New Incredible Hulk game... it's no U.D. (Reviews up)

Chance

So the new Incredible Hulk game is out. Came out last week and finally some reviews are getting put up...

The Incredible Hulk!

If you've been following the development of this new title at all, you saw lots of stuff that made you think they were keeping close to the formula that made Ultimate Destruction great. Before we get into the meat of the new game, let's look fondly back on the towering behemoth of awesome that is Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction.

Fucking epic.

ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION

Developer: Radical Entertainment
Publisher: Vivendi Universal Games
Released: Sept 23, 2005
Platforms: GC, PS2, Xbox
Gamrankings AVG: 85.4%
Backwards Compatability on 360: Excellent. According to Renzo, "It's more than just playable. The slight slowdown is probably unnoticeable if you never played it on an Xbox, and some would call me nitpicky for even saying that. You can play UD on the 360 with confidence." He also notes it runs at 720p.
Backwards Compatability on PS3 (80g): Listed as 'no major problems', which gives me confidence since they tend to list incredibly small issues that never even happen to most users.
Backwards Compatability on Wii: No troubles.

Ultimate Destruction is without question the best Incredible Hulk game ever made, and arguably the best superhero game (Spidey fans will cite Spider-Man 2). What made Ultimate Destruction so awesome? Mostly the freedom and sense of power it gave you. If you've ever wanted to lift a bus over your head, run up the side of a skyscraper, leap into the sky, toss the bus into a helicopter (boom), shift directions mid-flight and zoom towards another chopper, grab onto the cockpit, smash your forehead into it, drop kick it into another enemy, then crash into the pavement below in a Critical Ground Slam that wipes out every enemy in a 50-yard radius... you may really want to look into Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. I could write a severely epic OP about how wonderful this game is and how you really should purchase it, but that's not the point of this thread. There's a new Hulk in town...

The appearance of epic.

THE INCREDIBLE HULK (specifically the PS3/360 version)

Developer: Edge of Reality
Publisher: Sega
Released: June 6, 2008
Platforms: All current platforms.
Gamrankings AVG: (PS3 + 360) 58.1%
PC: 62.0
DS: 60.4
Wii: 45.9
PS2: 58.5
Backwards Compatability: the PS4 and 720 have not announced any BC.

It took a few days for reviews to come trickling in from the official sites, but I rented it on release day and posted a review the next, hopefully to inform gamers on whether or not they should invest sixty bones in a next-gen Hulk. And for size, I'll spoiler it here. It's long and wordy and I'm going to cover the graphics, sound and particularly the gameplay elements in depth. If you consider that to be spoilers, move on. If you want the short version, here it is: The game sucks. Everyone else got their disappointment hats on? Good. Let's go...

REVIEW

Remember Ultimate Destruction? Good.

Let's get this out of the way: No, it's nothing like Ultimate Destruction. And I will be comparing it to UD throughout this review. I have to do this, 'cause the devs went out of their way to tell us they were keeping close to the formula that made UD so good, and went so far as to constantly show Hulk ripping apart cars and smashing the halves into boxing gloves in trailers for this game. "Awesome!" we all cheered. "They're keeping the cool stuff from Ultimate Destruction!"

Yes you can turn cars into boxing gloves, yes you get some upgradeable moves, yes you still hold down the button to charge your punches and jumps. Apart from that? It's all new, and almost never in a good way. Someone looked at the very extensive move list from UD and decided to axe 98% of it. They figured we don't need to be able to leap into the air and grab on to an enemy. Or even punch them more than once while we're up there. Someone decided that having SAM launchers in the game would be cool, but it would not be cool to be able to weaponize the launchers and toss the missiles yourself. Think of everything you loved about Ultimate Destruction apart from the protagonist and the open world location, and I can promise you it didn't make it into The Incredible Hulk. Man I wanted this game to be good...

The ups.

And it's not all bad. Take for example, the new rage system - it works well. In UD, Hulk had to keep killing enemies to keep his health up. His special moves were directly tied to extensions of his health bar, so if you wanted to do a Critical Thunder Clap or a Critical Ground Slam, you needed the green orbs that enemies dropped. In Incredible Hulk, rage and health are two separate bars and enemies don't drop either. Rage is filled, conveniently enough, by smashing things. Anything. Enemies, walls, cars, whatever's at hand will give your rage meter a little boost just by breaking it. This ties into your health bar, because during combat the only thing that can heal you is a rage special that'll give you 50-60% of your health back. This is frankly a great feature. During a harder fight you can leap away from the action and give yourself a quick patch job, or keep fleeing and smashing cars along the way until you have enough rage to heal up and get back into the action.

The animation isn't top-of-the-line, but it does a decent job of communicating Hulk's strength and violence as he swings around a car-sized mace or snaps an enclave soldier's back over his knee. As well, I have no complaints about the look of Hulk himself. Much like Iron Man, the titular character is the best-looking thing about the game. While we're on the subject of graphics, there are (isolated) moments of beautiful cinematic quality. Pan the camera down after you leap from a skyscraper and you may see the cabs on the street below, making for an impressive vista. Occasionally after tossing a bus at a nearby chopper, the camera is close enough to the action to make it look pretty cool. But I'll get back to the graphics later.

Another nice touch is the ability to walk up to (almost) any building and wreck it. This usually requires a systematic approach - think Rampage - smash one section of the wall, move twelve feet to your left, smash, move, repeat until the thing comes down with cool smoke and debris effects. Later on you get access to a move that'll wipe out the ground floor at the expense of your entire rage bar, which makes it less of a chore (and it does become a chore) - but it is nonetheless a cool addition to the basic Hulk formula of 'smash'. The destruction also allows you to find 'landmark tokens' in the debris, one of many collectibles that unlock additional artwork or skins for your Hulk.

I should also note that the only complaint I had about Ultimate Destruction has been fixed in The Incredible Hulk. Often during missions, Hulk's hypnotic suggestion would kick in and the camera would zoom away to focus you on one object or another that needed smashing or saving - this was always a jarring break in the action and couldn't be skipped. In Incredible Hulk, in-mission information is never unwelcome and it never interrupts the gameplay - a voice in Hulk's earpiece (don't get me started) simply tells him what's changed or what he needs to do next. It's simple and a little stupid, but it works.

The downs. ...this'll take a while.

PRESENTATION/GRAPHICS : If you're more observant than I, you noticed texture pop on the brick wall in the right side of the title screen the first time you saw it. Yeah. The title screen - this does not bode well. I mentioned above that there are moments where Incredible Hulk really lets you know you're playing a current-gen title, but those moments are few and far between. For the most part, you will be amazed by how unpolished this game looks. In one mission there was a particular object I had to destroy. Imagine my surprise when, while I'm smashing it, it pops out. A few seconds later it popped back in, and I resumed my attack. Enemies will disappear and reappear a dozen yards away, objects and highways pop up constantly as you move across the city - it's staggeringly bad. Even as you scale an individual building, if you look twenty yards above Hulk's head you'll notice a jarring difference in texture quality - it totally removes you from the experience of leaping around Manhattan. Which is, by the way... tedious.

Aside from Hulk himself and a boss monster who just had a very cool design, all of the other characters look awful. Perhaps Edward Norton (Banner) and Liv Tyler (Betty) just don't translate well to video game characters, but the only one who didn't look like a grotesque troll version of their silver screen image was Tim Roth as Blonsky. Which leads nicely into noting that the cutscenes, as well, are supremely mediocre. I constantly found myself instead thinking of the excellent work in Ultimate Destruction - Blonsky going mad while speaking to the photos of his dead family for example - and being pretty disappointed that nothing in Incredible Hulk even compared to those last-gen cinematics. As a result the story and characters nearly all end up being profoundly 'meh'.

SOUND : is mediocre-to-bad. Hulk himself sounds okay, and I never gave the music or sounds of destruction a thought one way or the other so I have to note them as acceptable. But the voice work is a joke. Who played Blonsky/Abomination in UD? I think it was Ron Perlman (of Hellboy fame) - he did a great job in UD, and to his credit Tim Roth does a good job with his voice work in Incredible Hulk as the same character - William Hurt also works very well as General Ross. Edward Norton, Liv Tyler and the rest of the cast totally phone it in unfortunately. While playing Incredible Hulk I didn't care about Bruce Banner, I sure didn't give a crap about Betty, or Rick Jones and in fact I was kinda' hopin Hulk would just squish him.

STORY : The Blonsky plotline starts off the story (he's the most compelling character in the game), but is quickly swept aside for filler involving The Enclave and the U-Foes. As someone who has experienced the Hulk primarily through pop culture references, the Ang Lee movie and Ultimate Destruction, I should note I have no idea who the Enclave or U-Foes are in the Marvel universe - I just know that the Enclave are excellent at creating busywork for Hulk and the U-Foes were a seriously tiring boss fight. By the time things turn back to Blonsky, Betty and her papa you're just glad the story you're involved in seems to actually matter again. All in all, playing through the campaign with minimal diversions into minigames clocked in at around 6 hours.

What really matters - gameplay.

Even if Ultimate Destruction had had shitty sound and a mediocre story (which it didn't) or mediocre graphics (which it did), it would have been saved by some seriously sublime gameplay. The ability to go into a vertical run up the side of a building, fly into the city skyline and clap your hands to create a shockwave that takes out a flight of choppers before crashing into the pavement in a Critical Ground Slam... it was fucking amazing. The movelist was so extensive, but the controls were so simple! Before long you were effortlessly tossing tanks around with hammer throws, you were leaping onto two-storey Hulkbuster Mechs, pounding on their missile pack or whatever part of them you wanted to tear off. The game was all carnage, choice, and freedom. You really felt like you were unstoppable.

MOVEMENT : Incredible Hulk takes all those concepts of freedom, choice and tight gameplay and tosses it out the window. Instead of going for over the top, crazy action it seems to be trying for plausible, dry, kiddie action. For example, Hulk doesn't run up buildings any more - [needless sarcasm] that was too efficient and gave the player too much control it seems[/sarcasm] - instead you need to latch on to a wall and he will propel himself up with mighty pulls, going about fifty feet per yank. It gets the job done, but it is rather slow and really spits in the eye of UD's sense of momentum and freedom.

Jumping mechanics are thankfully, nearly untouched from Ultimate Destruction. Hold down the button and Hulk charges his jump - release and he goes flying. Charge again while you're in the air and you can chain-jump - but unfortunately jumping is no longer the best way to travel. No, the best way to get from point a to point b in Incredible Hulk is simply run - which gets real boring real fast. Well, mostly - 'cause you need to keep your eyes on traffic! Sometimes Hulk will just run right over cars in his way, but for the most part he'll run into it and get slowed to about 30% of his usual pace, pushing the wrecked car along with him (Havok physics). Hulk is strongest one there is, but taxi cab is really heavy! By the halfway point of the game I was sick of trying to see if maybe I was just running into the cars wrong, and started jumping over traffic whenever it got in my way.


COMBAT : This is where the game crashes and burns and becomes #1195 in a list of mediocre superhero titles. Frustrating targeting aside, Hulk's move repertoire is horribly small - I could list all the moves from UD that didn't make the cut, but it would take a helluva lot less time to tell you what you can do. For fist strikes, there's a grand total of... four combos he can use. Light = L and Heavy = H - here's the list: LLL, LH, LLHH, and HHH. The final strike of HHH is the only one in the game that feels like it's got any weight to it. And that's it - that's all you get until you pick up someone or something to throw. The list gets a little longer with a few strikes done to a held opponent (breaking an Enclave soldiers back over your knee is pretty cool), you get two combos each with cars, poles and clubs (I swear the car/club combo is the same animation), you can throw objects, and you can weaponize cars and tanks. Oh! And you have a ground smash and thunder clap. Neither of the super-moves are anywhere near as satisfying as in UD, where time would slow and the camera would pan around Hulk, showing cars and enemies getting tossed into the air as the shockwave of his ultimate attacks smashed into them. There's just a small zoomed-in animation of Hulk getting angry and he does the move, then people get hurt. Also, you can't do a rage thunder clap then a rage ground slam - a single special will use up your entire rage bar. There you have it - that's all the moves in Incredible Hulk, aside from a few button-mashing quicktime events. Oh, and you can throw a single punch when you're jumping.

The single upside to this incredibly small move list is that you always know exactly what you need to throw to defeat this enemy or that enemy. Some can only be hurt by a thunder clap, most bosses require a heavy-heavy-heavy combo to stun them before you can do any damage, and that's the extent of the combat's depth. [ spoiler ] It is very, very disappointing to meet your first Hulkbuster, start pounding on him, and discover Hulk actually does zero damage to him unless he's stunned. [ /spoiler ] The Abomniation, U-Fiends and Hulkbuster boss fights are all equally tiresome, and that giant mech from the trailers you've seen? Where it tries to step on Hulk and he tosses the foot away? Yeah, that looks cool. Do your single air punch on him three times, and you're done. Wasn't that a blast? And why aren't there any moves for when you're running? It's so constrictive to run up to an enemy or object and have to stand still before you can pound on it or pick it up.

That's really all I can say about the gameplay. There are zero interesting set pieces or boss encounters, the combat is incredibly shallow, it's not particularly stylish or good looking, and the explosions look like crap. I hate that when I throw a car at a chopper, the car pings off it like a beach ball and the chopper falls straight down, only blowing up when it hits the ground. I hate that UD had an incredible move list and made it all perfectly simple, but with this laughably short list Incredible Hulk actually requires you to hit the d-pad to access a menu and choose your special... ugh.

I am so, so sorry to have to be the bearer of this shitty news - but if it saves a fan of UD from buying this pile of middle-of-the-line, it's totally worth it. If like me you thought this game had promise and this amateur review hasn't totally turned you off the idea, give it a rent. Only a rent.

*

It's really all Ultimate Destruction's fault. If it weren't for that incredible game, we'd have no idea how good a Hulk title could be. If not for UD, Incredible Hulk may well be the best Hulk game ever made. But it ain't - not by a long shot.

Sorry guys. And sorry for such a bloody long review.

*
Edit: But why not make it longer? We come here for information, right? So here's some more stuff, good and bad, that didn't make it into the body of the review.
Good:

• It's no Libery City, but a good deal of attention went into the Manhattan of Incredible Hulk. All kinds of notable real-world landmarks are included, like the Chrysler Building and the Empire State. Cool touches like destructible fire escapes and air conditioners hanging out of windows are nice additions.
  
• Also of note are landmarks from the Marvel universe in the city. It's cool to be able to destroy Daily Bugle or climb the Stark Tower.
  
• Nearly everything breaks. Bridges, cars, walls, buildings can all be destroyed.
  
• There is a seriously extensive list of unlockable items, including new player models like the classic grey Hulk or Stark's Hulkbuster Iron Man armor, tons of concept art and comic book covers.
  
• Lots of collectibles - comic book covers, 200 health and rage canisters to find, 15 hidden hoops to jump through, and landmark tokens that appear when you wreck a building of note.
  
• I love the sound of the wind blowing when you climb or jump up high enough - sorta' reminds me of Hulk's moments of high-flying peace in the Ang Lee flick.
  
• I forgot to list in the moves department - Hulk can take chunks of wall debris and use it as a shield. Given that there's nearly always a building nearby, it is more convenient than weaponizing a bus in UD (but less cool).
  
• A good selection of minigames outside of the regular missions, just like in UD.

Not good:

• Manhattan is no Liberty City. UD spoiled us for Hulk games, and GTA IV spoiled us for open world fidelity - the city just never looks convincing.
  
• I can't count the number of times I reached for a nearby pole or girder only to have Hulk toe it away as he approaches. After multiple attempts it becomes clear there's all kinds of stuff that the game just won't let you pick up - very counter-intuitive.
  
• By the halfway point, every enemy stuns Hulk with every strike (Hulk has a terrible glass chin), while higher-end enemies and bosses can't even be hurt by Hulk without a specific move that leaves them dizzy, and open to attack. (Hulk picks up a bus and whips it at a boss or Hulkbuster - 'hahaha! I laugh at your public transit projectile!')
  
• This version of Manhattan has the fuzziest, lowest-res billboards I've ever seen. You don't notice them when you're running past on your way to the next mission, but if you ever stop and look you'll be surprised.
  
• In UD when Hulk landed in some water he'd spring right back out and sail towards the nearest land. I tested this and was blown away in the new game: He hits the water with a splash of 2D sprites, then sails towards the nearest land. When he hit the ground there was another splash of 2D sprites and he automatically went sailing back into the water. This time it threw him in the opposite direction, and he landed on the far shore in another splash of solid-ground water. It automatically throws him again, another 50 yards inland, and I finally regain control. Wow.
  
• Unlike UD there aren't jump points to quickly travel across the city. Instead, Hulk needs to walk to the nearest Subway station. I'm sure there's a plethora of possible jokes here about a 12 foot rage-fiend fitting in just fine in New York's public transit system, but I'm sorry - it's a seriously dumb choice on the part of the designers. "Token sir?" "Hulk have weekly pass! Rrrrrarrrrr!"
  
• I don't like how far the camera usually is from the action. It seems to change Hulk from a giant monstrosity into 'little green man onscreen'.
  
• Collision on cars is really spotty. If Hulk walks within fifteen feet of a bus the whole thing crumples.
  
• The in-game map is really only useful for finding landmarks, minigames or your next mission. During missions it becomes absolutely useless, not showing enemies or even objectives.
  
• The first sequence is seriously awful. It services the story and lets you fight with the camera.
  
• Why can't I destroy the Guggenheim Museum? Maybe there was some secret special wall to break, but I did a 360 around it and never found something Hulk could dent. After laying waste to city blocks it was eerie to come across an indestructible building.
  
• Hulk smash - but be careful not to smash too much! You can't climb sections of walls that have been damages.
  
• When you get a 'threat increase' and the Enclave or whoever comes out to fight you, you can't win. I don't mean you can't kill the guys - you can - but once you kill them, more will immediately pop up. Maybe this was designed to be a neverending fight you could just throw around some muscle in 'till you got bored, but for me the result was feeling like I hadn't accomplished anything by killing anyone. And that's never a good thing.

Ahhh that feels better.

It should be noted that a few posters on this thread have rather enjoyed the new game.

captmorgan wrote: »

I must be a little sick...I`m actually enjoying myself a great deal with this game. For some reason climbing up to the top of a building then throwing those robot suit guys into the next building never gets old.
Maybe I didn`t play UD enough but I like climbing the buildings better then running up it. Jumping from the roof of one building, then smashing into the side of the next and climbing up it just feels right.
The only two things that kind of annoying me right now are that you can`t grab the armored vehicle's that attack you and when you grab metal rod, even though it looks like you through it like a spear it doesn`t impale the enemy. I really wanted to nail a guy to a building.
*snip*

Zephonate wrote: »

Still playing. Still enjoying.

Someone said it best earlier in this thread, I forget who. "If Ultimate Destruction had never existed, this would be the greatest Hulk game ever made", or something to that affect. I believe this is 100% true. I'm continuing to love this game, but if UD had never appeared on this Earth, the game would indeed be infinitely better.

I like the prettier graphics. I like the slightly more realistic (ignoring the mere PREMISE of the game) aspects to the formula, such as wall grabbing and less over-the-top moves. I like the physics and the level of sheer destruction possible.
*snip*.

And Nihil's take was pretty close to my own...

nihil wrote: »

So a little more time with the Hulk game has shown me that it can be played but I am having a hard time chaining my destruction, in UD when you started tearing shit up it felt kind of like when you pulled off a complete level grind in the early tony hawks. You have all these moves available and all sorts of possibilities yet in the new game (the destruction does look cooler) it just doesn't feel like the combat flows.
*snip*

He really hit the nail on the head with the way the combat doesn't flow well - which to me is the most important thing about a Hulk title. Anyway, the pros finally got off their duffs and wrote up some reviews in service to the gamer community...




Pro reviews.

*

1up was the first to post a review. Short version: The guy says C+, and Ultimate Destruction was better. He's a lot kinder than I was.
IGN gives it a 6/10, which is only slighter kinder than I woulda' been, if forced to put a number on it.

Team Xbox gives it a 7.
And the Official Xbox print magazine gave it a 6.5. Durn you, Edge of Reality. Durn you straight to heck.






Spoiler containing the original OP to this thread:

I know, I know, it was foolish to get my hopes up. The Incredible Hulk is a) not made by the guys who did Ultimate Destruction and b) a movie tie-in. But when you see that they've kept the cool moves like weaponizing cars into boxing gloves, and have said outright that they wanted to stick close to what made Ultimate Destruction great my gamer's heart went pit-a-pat at the idea of some wicked next-gen carnage.

I'll admit, I'm only two hours in - but so far my skirt is not blown up... Please God let there be some sort of air combo... and what is with Hulk bumping into cars and getting slowed down? Ultimate Destruction totally spoiled me. I want to see him thoughtlessly shoulder them out of the way! And pop-in is the worst I've ever seen.

Maybe, like Ultimate Destruction, the more love I give this game, the more it'll offer in return. But so far it's lacking all the little touches that made UD a great experience. I just don't get the feeling of being an unstoppable wrecking machine...

...thoughts?

cytorak

Your mini-review makes me sad in my heart muscle.

I loved UD so much...

brynstar

Does the game have full building destruction? I remember that was something that was touted early on, if I'm not mistaken.

Chance

brynstar wrote: »

Does the game have full building destruction? I remember that was something that was touted early on, if I'm not mistaken.

Yes it does. You can go to any building, and start bashing the ground floor. Work your way around a little, smashing every few feet (square sections of the walls will blow out) and eventually the whole thing comes down - a cool touch, but the smashie-smashie feels very constrained.

I feel your pain, Cytorak. I too loved UD perhaps a little too much. But the ability to go soaring into the air, effortlessly target the chopper behind me and toss a bus into him has, it seems, totally spoiled me. The controls and combat in UD were just so tight. Incredible Hulk feels much more constrained... I'm very glad I rented it first.

Btw, please don't think of it as a review - I am only 2 hours in, it may get absolutely awesome (though not if that giant mech boss fight was any indication). And the OP was so short only because I'm writin' this on my PS3.

LewieP

So it's out?

Does that mean the film is out soon too?

I have a man crush on Edward Norton.

Klyka

I had no idea this was out already.

In the newest trailer Hulk is wearing an armor which makes him look like a fat Iron Man. Or maybe it WAS Iron Man in a Hulkbuster Armor?

Stragint

The movie is released June 13. Friday the 13th! Bum bum bummmmmmmmm! I can't wait. I still wish Edward Norton would hulk into Brad Pitt.

Duchess Prozac

Stragint wrote: »

The movie is released June 13. Friday the 13th! Bum bum bummmmmmmmm! I can't wait. I still wish Edward Norton would hulk into Brad Pitt.

Is that some kind of gay euphemism? Because if so....*shuddder*

Cherrn

UD started out pretty slow as well. Not that I didn't enjoy it from the beginning.

Even if they are essentially mimicking UD, I really don't have any faith in this development team. I hope it's good, but I get serious Spider-Man 3 vibes from it for some reason or another.

Fireflash

Duchess Prozac wrote: »

Stragint wrote: »

The movie is released June 13. Friday the 13th! Bum bum bummmmmmmmm! I can't wait. I still wish Edward Norton would hulk into Brad Pitt.

Is that some kind of gay euphemism? Because if so....*shuddder*

Says the (guy?) with the Bridget avatar!

Stragint

Duchess Prozac wrote: »

Stragint wrote: »

The movie is released June 13. Friday the 13th! Bum bum bummmmmmmmm! I can't wait. I still wish Edward Norton would hulk into Brad Pitt.

Is that some kind of gay euphemism? Because if so....*shuddder*

No, it was meant for scary emphasis. It didn't seem right just saying BOOOOOOO!

Duchess Prozac

Stragint wrote: »

Duchess Prozac wrote: »

Stragint wrote: »

The movie is released June 13. Friday the 13th! Bum bum bummmmmmmmm! I can't wait. I still wish Edward Norton would hulk into Brad Pitt.

Is that some kind of gay euphemism? Because if so....*shuddder*

No, it was meant for scary emphasis. It didn't seem right just saying BOOOOOOO!

Okay, although I still have an image of Edward Norton with a grotesque green cock anally raping a prone Brad Pitt burned into my memory that I didn't have before. Although I think that says more about me than anything else.

Anway, back to hulk games...

How does UD hold up graphically now and is it BC on the 360?

Stragint

Duchess Prozac wrote: »

Stragint wrote: »

Duchess Prozac wrote: »

Stragint wrote: »

The movie is released June 13. Friday the 13th! Bum bum bummmmmmmmm! I can't wait. I still wish Edward Norton would hulk into Brad Pitt.

Is that some kind of gay euphemism? Because if so....*shuddder*

No, it was meant for scary emphasis. It didn't seem right just saying BOOOOOOO!

Okay, although I still have an image of Edward Norton with a grotesque green cock anally raping a prone Brad Pitt burned into my memory that I didn't have before. Although I think that says more about me than anything else.

Anway, back to hulk games...

How does UD hold up graphically now and is it BC on the 360?

Oh. I believe I read your post wrong. Well. The reason I say I want Edward Norton to Hulk into Brad Pitt is because of Fight Club where Brad Pitt is Edward Norton's alter ego in the movie. Not everyone gets the joke with makes me die a little inside.

Chance

Ultimate Destruction holds up in the same way Devil May Cry 1 does - its art direction is very decent, and once you see it in motion you end up forgetting about mediocre textures and jaggies and just enjoying the commotion. I should note, it wasn't even pretty by the standards of the day when it came out, but it's a classic example of substance over graphics.

Edit: I've no idea about 360 BC.

Olivaw

I remember falling in love with Ultimate Destruction the moment I realized I could just hold R1 and run around smashing anything that got into my way and nothing could stop me

I was like "wow, this is a Hulk game"

Duchess Prozac

Stragint wrote: »

Duchess Prozac wrote: »

Stragint wrote: »

Duchess Prozac wrote: »

Stragint wrote: »

The movie is released June 13. Friday the 13th! Bum bum bummmmmmmmm! I can't wait. I still wish Edward Norton would hulk into Brad Pitt.

Is that some kind of gay euphemism? Because if so....*shuddder*

No, it was meant for scary emphasis. It didn't seem right just saying BOOOOOOO!

Okay, although I still have an image of Edward Norton with a grotesque green cock anally raping a prone Brad Pitt burned into my memory that I didn't have before. Although I think that says more about me than anything else.

Anway, back to hulk games...

How does UD hold up graphically now and is it BC on the 360?

Oh. I believe I read your post wrong. Well. The reason I say I want Edward Norton to Hulk into Brad Pitt is because of Fight Club where Brad Pitt is Edward Norton's alter ego in the movie. Not everyone gets the joke with makes me die a little inside.

yeah I only got it after I'd made my last post. I'd totally forgotten they'd been in Fight Club together.


U:UD is apparently BC so I may have to pick it up when I get the chance as I totally missed it when it came out.

cloudeagle

Ultimate Destruction is so worth it. Punting cars a quarter of a mile, swatting army men with big girders, running up the side of a building to jump off and piledrive a robot... and oh yeah, the "stealth" mission. *snicker*

Hulk puts an army truck over him and tiptoes into an army base Bugs Bunny-style.

Looks like it's still the best Hulk game around.

Chance

...there's texture pop in the title screen. I'm gonna' finish this thing and post a full amateur review in the OP. /dives back in.

randombattle

So this isn't just UD with teh pretty graphics?

Laaaame....


Why does every second superhero game rock and then the developers toss it out the window and make the third sucks ass.

KalTorak

This is disappointing to hear, but not unexpected. Back to waiting for the real UD sequel, Prototype, I guess.

LewieP

I'm sure that Prototype will kick as much, and maybe even more ass than UD

Edit: Hi5 KalTorak

revolutionary bean

Duchess Prozac wrote: »

Stragint wrote: »

The movie is released June 13. Friday the 13th! Bum bum bummmmmmmmm! I can't wait. I still wish Edward Norton would hulk into Brad Pitt.

Is that some kind of gay euphemism? Because if so....*shuddder*

Hey, fight club ain't gay.



It's just made by a gay person.

Dixon

I got the joke, only because I've seen the movie a million times, I have a friend who Im pretty sure is gay for both those men.

Also this is really sad news I wanted this to rock my socks off!

DeMoN

Sega made this right? I wonder how much they paid for all the UD assets.

Shitting on it was probably free.

Renzo

DeMoN wrote: »

Sega made this right? I wonder how much they paid for all the UD assets.

Shitting on it was probably free.

Edge of Reality made it. Sega is the publisher.

DeMoN

Just checked their track record.

I'm not really surprised.

truck-a-sauras

you people here broke my heart. I would have been pleased with UD with just updated graphics and different missions.

keep the reviews coming. let us know if it gets better or worse the further you get into the game. Or if it is only worth a rent.

Chance

I'm not sure how close to completion I am, but I'm sloggin' through - I like the idea of writin' up a review. So far? Rent if you love Hulk. The technology of the game is laughable and the gameplay is warm-to-tepid at best. If it weren't for Ultimate Destruction though, this would probably be the best Hulk game ever made. But thanks to UD, this title is very disappointing so far. For now - back to it! C'mon, Edward Norton! Motivate me with your phoned-in voice work!

Chance

Bump. Put the review in the OP.

Short version? This game sucks.

Dixon

Thanks for the review there, good job. Hmmm this indeed sucks. Me and a friend were going to pick this up get drunk and play it (Did the same thing with UD) now I guess were going to have to find a new game

Pata

My dreams have been crushed.

randombattle

Man that sucks balls.

Why couldn't they just remake ultimate destruction with super pretty graphics!?


Damn yoooooooooou!

Accualt

*clears throat*

FUCK YOU, SEGA!

randombattle

This does make me want to go back and play UD again.

Accualt

They fucked up Iron Man and now they fucked up Hulk.

I hope Marvel fucks them up.

Stupid cheap cash in bastards.

Chance

randombattle wrote: »

This does make me want to go back and play UD again.

Me too.

Woodroez

Renzo wrote: »

DeMoN wrote: »

Sega made this right? I wonder how much they paid for all the UD assets.

Shitting on it was probably free.

Edge of Reality made it. Sega is the publisher.

I wonder if they're still gonna make Cipher Complex. It might be decent, since that's kinda their baby.

Robos A Go Go

Is there much of a difference between Ultimate Destruction on the XBOX and the PS2 version?

Chance

Robos A Go Go wrote: »

Is there much of a difference between Ultimate Destruction on the XBOX and the PS2 version?

According to GameRankings, 1.4% in favor of PS2. I've heard of bugs from Xbox owners, but never had one happen on mine (PS2) - who knows? I say if you can get your hands on either disc you'll be a happy camper.

Renzo

UD is also BC on the 360, though it suffers from a little slowdown. UD is 720p on the original XBox too. One of the few.

Renzo

I must add that there are a lot of unlockable character models including Grey Hulk, Classic Hulk, Joe Fixit, The Professor, Maestro, and others. These aren't just recolors, they're unique models. Many Marvel landmarks are also represented, like Murdock and Nelson's law firm, Sanctum Sanctorum, the Baxter Building, and the Daily Bugle.

And jumping actually is the fastest way to get around, you just have to upgrade it a few times. Your move repertoire increases with upgrades too, though you never get an addition to aerial combat. Using items like cars, poles, and maces also expands your combat options.

Just a few tips.