Flame on! Fantastic Four first shots

Despite being scooped up by Activision at the start of the decade, the Fantastic Four have been doing a better job of keeping a low profile than Sue Storm (AKA Invisible Girl).

That is until now. Because, through a mixture of carefully calibrated gamma radiation and a few phone calls, we have managed to penetrate their barrier and snag some hot shots of the game in both solo mode and two-player, co-op action.

With a script scribbled by Zak Penn, the writer of the X2 X-Men United film, the game follows the foursome in a third-person adventure that forces you to switch between the heroes and even team up in your quest to defeat Dr Doom, Annihilus, Diablo and Puppet Master.

As you would expect, each member of this quite-amazing-quad has their own talents, culled from a list of 40 upgradeable skills.

So while Mr Fantastic (or Reed Richards, as he signs his cheques) can stretch and bend to fit into even the smallest gap, the Thing (Mr Ben Grimm) relies on his weird power of being made of rock to smash, crush and obliterate everything in his path.

Of course you can also control, Invisible Girl (Sue Storm) or the Human Torch (Johnny Storm), with the pair adding stealth, incendiary attacks and sibling rivalry to the party.

More importantly, the team and their talents can be combined to perform cooperative attacks, even when the game is being played solo.

The game will also solve the age-old geek contest of trying to decide which of the radioactive quartet is tougher, by pitting them together in a variety of bonus battlefields where old scores can finally be settled.

Fantastic Four will unite again for PS2, Xbox, PC, Gamecube and GBA on 15 July