Price: £39.99 Players: 1 Widescreen: No Dolby Digital 5.1: Yes 60 Hz: No The Hulk, like Matrix Reloaded is one of the most eagerly-awaited films of the year. Sadly, both have also supplied the worst games of the year. You can read the Enter The Matrix review here but this one falls down by having a meandering plotless existence that's just a simple case of running about a lab trying to - eventually - track down the potion that'll stop you turning into your alter ego, but will he ever find it? Did Bill Bixby in the TV series? No. Over the levels you'll play as either the Hulk running around and smacking people's heads in, or as Bruce Banner running around, keeping out of trouble and trying not to turn into the hulk - and if you screw that level up you'll be back to the start of the level! From time to time you'll encounter computer consoles to hack into and gain access to the next section, but this is just boiled down to cracking a code by rearranging letters - child's play! Just transpose the pairs of symbols in turn starting from the left-hand side and it's easily done within the 20 second time limit.

Graphics are little more than standard. They look nice at first, but are too samey and the strange camera angles, often changing your direction as seen, does not help. On the plus side, when the camera changes, you can still keep your joypad stick in the same direction for a short time while you adjust to the change but we've been here far too many times before. There's an option for Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, but it's nothing to write home about and any backing music is soon drowned out by the Hulk smashing stuff up. All your game options along the way are signposted with a massive directional circle like a game of Virtua Cop, which poses no real challenge. You can also punch holes in walls but it's hardly in the class of, say, Red Faction 2. The Hulk is the game equivalent of 28 Days Later - you know it must have a purpose but you're damned if you know what that is, as it feels so pointless. For example, if you get tired of smacking the baddies from here to kingdom come, then pick them up and throw them at their colleagues - yes, we've been here far too many times before, most recently with the surprisingly good War of the Monsters. Overall, this is definitely a case of 'rental only' if you must play it. You start with a Story Mode, and progress to Challenge Mode, but only if you can stand the repetitiveness. There's also some 'making of' extras on the disc but one can only predict how predictable these are.

GRAPHICS SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC PLAYABILITY ENJOYMENT
OVERALL

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2003.