Iron Man takes patience.
The game is fairly linear, at times very trial and error especially if you are on the clock without a clock. It begins very much like film aside from a prolonged break out level. The upgrades depend on how much you use the current version of the weapon in that slot. The armor and the propulsion systems upgrade automatically. The weapons are level by level basis of use.
You have to max out the count in order to get the upgrade, which at first did not automatically occur to me. Although anyone could make that leap before playing the game. I'll admit the level designs were frustrating, but not nearly as much as learning to maneuver in flight.
Its a learning experience albeit a very irritating one at times. I would not say its the best comic book based game I ever played, but it was not the worst. The single hero character dynamic is inherently different from the team/co-op dynamic.
The two X-Men Legends games and Marvel Ultimate Alliance succeed in the controls department if one is used to button mashing. Its still button mashing in games like Iron Man and other solo hero games. The flight controls are the most obvious difficulty, as for power management that's a relative second, but operating the weapons and the melee stuff is simple enough once you know what does what.
It follows the movie storyline at times, but obviously you have to fill in the gaps with something. He did after use the suit to destroy the stockpiles kept by buyers whom he was not aware the weapons were being sold to. The storyline of game also involves some individuals organizations from the comics not seen in the origin story film Iron Man.
Once you kind of get a handle on the controls, you'll get through somehow. I have despite how annoying some of the levels can get at times. However a fully upgrade Mk. III will be able to beat Iron Monger, which is why I replayed earlier levels to max out the upgrades.