Hulk

"Being the Hulk has never felt so good..."

This game has to be the best super hero game out there right now. The Hulk has always gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to video games, and I thought it would happen again when I saw that Universal Interactive was working on the game (especially after flops like the Lord of the Rings Fellowship games). After an hour of play all of my doubts were long gone and I was having the most fun that I had ever had with a super hero game. If you are a Hulk fan you don't need to read this review, hurry and buy this game, everyone else read the review and then rent the game. I will admit that the game isn't perfect and people will disagree with my score, but for a Hulk fan it couldn't get any better.

Graphics: 9
Wow... The graphics are simply astounding. The form of cell shading used makes this game look like a comic book come to life. Everything was made with vivid colors and plenty of detail. The character models are simply astounding to look at because of the amount of detail each one has. Another great thing about the graphics is if you see something hanging from a wall, more likely than not you will be able to knock it down and use it as a weapon. I have never seen that much environment interaction in a game before. The only thing that keeps the graphics from a perfect score is the fact that many of the environments look the same. The only level that doesn't look like another level is the introduction level in the desert. If it weren't for the reuse of so many backgrounds, the graphics would've been perfect.

Sound: 7
This is the weakest aspect of the game and it still isn't too bad. The problem with the sound is the fact that everything sounds alike and the background music never changes. It really starts to annoy you after about 2 hours of play and I had to turn off the sound during gameplay parts. The reason the sound got a score higher than a 4 is because of the voice acting. Eric Bana, the actor who plays Bruce Banner in the movie, reprises his role and does a fairly good job. All of the other voice actors did a fairly decent job, aside from the soldier banter that wears thin through out the game.

Control: 10
If you can't control this game, you can't play video games. This is the easiest game to pick up and play from the get go. All of the battle controls are easy to learn and there is enough variation in attack so the game never gets boring. The only problem I ever encountered was the camera, but the camera isn't so bad that the game isn't playable.

Story: 8
The story basically revolves around Bruce trying to find a cure for the Hulk. A friend of his double crosses him by acting like he took the energy, but instead he took only enough to make himself into a beast. After that point the story is about Bruce trying to get the orb back that has part of his energy. The story is good throughout most of the game, but there are enough points in the game where you don't know why you are doing what you are doing that it keeps the story from a perfect score.

Life Span: 7
This game isn't very long at all. On Easy it took me 4 hours to complete and on Hard it only took 10. The thing that expands the life span is the extras that you can unlock. Some extras you unlock by meeting specific requirements and others simply are unlocked by entering codes in special computers in the Bruce Banner levels. The extras merit enough curiosity to play through the game to unlock them.

This game was designed for Hulk fans and comic fans and it does an excellent job on both fronts. Some people don't like the game, but I think it is just fine the way it is.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/17/03, Updated 06/17/03