Hulk

"Smash Something!"

This game would have gotten an 8 if it hadn't been for those gosh-awful ''stealth'' segments.

PRESENTATION -7

GRAPHICS - 5

Everything looks just slightly better than Minority Report/Spiderman the Movie/Wolverine X2-level, in terms of polygon count and texture quality.
The animations are all superb. I'm glad they didn't attach ridiculous martial arts moves to the Hulk, because they wouldn't have fit. Instead, every single motion the big green monster goes through comes directly from his appearances in the Marvel vs. Capcom series (seriously...I didn't see a single move, except maybe the throws and the picking up/throwing objects/people that wasn't directly copied from those earlier games). Meanwhile, the enemies each have their own unique move sets. The hulk-a-likes move similary to the hero, Half Life bounces around like a world class acrobat, and the hordes of machine-gun-armed soldiers team up, hide, and rappel down walls appropriately. Enemies go flying when you hit them, and Gamma-powered moves glow green.
There's a reasonable physics engine governing how debris objects move, but I'm dissapointed that this wasn't extended into full-blown Rag Doll Physics, a la' the similar-genre game Minority Report: Everybody Runs. And unlike that game, this game doesn't have the copious amounts of breakable glass.
A nice touch is that whenever you jump on (or slam something into) the floor, a small ''cracked'' texture appears. Likewise, a ''punched-into'' texture appears when you sonic clap or punch into a wall.
Still, there are almost as many destructible objects as in MR:ER, and that's really saying something.
However, the graphics take a major hit in the points because of the constant glitches and bugs cause objects that shouldn't be there to block your view. Occasionally, the camera swoops behind a wall, and instead of turning the wall texture off, it turns it black, totally obscuring your view. Often I have to wiggle around my character to see what's going on. These glitches are probably unique to a PC version before patches, so if you're playing this on a PS2, don't worry.

AUDIO - 7
The roars, yells, and crunching sounds are spot on. Also notable is the breaking of plaster and low crunching of Hulk punching through (or landing on) cement.

STORY - 8
The cutscenes are a treat to watch, not because the story is that good (it's reminiscent of the old Spiderman series on Fox about 6 years back), but because the unique-sytled cel-shaded characters look good and move in really smooth ways.

CONTROL - 3

BUTTON ASSIGNMENT
You WILL need to remap the buttons. If you have a joystick, so much the better, you'll enjoy the game more.

CAMERA - 2
I give the camera a 4 during Hulk's sections; it's fixed and it follows him well enough usually, but much of the time you're taking hits from offscreen enemies. Only the fact that most stages are basically rectangular rooms connected by rectangular hallways compensates for this.

During the Banner stealth segments, the camera is the worst offender (I give it a 1), making these sections totally unplayable. Imagine trying to beat Metal Gear Solid with black paint covering your tv set. Sure, you can go into first-person view with the Shift button, but that's not a very effective method, since you can't move in this state.

FEEL- 4
During the Hulk segments, I'd give control an 8. Sometimes, you just wanna SMASH SOMETHING, and this game really plays to that feeling. Essentially, you're only pressing 3 buttons in conjunction with Jump, Target, and 4 movement keys:
1) Punch - can be held down to charge each hit in the 3-hit combo with Gamma energy, sorta like Dante's flaming gauntlets (Ifrit) from Devil May Cry. When holding a pole or debris, this uses said object as a club. When holding a victim, this pummels them. While jumping, this charges up a sweet aerial punch. Time your punches right, and you can even hit enemy missiles back at their recipients.
2) Grab - at a tap, picks up debris or enemies. You can then toss them with another press of the grab button.
3) Gamma - alone, this causes Hulk to slap his hands together to create a sonic wave (I assure you, it's a comic-documented Hulk move, and featured in Marvel vs. Capcom). With the punch button, Hulk slams the ground for an earthquake-like move (If your rage meter is full, this move will hit everyone in the room). When holding debris, Gamma uses it like a club, but at a different angle. When holding a victim, Gamma slams him on the ground for a stylish death. While jumping, this causes Hulk to slam the ground with his feet, creating an earthquake.
I can't say that the fighting engine of The Hulk surpasses that of Dynasty Warriors 4 (it doesn't...at all...not even close), but between all the very violent, very powerful moves you're doing, you get a real sense of power. It's easy, fast fun.

However...the Banner stealth sections are impossible in the sense that you have no real control options. Punching is too weak. Grab does a pitifully weak throw. And Gamma is just used to move crates around. The Jump button, which launched Hulk into the air and lets him bash the ground with his landing, now crouches. Moving while crouched is the ONLY stealthlike move Banner has. He has no lean, no special vision, no disguise-taking, no wall-clingin, no nothing. It's painful.

GAMEPLAY - 5

MECHANICS - 5
The Hulk sections have you bashing your way through linear levels while infinitely spawning enemies try and impede your progress. Each enemy you kill leaves behind either a small health bonus, or a Rage energy bonus. These sections are fun and deserve an 8.
Other sections star Bruce Banner in the world's worst attempt at a Stealth game. Seriously. Metal Gear Solid 2 has a MUCH better stealth engine than this, to say nothing of the real powerhouses like Splinter Cell and Hitman 2. Playing Deus Ex as a stealth game is an infinitely better experience than as Banner. Even the broken Wolverine X2 stealth segments are much, much better. This segment gets a 1, but fortunately, only 1/7 of the full game is stealth. In terms of area, that's actually 1/25, but because these segments are so hard (essentially, hand-to-hand combat is an impossibility, so alerting 1 guard is game over) and plagued by a poor camera and NO REAL STEALTH CAPABILITIES, each stealth segment takes you 10 times what it should in terms of dying and retrying.

LEVEL DESIGN - 2
For Hulk's sections, all the rooms look alike, and all the level arrangements are just rooms and corridors joined together. I give it a 4.

For Banner's sections, the piss-poor level design tries to overshadow the poor control by being impossibly hard to navigate. I give it a 1.

ENEMIES - 8
There are quite a few different enemy types, and many have been augmented to deal with the Hulk. There are standard machine-gun-toting soldiers, soldiers with cattle prods and energy shields, machine turrets, helicopters, and Gamma-powered dogs and hulk-clones. I love fighting them.

VALUE - 4
Once you decide to use a cheat code to skip the Banner stealth segments (you'll have to view the cutscenes on your own from the movie menu), you'll find alot to like about this game. It's no DW4 (if you do not already own that game, go out and BUY IT! NOW!!!), and you might eventually tire of Hulk's simple gameplay...but maybe not.
There are also movie trailers, making-of movie, challenge arenas, and other similar things found in most games of the beat-em-up genre today.
However, with no multiplayer mode, no modded-levels ability, and only an 8-score game, I don't think I'll be replaying it much. If you're a beat-em-up fan, though, or you like the Hulk, there is much to enjoy in this flawed game. It's most like Minority Report: Everybody Runs, which I found was critically underrated.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/10/03, Updated 06/10/03