Console Monster: The Incredible Hulk Review

Console Monster writes: "Crashing through an nondescript re-creation of New York City, you begin your accent up a nondescript building. On a nondescript mission to take out "X" number of generators that are powering some nefarious deeds, you're attacked by two nondescript, lifeless enemies. After they're done firing small arms fire at your hulking body, you give 'em both a nice smack and send them flying down to the street below. After destroying the generators, you're on to the next mission…only to find that the next mission isn't much different than the one you just completed.

As the saying goes, variety is the spice of life--something the minds behind the Incredible Hulk either did not understand or did not have the luxury of time to implement. Instead, the game has about two different mission archetypes throughout the entirety of the experience, and leans on them throughout. You'll either being escorting plot characters through the city, or you'll be going from one point to the next, beating on a couple of numbskull AI opponents until the mission ends. Outside of the occasional boss fight that has been sprinkled in, that's what you're signing up for with Hulk. You would think that with the lack of variety, the boss fights would be welcome. You would be wrong. The boss fights are all easy, but some are extremely lengthy and suffer from some very poor design decisions. For instance, one of the boss's is a "Hulkbuster" that is immune from every attack but one, and you must have a full "rage meter" to pull off the attack. You build up rage by striking enemy opponents, cars driving down the street, or buildings in the environment. Since this attack is not an instant kill, (needs to be done about three times to take down the foe) the meat of the boss fight is beating up buildings. You have to go through this fight three different times, meaning a good hour is spent running around punching buildings..."