough whether it delivers the same adrenaline rush as the film.

Related Links

Iron Man PS3 Game Guide

Iron Man Xbox 360 Game Guide