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Comic book fans have never felt so validated ﾖ while Hollywood has brought classic superheroes to the silver screen, video game publishers are making them playable on the small screen.ﾓHulkﾔ is the latest comic book-based video game and movie tie-in, following Aprilﾒs ﾓX2: Wolverineﾒs Revengeﾔ and last yearﾒs ﾓSpider-Man.ﾔ Universal Interactiveﾒs ﾓHulkﾔ ﾖ now available on all three console platforms and the PC ﾖ is a monster of an action game, but itﾒs not a perfect one.  ﾓHulkﾔ takes place roughly a year after the events in the film. The game chronicles Dr. Bruce Bannerﾒs struggle with his monstrous alter ego, Hulk, and the evil doings of the Leader, a villain intent on using Hulkﾒs stolen gamma energy to terrorize the world. Banner must follow the path of destruction to track down the Leader. This beat-ﾑem-up brawler is played as both Bruce Banner and Hulk. With the former, players must exercise stealth by sneaking around security compounds and solving puzzles to crack computer code. It is important for Banner not to lose his temper -- therefore transforming into Hulk -- at these points in the game. Eric Bana, who plays Banner in the film, also lends his voice to the character in this interactive title. But the majority of the single-player campaign is played as Hulk. The gameﾒs developer ﾖ Vancouverﾒs Radical Entertainment -- has done an excellent job in giving the player the sensation of power and strength. Hulk has a number of punches, stomps and combo attacks at his disposal (totaling 50 or so unique moves) or can pick up enemies and toss them into three or four others, toppling them like bowling pins. He can also throw cars and tanks, punch through pillars and through walls, clap his hands to cause a sonic boom or lob bad guys off building rooftops. Tactile effects in the video game controller, referred to as ﾓforce feedbackﾔ technology,ﾔ make the joystick rumble, jolt and shake when Hulk is unleashing his force. This nicely adds to the sensation of power. The game is played from a third-person perspective and not coincidentally, the graphics resemble a comic book with its colorful characters, enemies and over-the-top special effects. But the grass isnﾑt always ﾓgreenerﾔ on the other side ﾖ there are a couple of problems with this game. While the story-based mode is made up of 25 levels, it may be too linear for some as players must follow a path and accomplish sequential tasks as assigned to Banner in his earpiece. For the sake of replayability, ﾓHulkﾔ may be have been more appealing with an open-ended mission structure and game world to explore (as found in ﾓGrand Theft Auto: Vice Cityﾔ). The game is also relatively short ﾖ the story mode can be completed in about ten hours or so. That said, the Canadian game makers added five ﾓChallengesﾔ (usually time- or endurance-based) that can be unlocked by defeating the tougher ﾓbossﾔ enemies in the story mode. Seasoned Marvel Comics fans will immediate recognize these boss fighters such as Half-Life, Ravage, Flux and Madman. Another beef with the game: PepsiCo (www.pepsico.com) has obviously inked a promotional deal with Universal Pictures/Universal Interactive, so there are Mountain Dew sodas and machines placed all over the game -- and we can probably expect the same from the feature film, too. Sheesh. Overall, ﾓHulkﾔ is a fun ﾖ albeit linear and short ﾖ action game that captures the essence of the comic book character and feature film. Kid Factor: The Hulk is violent. He picks up, dangles, throws, punches, smashes, and pounds human soldiers, dogs, and bad guys, throughout the game. He's even worse on private property. Heck, even Banner can choke and duke it out with a soldier or two...) The Hulk is more violent and destructive than in the movie, where he gingerly dumps soldiers out of tanks before tossing them a couple miles, but the violence is stylish and cartoony. Not the sort of thing that would scare or mentally scar a well-adjusted child. The smashing and action are exactly what a small child, particularly a shy child, probably fantasizes about. What better way to tap into and release those feelings than with a gamepad and a monstrous roaring hero out to do good against the forces of evil? Go ahead, tear up some sweatpants and let your kid be the Hulk. Maybe join them if you want. Just hide the breakablesﾅ Raargh! Kid Factor by GamerDad Read GamerDad's Original Review Ages: 10 and Up ESRB: Teen ﾖ Violence Developer: Radical Entertainment Producer: Vivendi Universal Platforms: The Hulk is pretty much the same on the GC, PS2, PC, and Xbox. 
The Hulk is violent. He picks up, dangles, throws, punches, smashes, and pounds human soldiers, dogs, and bad guys, throughout the game. He's even worse on private property. Heck, even Banner can choke and duke it out with a soldier or two...) The Hulk is more violent and destructive than in the movie, where he gingerly dumps soldiers out of tanks before tossing them a couple miles, but the violence is stylish and cartoony. Not the sort of thing that would scare or mentally scar a well-adjusted child. The smashing and action are exactly what a small child, particularly a shy child, probably fantasizes about. What better way to tap into and release those feelings than with a gamepad and a monstrous roaring hero out to do good against the forces of evil? Go ahead, tear up some sweatpants and let your kid be the Hulk. Maybe join them if you want. Just hide the breakablesﾅ Raargh! Kid Factor by GamerDad
Kid Factor by Marc Saltzman
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