The Hulk We Deserve: The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction Review

2005 was a big year for the gaming industry, but among the many projects released, one game stood out with its bright green hero and energetic, destructive gameplay. It was The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, an action game that allowed players to immerse themselves in the world of comics and find themselves in the shoes of Bruce Banner and his alter ego, the Hulk, feeling the full force and power of this green giant. Today, almost two decades later, this project remains a shining example of how to implement a superhero game filled with content and interesting mechanics, long before the release of the excellent Spider-Man from Insomniac Games, and all fans and critics consider The Incredible Hulk to be one of the best Hulk games of all time. Its gameplay is very reminiscent of Prototypeand this similarity is not accidental. The thing is that the developers of these projects are the same, so we can say that on The Incredible Hulk the guys from Radical Entertainment they learned their lesson and tested the mechanics of their future hit.

“The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction” offers players a huge open world in which they can move freely, exploring any corner of the city. Hulk runs at a fairly high speed, can jump from skyscrapers without taking damage to himself, run on walls and interact with the environment at a level that has rarely been seen in games before. Well, if you don't like to cover long distances to the next task, then there are special fast travel points for you, which can be used even on missions to instantly transfer to different parts of the city.

In addition, this was complemented by a pretty good destruction system for that time. Almost everything in the Hulk's path could be destroyed: cars, trees, small buildings and other objects were susceptible to his powerful blows, and also allowed you to interact with them. Thus, for example, a lamppost turned into a melee weapon, and you could use an advertising ball from the roof of a store for your own purposes, playing bowling with the police. All this created a feeling of strength and power of the character you controlled.

The combat system is intuitive, but at the same time deep. Hulk can do charged blows, as well as combos, grab enemies and even use them as weapons. The character's abilities allowed him to destroy everything in his path, but at the same time it was necessary to approach the fights strategically, taking into account the strengths and weaknesses of opponents. In addition, when the green hero's anger and rage accumulate to their peak value, you can put him into a kind of berserker mode, which will allow you not only to inflict increased damage, but also to use super blows that are unavailable in his “calm” state. Exploring the city and completing tasks (both story and additional), you will receive special points – a kind of currency that can be used to buy new abilities and combinations of blows, as well as the ability to use surrounding objects (how about bending a car and using it as an improvised brass knuckle?). All this allows you not to stand still, but to constantly progress, while simultaneously observing the plot twists and turns that fall on the head of the main character.

As in any self-respecting open-world game, while exploring the city, you will encounter new story and various additional tasks, which are challenge missions that test your skills. This could be rescuing people from a burning building for a while, parkour on roofs, destroying as many soldiers as possible for a while (from regular infantry to tanks and even helicopters) or delivering ambulances to the hospital! There are many tasks and they are all different, so if you didn't have enough of the story and want to stay in the game (or just save up some upgrade points for an easier story), they will definitely come in handy!

You can also keep yourself busy by finding comics that are hidden in various areas of the game – like the hidden packages from earlier GTA games. Only unlike Grand Theft Auto, in The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction each such find will give you access to one of the sixty comics in the main menu, as well as other types of rewards like skins and cheat codes!

Many comic book licensed games often suffer from a superficial approach to the material, but Ultimate Destruction managed to capture the spirit of the Hulk comics. The atmosphere, characters, and story were carefully crafted to fit the Marvel canon, and for those interested in the history of the gaming industry, The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is a great example of how to properly adapt a comic book into a video game. It is one of the few projects that managed to adequately capture the essence of the original and offer players a unique experience.

The game offers not only action, but also a deep story that makes you think about the nature of man and the monster inside us. This aspect makes The Incredible Hulk not just an entertainment project, but also a game with a philosophical subtext.

Conclusion

The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is a great project that deserves to be remembered and played, even decades after its release. It is full of bright moments and interesting gameplay, and at the same time it is one of the best adaptations of Marvel comics, allowing you to feel the full power and strength of the Hulk.

An exciting story and rich gameplay filled with various techniques and combinations of blows, as well as epic battles with bosses, various missions, many costumes and collectibles give Ultimate Destruction a special charm. Despite its age, it remains a worthy game about the Hulk and can bring pleasure to modern players, and especially to those who grew up on games of the 2000s.

And even if the game clearly doesn't measure up to such genre giants as Spider Man (2018) or Batman: Arkham Knight, it is still a very entertaining project that can captivate a modern player, if not with its plot, then at least with its gameplay. Well, if you are a fan of the Marvel comic universe and the Hulk in particular, then you should definitely try this game. You are guaranteed a great time!
And to simplify the task of launching a 20-year-old project, which has never been released on PC, in the telegram channel “Oldfashioned Gamer” I have posted for you a build with a ready game and emulator, as well as detailed instructions for setting it up.

You may be interested in:

“Dark Trails of Nostalgia: Aliens versus Predator 2”

“Nostalgic Games: C&C Renegade”;

“Dino Crisis is a retro classic from the PS1 era”;

“Nostalgic Games: Serious Sam”;