The Incredible Hulk

Baby’s got a temper

Sega unleashes the monster within and gives you a front row seat in its movie tie-in, The Incredible Hulk. Feeling angry? Why not take it out on a city...

Everyone feels mad every once and a while, although it would be fair to say that not everyone changes green, grows a couple feet in height and gains several hundred pounds of frighteningly large muscle that can have you lifting tanks and leaping half a city in a single bound. These are the issues that poor Bruce Banner faces on the average day after the scientist was exposed to a large dose of gamma radiation. Which wouldn't be too bad if his only problem was trying to discover a pair of trousers that are stretchy enough to support his accidents...

It's oh-so easy being green

Loosely based on the film of the same name, The Incredible Hulk follows Banner's attempts to try and find peace away from the US government which is looking to claim the jade giant for its own purposes. While there are key moments taken from the movie, along with the modelled faces and voices of actors including Ed Norton and Tim Roth, the game uses characters and scenarios from the original comic books to allow more scope and carnage.

Which is to say in The Incredible Hulk the fun is taking advantage of the sheer destructive power of the outlaw superhero in an open city. As the behemoth, you can perform giant leaps (leaving cracks and craters in the ground from landing), slam bad guys into a faraway building with one punch, pick up and throw nearly anything that can move and even topple buildings.

While there are missions, such as defending or escorting a character from place to place, destroying certain objects and so on, most of the joy comes from the insane amount of chaos to be had by being the Hulk. The city acts as a hub area which you can explore and demolish at will in-between story-driven tasks, allowing you free reign to just enjoy the feeling of becoming an engine of destruction.

Don't be so jaded

The city generally runs to its own pace, with traffic and civilians going about their business, albeit somewhat scared to see a seven-foot monster appear before them (usually to the point where screams, swerving cars and crashes are the typical response). To give you some focus there are also moments where enemies from a malevolent faction called the Enclave pop up with their lasers to generally cause problems for the population of New York, which is your cue to be the hero and put some of that rage to use. Or alternatively, just carry on doing whatever you want.

There's a caveat to your freedom, however. The more damage you create, the more your threat level will increase - and eventually Army Strike Teams will be called to try and stop your rampage, meaning your actions have consequences. Even then, taking part in large scale destructive superhero fights in such a massive environment is too much fun to heed the tank-driving likes of the military. Puny humans.

The Incredible Hulk doesn't stray too far from what it needs to do, which is to put you in the torn trousers of Marvel's favourite big green man and let you experience the pleasure of rampaging in a sandbox environment. Hulk up and prepare for a smashing time.