Incredible Hulk Review

Smash, Hulk Smash! The Incredible Hulk smashed through on the PS3, Xbox 360 and the Wii. And you can pick it up now!

 

The game follows in and out of the film and has missions that intertwine with the movie and with its own story arc. You control the Hulk (awesome!) in a free roaming and destructible New York. The missions make letting you wreak havoc on the streets if you feel like to save the city or terrify it. The graphics of the game are easy to look at and pleasing, but the game does have issues, such as when standing next to a building or such and you rotate the camera the game will glitch and the screen will go blank with everything expect for the Hulk. It doesn’t effect the gameplay much and isn’t too big of a deal, but it’s there.

 

 

The story shows Hulk’s evolution from local monster who everyone wants to disappear out of the city to the lesser-of-two-evils abnormality who saves New York from an even greater threat. Half of the cutscenes are told through static screens featuring just a tape recorder and Edward Norton’s tired voice, whereas the other half are poorly rendered cinematics that show barely recognizable versions of the stars from the movie. It’s hard to get immersed in this tale of alienation and redemption when the actors sound so disinterested in the proceedings

 

 

The thriving city that made the other versions fun in short bursts seem to have been overrun by a life-ending plague here. Streets are often completely empty. Where an abundance of cars and people once fled in terror, there are now only a few people and the occasional car lining the streets. The idea of rampaging around a virtual New York City is enticing, but when the population seems to have disappeared, it kills one’s desire. It’s boring destroying a city if no one even cares.

 

 

The control scheme has also made the transition to the Wii, but in a severely crippled state. There aren’t enough buttons to properly mimic the layout from the other versions, so you’ll have to go through some painstaking steps to pull off your full repertoire. For example, sprinting is executed by holding down the B button on the Wii Remote and the Z button on the Nunchuk, a less-than-intuitive scheme. Even more cumbersome are the super moves, which you’ll have to use quite often. Here, you’ll have to call up the move of your choice (healing, thunderclap, ground slam, or rampage) by scrolling with the directional pad, then frantically shaking the Nunchuk to charge it up, and finally hitting B to unleash it. Trying to pull off one of these techniques in the heat of battle is extremely impractical.

 

 

The camera controls are also awful. You can use the C button to center your view. If you hold it, you can lock on to enemies, which you will need to do if you want any sort of accuracy in your throws. However, the lock-on is completely broken. Not only does it take a solid second before it will recognize that an enemy is in your sights, but the game also quickly loses track of foes if you are attacked or if they move too quickly. If you want to freely move your camera, you’ll have to hold the minus button and use the pointer. This method is so imprecise that it’s hard to even keep up with an injured pedestrian who is slowly limping past your view. Trying to quickly find a fast-moving enemy or a power-up while falling off a building is nearly impossible. And there is no option to use the Classic or GameCube controller. You’re stuck with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk combo, and it’s clunky and unresponsive.

 

 

The story missions aren’t loaded with variety, but there are some minigames and statistics-based feats to add a surprising amount of replay value if you somehow get sucked in. There are a number of unlockable Hulk skins to strive for, and you can earn more-powerful versions of your moves along the way. It is rather shocking that not only can you knock down famous New York landmarks, but that you’re also actually rewarded for doing so. It’s darkly satisfying to destroy Stark Tower or the Empire State Building; it’s just unfortunate that the city doesn’t react when you raze these structures. Hearing Tony Stark shouting an angry threat at the beast that toppled his home would have given some weight to these unforgivable destructions. Strangely, the Wii version doesn’t have all of the landmarks from the other versions. For instance, the Bear Stearns Building is physically located in the game, but it isn’t listed by name, and you won’t be rewarded with a Landmark token when it’s torn down. All told, there are 35 landmarks in the Wii version and 50 in the others.

 

Game 2 Gamer’s Final Score 2.5 / 5

Frustration Level