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Review:

28th June 2003:
The Hulk
Hulk Smash! Find out why in our full review.
Posted by John Wasabi - PlayStation 2 - UK and Europe

Yep, it's that time again when major Hollywood movies get the video game tie-in treatment and I hear you scream 'not more mediocre videogame tie-ins'. First it was X-Men with X2: Wolverine's Revenge followed by Enter the Matrix and now the mighty Hulk is at risk. Don't panic quite yet, fortunately for us Hulk is great stuff and one that we would recommend over the other two any day.

The Hulk is not an actual adaptation of the movie but rather a sequel or side story to the film. The Hulk tells new stories that focuses more on his comic book roots rather than copy the movie. Hulk has an array of colourful nemesis ranging from the evil genius known as The Leader to the likes of Madman, Flux, Ravage, and Half-life to be precise. This approach helps keep the intrigue of the film while cleverly allowing us to feel like part of it. It's a great idea from a design point of view as it allows the game developers more freedom and creativity. We really hope to see more videogame tie-ins in the future to be like this as it really does immerse the player in a way that is original.

There are two different types of play styles in the Hulk. You either play as Bruce Banner or the Hulk and for every couple of Hulk levels you accomplish; you'll then be forced to play as Bruce Banner and so forth. It isn't a bad idea; it does stop things from getting too repetitive too soon. The Bruce Banner missions are made up of stealth, infiltration, flipping switches to playing a mini-game that passes itself off as hacking into computer systems. The downside for the majority of the game is however, playing as Bruce Banner. Why you ask? For a start, the objectives are painfully long and overly frustrating. It also doesn't help that maneuvering objects are bothersome and non-responsive most of the time and believe me, its not fault of our own. The cumbersome camera angles when playing as Bruce Banner is culprit.

Its not all doom and gloom though, playing the Hulk missions help ease the pain as they are absolutely superb to play. Essentially the objectives for the Hulk are to smash and get from point A to point B alive while demolishing everything in your path. There will be occasions where you run into sections that will have you to targeting something in particular before you can advance, but for the most part, the action is straightforward, action packed, brutally violent and above all fun. As the Hulk your attacks range from simple punch attacks, which you can tap for a three-hit combo to holding down the button to charge up your punches for a more devastating attack. The charge-up effect is pretty cool and you can mix up the combos for more damage. The Hulk can also grab enemies and knock them around like rag dolls or just grab objects around him that looks usable such as cars, pipes, crates, boxes, heck he can pick up almost anything he sees and use it as a weapon. The Hulk also has a rage meter that fills up as you give and receive damage. When the meter is full, it means the Hulk is even angrier, and as the saying goes 'you won't like him when he's angry'. First off, for a brief period of time his punches are more powerful and it also allows him to unleash a devastating attack which will affect everything in his radius, very destructive stuff so you'll just have to take our word for it until you play it for yourself.

The one thing that disappointed slightly about the Hulk missions is that it is a little short. Although 30 missions sound great on paper, in practice it's just over too quickly. On the bright side though, there are three difficulty settings and loads of bonuses to unlock. These bonuses range from trailers of the movie to the making of the videogame with interviews from the key developers working on the project.

Graphically, the Hulk is awesome. From character animations to damage meshes and building textures, Hulk is eye candy all the way that is done in a very cool comic style that almost looks cel-shaded at times. The game runs smoothly without a hitch and only seems to slow down when major commotion is around you resulting in multiple particle effects to kick in.

The soundtrack is also well made and suits the atmosphere of the game well and the voice acting is straight from Eric Bana the guy who is actually playing Bruce Banner in the film. There is loads of variety when it comes to sound effects and cries of the soldiers as you pummel them are all clean and crisp. Production values for the game are high and it shows.

The Hulk may have its downfalls here and there but it provides something that some technically brilliant games lack and that is F-U-N. It doesn't promise to revolutionize gaming in any shape or form but it does promise you enjoyment and money well spent to those who are big fans of the Hulk or to those who just want a game that will provide entertainment and enjoyment.

John Wasabi

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Review Summary:

The Hulk may have its downfalls here and there but it provides something that some technically brilliant games lack and that is F-U-N. It doesn't promise to revolutionize gaming in any shape or form but it does promise you enjoyment and money well spent to those who are big fans of the Hulk or to those who just want a game that will provide entertainment and enjoyment.

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