Review: The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (XBX)
Okay, let's get the required puns out of the way in the first paragraph: Hulk is absolutely "smashing", a great "bash", and probably the most fun you can have with a twelve-foot-tall, half-naked green man without having to buy him a drink first. All jokes aside, it's with great pleasure and confidence that Gamestyle can add The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is not only "incredibly" enjoyable but also the best superhero game ever made.
The plot focuses on Dr Bruce Banner's fight to rid himself of his emerald alter-ego; not particularly original by any stretch (if it ain't broke, Marvel?), but with the help of colleague Dr Samson - and a little mind control - The Hulk is induced into building a machine that will silence the beast within. However, hoping to eradicate The Hulk in a more 'violent' way is Emil Blonsky (aka The Abomination, voiced by Ron Perlman) and General "Thunderbolt" Ross. Thus, the stage is set for one of the most satisfyingly over-the-top combat games around.
Banner's plight has been transmogrified to games before (most recently, via the horrendous film tie-in), but none have truly captured the spirit of being The Hulk. Everything now changes, thanks to an extremely capable combat system and a sandbox environment; Radical Entertainment have faithfully personified man's attempt to control the destructive forces of nature. See that bus? You can smash it to bits, use it as a makeshift skateboard, beat civilians over the head with it, or run to the top of a skyscraper and hurl it at an offending military helicopter (or all of the above). And the more destruction you wreak, the more abilities you can unlock to deal out some more.
As you progress through the story, causing incredible damage, partaking in some enjoyable side-missions and collecting comic books dotted around the landscape (which unlock cheat codes), you'll earn Smash Points which are used to purchase new moves. Since Hulk starts out with very basic abilities, buying these moves is essential for progress: some are just new combos, but most are extremely useful (such as the Hammer Throw - which enables Hulk to grab an enemy tank by the barrel and turn it into a makeshift projectile... with explosive results! This move is incredibly useful when battling one of the game's seven bosses, a building-sized mech).
While most of the game's entertainment comes from these story missions, what you do between them is entirely up to you - players can simply bound around the cityscape or Badlands desert if they wish; chaining jumps together and leaping over buildings is entertainment in itself (and almost as much fun as the web-slinging in Spider-Man 2). However, side-missions are where the game's lighter side shines through: alongside the 'run through the checkpoints' and 'destroy this' affairs are a good number of quests that use Hulk's abilities to great effect. Gamestyle's personal favourite is where The Hulk dresses up in a blue business suit (complete with jaunty fedora) and plays golf across the landscape with a ball and club twice his size.
Graphically, the game is impressive; the aforementioned battle against a two-hundred-foot mech is breathtaking as it stomps through buildings, surrounded by the chaos of exploding tanks (which you've just launched at it). In fact, this is where the graphics engine is at its best because, even amid the carnage of multiple explosions, Hulk's most powerful moves (ie, Critical Masses) being unleashed and an innocent building collapsing in the process, there isn't a trace of slowdown. Perhaps this is due to the bland and lifeless environments (looking more like blocks that have been copied and pasted into other parts of the city).
Character design is a notch above that of the environments; The Hulk himself looks incredible (sorry, accidental pun) and is brilliantly animated. The same goes for most of the antagonists, including the Abomination, the two-hundred-foot tall mechs (yes, plural) and their lesser counterparts - however, when it comes to the more 'disposable' enemies, it's another cut-and-paste job: there are a multitude of enemy and civilian vehicles but the same template is used over and over with little to differentiate them. Still, since they'll all end up as twisted metal at the end of the day, this isn't a major concern.
Despite all the superlatives, The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction isn't without chinks: some of the latter missions can be frustrating, as the military throws everything it has at you (i.e. constantly respawning enemies). The mobile missile launchers can be a right pain when there are three or more to deal with (as you will be juggled in the air with unerring accuracy). However, if you do get peeved with the game, you can always vent your frustrations in the sandbox area (which is a better method of unwinding than any stress ball). Finally, apart from the voice work and explosions, the game audio isn't as impressive as it could be (mostly because of the nondescript music).
The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is the first superhero game that actually made Gamestyle feel like we WERE the protagonist (unlike wannabe titles such as Batman Begins and Spider-Man 2, which dressed you up in spandex and left you hanging for more). Minor grievances aside, this game has succeeded in doing what it set out to do: taking one of Marvel's most beloved characters and creating the best licensed superhero game to date.
Rating: 8 / 10
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