With the huge success of the Spiderman movie last year, other heroes are getting there chances at the big screen. The Hulk just happens to be on of these heroes. While getting a motion picture is great and all, it’s just not enough these days. So you should be seeing the Hulk everywhere and on everything from ice-pops to underwear, and yes even video games. That’s good right? I mean a game based on a character whose best known phrase is “Hulk smash” can’t be all bad.

    You’re offered two modes of play in the Hulk game: Story and Challenge. The Story mode follows the events that occurred during the Hulk movie. The game starts with Bruce Banner waking from a disturbing dream and receiving a call from a past acquaintance, Professor Crawford. Crawford claims to have a cure for Bruce’s disease. Left with no other options and eager to rid himself of the Hulk, Bruce goes to met Crawford. After sneaking into the building with Crawford’s help, the two of them met and begin the procedure. But before it’s through, Bruce realizes it was a trap, but it’s too late. Crawford had already stolen some of the Hulk’s essence and changed himself into one. Now Bruce must track down Crawford and stop any plans he might have for what he has stolen. This is where the real game begins.

    In Story Mode, there are two different types of gameplay elements that are used. The first are the levels were Bruce is used. During these levels stealth and intelligence is needed to pass guards and obstacles. These kinds of levels are on the rather slow side and combat is almost entirely out of the question. If caught during one of these levels, death is almost imminent. Bruce’s moves consist of running, punching, ducking, and using a computer or moving a crate. Not sure really why he is even allowed to punch since even the scientist in this game can beat him up.

    On the other side of the spectrum, are the Hulk levels. These levels just scream “fight” and are the real reasons to play this game. Unlike his weaker counterpart, the Hulk has variety of moves he can use. All of which are great for dealing destruction. You can beat the baddies with a fury of punches or maybe by grabbing ‘em and tossing ‘em onto their friends. Maybe you’d rather tear some piping off the wall and use that as a club. If it stands out in this game, then the odds are the Hulk can smash it and use it to his advantage. There are some problems with controlling the Hulk is that he seems to running on ice or some other smooth surface. The targeting system could have also used some more work. Many times I found myself targeting a barrel or box when I wanted to target the guy shooting me. There’s a way to toggle through the enemies until you have targeted the desired one, but this takes too long at times and is only really good for targeting helicopters. Also during the Hulk levels there is the occasional boss fight. These consist of pounding on the boss or throwing objects at him until he dies. Really no strategy needed, just find what works and go with it. The Hulk’s gameplay can be summed up in one word: repetitive. Each level is just like the last, nothing new is really added. You face maybe a total of five different baddies throughout the game, not counting bosses. Bruce’s levels are slow and tedious. The Hulk’s levels consist of running from point A to point B. Occasionally needing to stop and kill some of the endless supply of guys to fill up your health.

    The Challenge Mode is limited. You have three versions: Endurance, Time Attack, and Hulk Smash. Endurance has you try to survive the onslaught of enemies for as long as you can. Starts out slow, with only a few baddies, but as the waves continue so does the number of guys. The goal of Time Attack is to defeat as many baddies as you can before time runs out. In Hulk Smash the objective is to destroy all the environment you can before the time runs out. Not too bad if you happen to get bored with the story mode.

    The Hulk isn’t anything bad to look at. But in the same way it’s nothing great. The Hulk’s not going to be remembered for its looks, but that’s not what the Hulk’s about. Hulk’s about smashing. So for this, the explosions look cool, and everywhere you punch or stomp will leave damage. The movie clips are all done quite nicely and make the game that much more enjoyable. Once a portion of the game has been completed, trailers for the movie become unlocked. This is nice except the quality is rather low.

    Musically is where the game really shines. Well, maybe not. The music playing during the levels is forgettable. Most of the time, it’s not even noticeable. The sound effects are another down point. I suppose they do what they’re meant to do, exaggerate the punishment and bones breaking. A nice little addition to the game are the VAs. I know that Bruce Banner’s voice was done by the actor who played the part in the movie, but am not really sure about the rest of the cast. Unfortunately, most of the time Bruce sounds bored with it. The bosses also shout out phrases, but that just gets old fast. Later on in the game, shouting from the baddies sounds garbled. The little enemies’ phrases are one of the best parts of the games; it’s just too bad they weren’t given enough attention to.

    While this game does lag in most areas; gameplay, sound, fun… ok, everywhere, it does shine in one area: smashing. It’s extremely repetitive, but has enough hidden secrets and unlockables to get a couple extra hours out of it. Wouldn’t buy this game for more the $15 new, but for those who need to satisfy their smashing cravings, this might do the trick.