Forgotten Game Greats: "Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction"

- by Ninja Ross, 19 February 2014

HULK ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION WAS ONE OF FIRST GOOD COMIC BOOK GAMES. IT FEATURED OPEN WORLD AND LOTS OF SMASHING! ROSS TEMPTED TO WRITE REVIEW IN STYLE OF HULK BUT REALISES THAT WOULD BECOME INCREDIBLY ANNOYING VERY QUICKLY. ROSS NOW TURNING CAPS-LOCK off.

This game came out when decent games based on comics were still pretty new. By the time it came out, in 2005, we had things like Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death, and Punisher came out the same year. But it was the first one with so much going on, so much to do and explore.

One of the biggest pluses this game has is its open world and the way that Hulk can interact with it. You can run around New York, jump incredible distances and smash pretty much anything. A lot of buildings can be torn down and some of them even contain bonuses.

When playing this game, you’ll find yourself forsaking the main missions just so you can explore the city and pick up collectibles. You’ll probably also find yourself desperately searching for the blue gorilla, so you can float around. No, I’m not joking.

There’s more to playing Hulk than floating, running and jumping, of course. Hulk has a lot of unlockable moves and abilities and it can take a long time to get everything. By the end of the game, you’ll be able to run up walls, catch missiles, use tanks as baseball bats and turn cars into boxing gloves.

The moves are not only very fun and awesome looking but they’re also essential to combat the game’s difficulty. The difficulty is one of the few downsides of this game; while it starts off relatively easy, it quickly gets a bit much when the army keeps showing up to ruin your fun. It’s most obvious when you’re trying to complete a mission. One minute you’re hopping across a desert to destroy a prototype robot, the next you’re swarmed by soldiers and Hulk Busters!

The continues waves of enemies can be incredibly infuriating and can make you want to snap the disc in half before punching it in its stupid face because WHY SHOULD IT BE THAT FREAKING HARD!!!

HULK JUST WANTS TO WALL RUN!!!

Despite that, it is worth continuing. One of the best aspects of the game, though, is the amount of collectibles and unlockables.

You can get pretty much anything from new trousers with flags on them, to the ability to turn all cars into taxis. But the best one. The absolute best unlockable ever, is the ability to play as Joe Fixit. And, unlike when unlock extra skins in other games, Joe has a whole new personality with his own dialogue. Unfortunately, this doesn’t affect the cut scenes but it does make the playthrough a lot more fun.

The story aint too shabby, either! It’s written by Paul Jenkins, who you probably know better as a comic book writer. But he has proven himself as a video game writer with the likes of God of War and The Darkness.

The story isn’t overly complicated or full of complex psychological so and so, but it is an interesting, well told story.

We start with Banner trying to build a machine to cure himself of The Hulk. Things aren’t going so well, though; his health is deteriorating and there’s been very little progress. Doc Samson contacts Bruce, offering to help. Initially, he refuses but when the army, with General Ross and Emil Blonsky in charge, throws missiles and such at him, he decides it might be for the best.

HULK SMASH SEE-THROUGH TANK!!!

To build the machine, they need certain parts. This is where Hulk comes in, thanks to a convenient bit of technology Samson has created that allows Banner to control The Hulk. So, they send the Green Machine to do some errands (picking up dangerous heavy equipment, stalling the army, defeating super mutants, etc).

Meanwhile, Blonsky goes about being a bad guy (It’s his thing) and becomes The Abomination. Woo Boss fights! Very good boss fights, actually; The Abomination was a pleasure to fight.

It’s a short story, though; most of the play time for this game will come from side missions and explorations. But that’s ok! You can still put in plenty of hours before seeing the end credits. Oh, and Bruce Banner is played by Neil McDonough, who played Hulk in the 1996 TV series. Pretty cool, right?

The bottom line is this is a game well worth picking up. If you don’t want to play for the interesting story or fantastic gameplay, just get it for Joe Fixit.  Go Joe.

Would you look at that! This is article number 300! Can you believe that? 300... Seems like only yesterday we were celebrating article 100, doesn’t it? No, it’s been ages. Why not go back and check out some of our classics? Go on, it’s all there for your reading pleasure! 


Woooo! #300! Go us! Anyway, have you played "Ultimate Destruction"? Enjoyed the review? What comic-based games are your favorite? Let us know! 

Tagged: video games, Forgotten Game Greats.

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