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Video Game Review: The Incredible Hulk

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By ROMMIE JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 27, 2008

System: Sony PlayStation 3

Also available for: Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, Sony PlayStation 2, Windows PC

Publisher: Sega

Reviewer's rating: **½

ESRB rating: Teen

Game type: Action

Kind of like: "Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction"

Best feature: Hulk smash! Destroying everything in sight is a cathartic thrill.

Worst feature: "Hulk" crash! Literally - the game locked up several times.

The bottom line: Given how uniformly putrid movie-based games tend to be, it's arguably a minor miracle that Marvel's latest big-screen tie-in is even playable.

And, for a while, it's actually pretty fun. Playing as The Hulk can be a blast as you roam freely through an open-world version of Manhattan where nearly everything is destructible, including the buildings themselves. (And if the idea of reducing a NYC skyscraper to rubble turns your stomach, stop reading now.) Even the most joyless creep will crack a smile when the green giant rips a giant cone off the top of an ice cream truck and hurls it through Central Park.

Unfortunately the game's routine missions aren't half as inspired (fetch this item, protect that guy, etc.), and after a while they start to feel more like work than play.

It doesn't help that the game is marred by countless graphical flaws and other glitches. Add those to the monotonous gameplay, and it's hard to escape the feeling that good ol' "Hulk" was rushed to market.

Which is a shame, because there's clearly the potential for something far more satisfying here. But as-is, unless you're a total Hulkamaniac, a weekend rental will be plenty.

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