More Than Four Fantastic Tips

Published July 31, 2007

In Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, the planet-consuming Galactus is feeling a bit peckish and Earth looks to be a tasty snack. With his herald, the Silver Surfer, sent to Earth to ready its inhabitants for easy consumption, the mighty Fantastic Four catch wind of this foul plot and must now race to save the whole of our planet from imminent destruction.

One Nova Bomb coming up.

Luckily, thanks to you, our heroes are no doubt up to the task and Earth shall be spared. These tips should help you in your battle against Galactus.

Teamwork is Important
Any confrontation is liable to involve a tremendous number of enemies bearing down on our heroes. It's temping to just dive in with the Thing or hang back and shoot fireballs with the Human Torch. But it's more effective to keep the team together. When the enemies close in, use the Fusion Mode attacks with a pair of heroes to clear a group of enemies away quickly. This thins out the ranks, and lets you focus on stragglers.

Upgrade Paths
At the end of each level, spend your hard-won points to upgrade your hero's abilities. Keep the following things in mind:

• Unless you're playing on Hard difficulty, consider upgrading the players you don't generally control more than the ones you do. Your effectiveness in battle will be greatly increased.
• The ability to consistently use superpowers throughout even long battles is crucial. Pay extra attention to increasing each character's Cosmic Regen so their power meter regenerates quicker. Focus on putting points in Cosmic Cost to reduce the power cost of the superpowers you use the most.
• Because Fusion Powers cause such widespread damage, consider heavily investing in this area for each hero. For example, the Nova Bomb Fusion power requires the Invisible Woman's Shield and the Human Torch's Flame Thrower abilities. Bump those up and use the Nova Bomb.

Shield reflection is a wonderful thing.

Hide and Revive
Appropriate to the superhero genre, there is no permanent death for our heroes. Instead, they'll only be knocked out for a short period before reviving. If your team is whittled down to a lone conscious member, get away from the action if you can, and protect yourself until at least one other hero is revived. This is especially crucial during boss battles.

Toss 'Em
Any time you find yourself battling baddies near the edge of a platform, take the easy way out. Pick them up with The Thing, or use the Invisible Woman's Telekinesis to send them flying to their doom. No need to bash, flame, or smack around enemies when a simple toss will eliminate them entirely.

Ranged Attacks
Ranged attackers are a constant nuisance. They squeeze off shots difficult to dodge, and they're hard to recognize amidst the chaos of melee combat. Once your initial Fusion Attacks have taken out a healthy contingent of enemies, focus exclusively on the ranged attackers. Use the Human Torch's Fireball abilities, or the Invisible Woman's Shield ability, which can reflect attacks, allowing simultaneous strikes on as many enemies as are firing at her.

The Fishing Lure Method
The RB is used to command your fellow Fantastic Four members to perform various actions, such as staying put on switches to solve various puzzles. This ability is also useful for "pulling" a group of enemies back into smaller rooms and hallways where they're more manageable.

An obstacle only the Human Torch can overcome.

Use RB to make your comrades wait, then walk out in front of enemies and lure them back to the group. The enemies will follow you nicely into the trap. Ranged attackers will not move closer unless they lose line-of-sight, so you'll have to round a corner to get them to follow.

Puzzle Powers
Nearly every single puzzle you encounter will require the use of a superpower. The Invisible Woman might pass by security sensors unseen, the Human Torch can fly above obstacles, Telekinesis may be used to move platforms closer, or the Thing can use his strength to destroy boulders that block your path. If you find yourself stuck, just ask yourself which power would logically remove or solve the obstacle in front of you.

Destroyed Health
Shattered crates, boxes, and even rocks will reveal health upgrades for your team, but it's important to know that the health boost goes to the player that destroys the object. Therefore, make sure to switch always to the characters that have the least health when ripping apart a room after a battle.

These tips should help you control the Fantastic Four and allow them to take on Galactus. Good luck!

Article by Ryan Treit