Hulk is a movie tie-in game released in 2003 and is a somewhat loose sequel to the events that happened in the film. The gameplay is split into two different styles. The Bruce Banner levels which are all about stealth, skillfully disposing of enemies and flipping switches/ putting codes into computers to access certain objectives for that level,

The other half of the game is split playing as the Hulk, where you are mowing down waves of soldiers, gamma dogs, gamma soldiers and robots in largely destructible environments 3d beat em up style. When the game first begins, these are the fun levels (obviously) however, over the course of the 33 levels in this game you begin to beg for banner levels to break up the monotony of the hulk stages.

The longer you play this game, the more the problems show their ugly head and man is there some big problems. Most of the game’s woes can be broken down to three major issues.

Problem#1: The lack of any defensive mechanics for hulk to use.

- There is no guard button in this game, which may not seem like a major issue but because of how many enemies fill the screen in later levels you begin to take 50-60% damage in levels that inhabit small corridors. You begin to take this crazy damage not only because the developers didn't give us a defense mechanism against it but ALSO due to:

Problem #2: The Camera

-The game uses a fixed camera angle that switches when you enter certain sections of the level. This constant switching between camera angles when combined with some of the smaller levels in the game (which in a game with 33 of them, you encounter them frequently) gets you absolutely ATE UP by the opposition. Missiles that hit you because u simply cannot see where they are coming from, mutant dogs that bite you because just like the missiles, you ALSO can’t see them; attacking an enemy and in mid combo there's a quick camera switch that accidentally leaves you open for attacks you can’t avoid. Just annoying inconveniences that add up over time. If only there was a Lock-On system for us to see who we're fighting!

Problem #3: The targeting system and other mechanics.

- In the very first mission of the game we are introduced to many mechanics that we will use as the hulk later. The two main mechanics I want to focus on are the lock on system and the POWER MOVES. Let’s start with the lock on system. Holding the right trigger allows you to hone in on enemies and on objects, u can switch between them using the c stick. This mechanic on paper seems fine but in practice, it sucks, this just flat out sucks. You could be facing your opponent and holding the r button could lock you on to an object on the other side of the screen. It never seems like it works properly, it never locks on to what you want it to lock on. This dilemma gets even WORSE the more baddies that fill up the screen and let me tell you in some of these later levels you go through a GAUNTLET of enemies.

Next the POWER MOVES! Holding the punch button charges up a stronger punch, holding the special attack button charges hulks thunderclap. During a jump the charge punch remains the same, but the special attack fully charged is a stomp. These WOULD be nice little additions to the combat to break up the tedious combat I mentioned awhile back, only that you never use them. Charging your moves leaves you open to attacks from your opponents, especially in air. Even in the early stages of the game you will be interrupted and encouraged NOT to use it. The only power move worth a damn is the thunderclap (and even that has its limits). I honestly rarely used any of these mechanics, the lock on mechanic was only helpful for the Ravage and The Leader boss fights, the power moves outside of the thunderclaps actually NEVER got used after the first 40 mins of the game.

While these are what i believe to be the three biggest issues, there are more minor ones. The difficulty curve ramps up quickly as a way to pad out game time. I found the Banner pass-code sections to be quite annoying albeit they are short. The soundtrack is quite weak as well.

I just went through a myriad of things i don't like about the game, is there anything positive to say? Yes actually!

As a Hulk fan i was delighted to see his villains get their shine in this game, Hulk doesn't have the most notable villains outside of the leader and abomination so to see the likes of Madman, Flux, General Ryker and others really made me smile. The voice acting is also top notch. Although i have problems with the gameplay i cannot understate how much extra content is in this game. A destruction mode, two different time attack modes, two different enemy survival modes, cheat codes so you can replay the story a different way, bonus videos/art and the making of the game. This is really a nice package for 2003!

Overall it was a very mediocre experience but i didnt feel like my time was completely wasted playing this game.