Fact: there's nothing that fantastic about the Fantastic Four. Squeezed out (if you'll forgive the phrasing) during a quick toilet break between the infinitely superior creative outpourings that were Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk, Marvel's first family of superheroes can hardly be called Stan Lee's finest hour. Too square to comfortably line up with the hipper-than-hip X-Men, and too close-knit to exude the same kind of lone-wolf charm of Peter Parker's web-slinger, the Fantastic Four are a curious footnote in comic-book lore: a nuclear family pumped up on cosmic rays and still living in fear of a cold war that died out before most of us were born.

Except now they're back: younger, fitter, sexed up and ready to rock the cinema-going public. And look! There's a conveniently timed Xbox game to go with it! So what of the console adventures of the stretchy one, the fiery one, the chick and the big crusty orange one? Are the Fantastic Four (or Fantastic 4 as they've been cleverly rebranded - can you see what they did there?) really that fantastic now they've all been given a short back and sides and fresh dab of lippy?

Well, if we're being honest, it's kind of... okay. Heartily playable, but massively uninspiring with it. For all the slickness you'll experience while playing Fantastic 4 - and full credit to developer 7 Studios for making things feels nice and responsive come the moment hands clasp joypad - here is a game drowning in its own lack of ambition. If Fantastic 4 was a schoolboy, "must try harder" would be stamped through its report book like "Clacton-On-Sea" through a stick of rock.

Let's put it another way. Close your eyes and imagine what you'd expect from your typical, run-of-the-mill superhero movie-to-game conversion.

It's a third-person action adventure, perhaps? With levels based on the plot of the film? A combat-heavy brawler with maybe handful of tired hacking-into-computer-terminals/unlocking-doors mini-games thrown in? With the Fantastic 4 game it's check, check and check. It's as if faced with the prospect of making yet another generic game of a superhero film, everyone at 7 Studios underwent massive inspiration bypasses.

Of course, given that the film itself is basically a series of heavily CGl-bolstered fight scenes mixed up with the merest hint of dialogue (for the benefit of those who don't know the story, a band of scientists and astronauts and their evil financial backer go into space, only to get pelted by a DNA-altering cosmic storm: scientists and astronauts become the Fantastic Four, evil money man becomes the nefarious Doctor Doom), it could be argued that the third-person brawler is the ideal choice of format. But in this post Spider-Man 2 and X-Men: Legends world, such a paucity of imagination isn't as excusable. Unless you've got the chutzpah to pull off a supremely polished, slickly produced effort chock full of gameplay cheerfully stolen from the Burnout series, as with last issue's 82%-scoring Batman Begins, don't bother. Call us pedantic if you like, but it's just so, so... predictable.

So now we've got our biggest gripe of all out of the way, how does Fantastic 4 actually play as a game? Well, like we say, it's alright. Acceptable. Adequate. You run around, sometimes on your own, sometimes with a computer-controlled team- mate or three (more often or not during the boss battles), smacking the crap out of wave after wave of comic-book baddies. Beat the boss, watch the story bit, and on to the next level. It's simple.

Only, and here's the clever(ish) bit, you can swap between characters at any point during proceedings with a quick flick of the direction pad. Not only does it give you access to a different set of combat moves, but there are certain 'hot points' in each level that can only be activated by specific characters. For example, Susan Storm might need her telekinesis to shift large objects, while brother Johnny uses his flame-power to cut through locked metal doors. Which almost sounds exciting, if it wasn't for the fact that all the mini-games used to activate said hot points are just rubbish variations on frantic button bashing.

A bit crap, then. So what about the fighting? It's pretty workmanlike too. Thankfully, there's plenty of variety in the moves on offer. Each of the four protagonists boasts numerous combos along with special attacks tailored to their own unique powers (Mr Fantastic can stretch his arms out while The Human Torch ejaculates fireballs, for example), all of which can be upgraded using experience earned during combat, naturally. The real problem comes when you're trying to access them all, though. Basic combos are simple enough; bang away at the two attack buttons and you're laughing, but try anything more complex and you risk dislocating your fingers. An example? Hold down the Left trigger to lock on, the Right trigger to activate your special powers, Y to jump, and then B for an aerial attack: that's a fantastic four buttons at once for a single attack! Not to mention the fact that someone has only decided to assign the block move to the Black key, perhaps the Xbox joypad's least accessible button. Thanks to this, our hands now resemble fleshy modern art sculptures. You'll be hearing from our team of National Accident Helpline-appointed lawyers in the morning, Activision. (Only joking, guys!)

Completely aside from such control-based tomfoolery lies the issue of polish to consider. Or to be more accurate, the lack thereof. Because graphically speaking, Fantastic 4is tired and ropey and depressingly familiar to look at. There's plenty going on, sure - the game copes well with teeming armies of bad guys - but the character models are basic and the arm-through-wall style glitches and wobbly camera are just embarrassing.

As is often the case with official movie licences, though, Fantastic 4 sounds great. Having the original cast do the voiceovers means no piss-poor soundalikes spoiling things, while the music, ripped straight from the movie, makes the whole thing just that little bit more cinematic.

But more importantly still, the surprising nugget of tasty meat in the middle of all this boring gristle is Fantastic 4's excellent Co-op mode. Far better than anything offered in recent Star Wars flick-to-game Revenge Of The Sith, every single level of Fantastic 4's ten-mission campaign can be played co-op style. Whether it's by cleverly shoehorning in a human-controlled robot for the second player in some cases, or tweaking the puzzles so two players can take part instead of one, every second of Fantastic 4 can be enjoyed with a friend sat beside you. It's unusual to see this much tweaking just for the sake of adding a little co-op, but it's gratifying nevertheless.

And there you have it. Exactly the game we expected to see: another solid, predictable comic-book title. Perfectly playable but riddled with the kind of flaws a few more weeks of polish would most likely have ironed out. If you're into superhero brawlers and enjoy a bit of co-op you'll probably have fun with Fantastic 4. But if you're looking for something with even the merest spark of inspiration, you'll likely be disappointed.

1. Does a decent job of following the film, and helpfully fleshes things out with a number of scenes lifted from the original comics.
2. A lot of effort has been put into making a decent co-operative brawler. Play it through with a mate for maximum fun potential.
3. Getting the actual cast in to do the voiceovers is a scoop and adds some credibility to the game. The music's pretty good too.

1. Hardly any thought has gone into making Fantastic 4 a game in its own right. By the numbers, film-to-game stuff at its most predictable.
2. A lack of visual polish throughout, with numerous graphical glitches, a ropey camera and poorly thought out controls too.

A competent if predictably handled film-to-game conversion. It's okay, but totally lacking any flair or ambition.