Electronic Arts had an early version of their Superman Returns video game up and running on a Xbox 360 at their Studio Showcase. The game seems to be only partly based on the movie, with a large amount of content being drawn from Supe's comic book history. The Superman license has an infamous past (Superman 64 may be the worst console game of all time), but this is the first time EA has had it and it looks like they're serious. When we asked the cheeky question of whether the new game would be better than Superman 64, EA rep Nick Straw didn't hesitate to tell us that Superman Returns would “blow that game out of the water.”

And things are looking that way so far. Superman Returns is a free-roaming romp through a fully-realized Metropolis. Superman is a go-anywhere do-anything type guy, which has always been a challenge for game developers who must limit his powers somehow -- he must eventually be reigned in to some finite environment, and there has to be someway to get to Game Over. The EA team has come up with some interesting solutions. Instead of giving Superman a life meter, they've given the city of Metropolis a life meter, reasoning that the the destruction of Metropolis is the only thing that could destroy Superman. Superman has a stamina meter, which controls how many of his powers are accessible to him. Repeated use of his powers or exposure to kryptonite can bring this meter down, but never kill him.

The city itself is huge, and as we watched the EA rep play the game we noted that there seemed to be no load times at all between different areas. The seamless transitions lend the city a true character. Superman can fly all the way up to a bird's eye view of the city (meanwhile using the yellow sun to charge his stamina meter) or he can zoom all the way down to street level. With his extraordinary powers, it seems so easy to damage things around him – land a little to hard and you've smashed a gaping crater into the road. This is where Metropolis's life meter comes into play, requiring you to use your powers judiciously. There is a mini-game area where you can play as Bizarro Superman, indulging your dark side and destroying as much as you want.

Of course, there will be plenty of villains trying to bring down Metropolis as well. The fight we witnessed the most of was a citywide battle with Metallo and some of his drones. Metallo releases a missile, and it's up to Superman to go stop it before it hits anything. The EA rep playing mentioned that we'd also be fighting Lex and Bizarro, as well as taking on a meteor storm early in the game. The game's story will build off of the movie's plot and advance through cutscenes performed by the actors from the Superman Returns movie.

Visually, there is no doubt that the game is taking advantage of the 360 hardware. The sense of flight is astonishing, especially when zooming around buildings. The frame rate was still a little choppy, and this was even more noticeable on the 1080i television on which we were seeing the game. EA assured us that the frame rate would not be an issue by the time of the game's release. Another nice touch was the orchestral score, which we learned had been composed specifically for the game.

It's a little too early to pronounce this game as super or just average, but things are definitely coming along nicely. Making a Superman game is always tough -- when you play Superman, you want unfettered access to everything, you want to be able to enter any building, go swim to the bottom of the sea, etc. The developers have tried to impart that powerful, free-roaming feeling. It will be up to the players to decide if they've succeeded when the game ships in late fall. Though there is no set date, EA is planning with Warner Bros. to release the Superman Returns video game at the same time the movie DVD is released. Check back with AMN for the latest news and reviews of Superman Returns.