The Hulk

PUBLISHER: VIVENDI UNIVERSAL/BLACK LABEL GAMES

DEVELOPER: RADICAL ENTERTAINMENT

GENRE: THIRD-PERSON SMASHER

RELEASE DATE: SUMMER 2003

The Hulk is probably the easiest game idea to pitch. Just scream ��HULK SMASH!�� and be done with it. In fact, it��s almost wrong to call this a game. How about a cross-promotional movie tie-in? Whatever the case, the Hulk game is shaping up as an interesting combination of beat-em-up smasher and Metal Gear Solid.

It helps that Spider-Man single-handedly made comic-book properties the latest Hollywood in thing, and Freedom Force bolstered the idea that good superhero games can be done on PC. Besides, the PC is ripe for some good old-fashioned romping and stomping.

PRETTY AS A PICTURE

The game takes place a year after the film��s story line, with Bruce Banner trying to un-Hulkify himself. A nefarious fellow named Crawford (replete with evil beard and hairstyle��bwah-ha-ha) says he can help. Chaos ensues, and you spend the rest of the game smashing and screaming, just as you would expect in a Hulk game. All of this shouting and wrecking ultimately has you going after the Leader (that silly Hulk villain whose head resembles a massive pair of, shall we say, cajones), who��s making a massive army of gamma-radiated soldiers. Along the way, you fight other Hulk villains, like Half-Life, Flux, Madman (all from the comics), and even the Hulk-dogs from the movie.

Most comic book�Cinspired games tend to emulate the look and feel of their counterparts. Hulk is going for a uniquely stylized cel-shaded look. While most cel-shaded games look like cartoon wannabes, Hulk adds some embossing and bump-mapping effects that give the characters�� faces a very distinct gloss.

Gameplay is pretty much straight beat-em-up when you��re the big green guy. The interface is simplistic, but then, how complicated do you need to get when it comes to smash or grab? The Hulk has a large variety of moves (45 in all), which you can apply to both your enemies and the environment. So, in addition to flinging the game��s hapless goons around, you can also grab things like tanks, cars, and telephone poles to wield as weapons. Heck, you can even punch rockets in midflight. Radical Entertainment (the developer) worked hard to generate a game world with loads of useable and destructible items lying about. Finally, there��s the requisite Rage mode, where Hulk gets angry (think Robert Coffey in the throes of berating Postal 2) and starts taking it out on everyone. Rage has its own on-screen meter (like a health meter) that is raised by getting hit or collecting special Rage Orbs.

COMIC CHAOS

Unlike most superhero games where you��re always the superhero and not the mild-mannered alter ego, Hulk lets players banter around as, well, Banner. While your Hulk persona is fine and dandy for smashing your way with reckless abandon through Hulk-dogs and soldiers, you��ll need Banner to be smart and sneaky. Banner��s levels usually involve sneaking around a base, solving puzzles, and grabbing information. The game split is about 70 percent Hulk and 30 percent Banner. For all the levels involving Banner, Eric Bana (who plays Banner in the movie) provides voice work.

Get ready to paint the town green as the Hulk this summer.

Copyright © 2003 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Computer Gaming World.