The Incredible Hulk (2008 video game)

The Incredible Hulk is a video game based on the Marvel superhero Hulk and the 2008 film. The console versions were released on June 5, 2008 and the PC version was released on June 10, 2008. Edge of Reality developed the console versions while Amaze Entertainment developed the handheld version of the game.

The game plays much like The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, because of its free-roam gameplay and its similar controls. The main enemies in the game include Abomination, U-Foes, Bi-Beast, The Enclave, and the United States Army led by General "Thunderbolt" Ross and Major Glenn Talbot.

A significant feature has Edward Norton, Tim Roth, Liv Tyler, William Hurt, and Tim Blake Nelson reprising their roles from the movie.

Plot
Bruce Banner was a scientist turned fugitive when he was affected by doses of gamma radiation and a suicide attempt fails as he transforms into the beast within him---The Incredible Hulk.

Somewhere in a town in South America, Bruce was chased by soldiers led by Emil Blonsky who were sent by General Thunderbolt Ross. As the chase ends when Banner heads inside a factory building, the soldiers fire missiles to the building which causes tons of debris to fall on Banner but his life was saved when he transformed into the Hulk instantly. Hulk then makes a quick getaway to New York City.

After arriving in the city, the Hulk confronts and saves the life of Rick Jones, a teenager held captive by soldiers working for an organization called Enclave. Soon after, the Hulk goes on some missions while protecting Rick Jones from the forces of Enclave's Ceres section. After they start a few missions, the Hulk manages help disarm Earthquake Bombs, trash an Enclave lab, and save Jones from a gigantic cyborg called the Kyklops.

Soon after, Bruce Banner begins to work with Samuel Sterns who was, in truth, his friend "Mr. Blue". In one mission, the Hulk manages to destroy a satellite as well as a building with it, only to be confronted by the U-Foes, a superhuman group consisting of a metallic being called Ironclad, a telekinetic being named Vector, a humanoid cloud by the name of Vapor and an inside-out, radioactive being called X-Ray. The Hulk manages to beat them, though the U-Foes survived and soon vowed to destroy the Hulk once he interferes with them once more. Hulk is then sent to retrieve Nanites stolen by Enclave which are hidden in garbage trucks that are also targeted by the army.

Major Glenn Talbot then dispatches the army to take down Hulk. Hulk then dodges missiles to get to the source of the broadcasting. Hulk manages to destroy the source and defeat Emil Blonsky.

Enclave has created robots to steal the energy from the city. Rick Jones tells Bruce Banner this and Hulk goes to destroy them at their key locations. After the robots are destroyed, Hulk eliminates the chemical bombs by throwing them into the saltwater. Hulk does this, but must kill some of the contaminated Enclave soldiers when the smaller bombs go off. After defeating some contaminated Enclave soldiers, Hulk heads back to those areas to get rid of the Energy Absorbing Machines. Hulk then heads to Empire State University to obtain a machine that could clear up the contamination. This is a success.

Hulk then takes the fight to Major Glenn Talbot by attracting press helicopters. After an attack on a military base, during which Talbot's forces fire on the press as well as the Hulk, Talbot goes into hiding as Rick Jones tracks his helicopter. Hulk gives pursuit of Talbot's helicopter. After attacking another base, Hulk learns that Major Talbot has captured Rick and is using him for bait. Hulk rescues Rick and goes on the run.

After escaping Talbot's soldiers, Rick tells Bruce that Enclave is creating a mass mind-control device and needs the data to create a countermeasure. Hulk fights Enclave soldiers shielded from the device to obtain the data and attract Enclave soldier reinforcements so that the shield around the building can be dropped and Rick can sneak in. By attacking nearby Enclave property, reinforcements are sent upon the shield dropping. As Hulk battles the Enclave soldiers, Rick successfully infiltrates the building and sets off something upon his departure. Hulk then destroys the building to prevent it from exploding. Enclave then goes after them and Hulk fights the Enclave robots to buy Rick Jones some time to get away. When Enclave tracks the device to the building that Rick Jones has the data in, Hulk defends the building to buy Rick some time to get it out. When Rick does escape, Hulk makes his way to Empire State University to see Samuel Stern. With the help of a countermeasure, Hulk heads toward one of their buildings containing an energy siphoning system. When the shield surrounding the antennae is dropped, Hulk heads up to the roof. After Hulk destroys the antennae, the leaders of Enclave plan to use Bi-Beast to battle Hulk. Upon receiving the news that Enclave placing another control antennae in Time Square, Hulk heads there and fights the Enclave soldiers under Bi-Beast's control. After the antennae is destroyed, Hulk engages Bi-Beast in battle and destroys it, before ripping off its head and revealing its mechanical insides. This causes Jupiter Leader to rise to victory after Ceres Leader and Minerva Leader's failure.

Hulk then goes to destroy the Earthquake Generators on the buildings to cease the earthquakes. Enclave then targets Hulk with an orbital laser that's synchronized over Manhattan. With the help from Rick Jones, Hulk scales the building that has the control satellite dish which Hulk destroys and follows its crash toward Central Park. Bruce is then contacted that the test results show that there is no cure for his condition, but he is told that they can try if Hulk can obtain parts of the Gamma Charger from three locations, an Enclave warehouse, a building owned by Enclave, and an army transport.

Samuel Sterns plans to use the Gamma Charger to elevate Hulk's Gamma Levels. Hulk does that and prevents Enclave soldiers from taking them back. Rick then locates the stolen equipment and sends Hulk to that location. Enclave plots to use the equipment to boost their mutant troops. As Rick disables them from his helicopter, Hulk clears the area for Rick to land. Bruce Banner then heads to the university where his old research data is only for Betty Ross to get the data before all of it is deleted by her father. Bruce sighted Emil Blonsky stating that General Ross' army is here. When Ross' soldiers grab Betty, Bruce turns into the Hulk and attacks the army's deployment points. Hulk then ends up in another fight with Emil Blonsky who received treatment that gives him enhanced abilities. Hulk manages to defeat him and makes off with Betty. With Emil still alive, General Ross gives orders to give Emil some medical attention.

Betty then tells Bruce that her father is going to attack an Enclave base and that he underestimates their power. Hulk then heads out to protect General Ross and eventually takes down Enclave's forces and one of their bases. When a soldier reports that Banner beat them to it, General Ross remarks that they did not need his help. Hulk then fights the Enclave soldiers to prevent them from getting to the Hulkbuster technology built by Stark Industries. Hulk manages to repel them. Hulk then helps the Hulkbusters fight Enclave soldiers and an Enclave F-POD. After Vulcan Leader's failure, the Enclave leaders conclude that the Army can do the job of eliminating the Hulk for them. Emil Blonsky recovers and General Ross arranges a special treatment for Emil.

Samuel Sterns then tells Hulk that they can test their device if Hulk can obtain a genetic simulator from Enclave. Samuel Sterns then informs Hulk that Enclave has used a bio-weapon on a building and Hulk takes the device to it in hopes that Samuel Stern can use it to cure the place. Hulk then prevents the building's destruction while Samuel works on the cure. When it is a success on the building, Samuel Sterns concludes that the cure works.

Hulk then has to guard a truck containing an experimental weapon that General Ross is having transported since General Ross does not trust Major Glenn Talbot for the job. When Glenn Talbot steals the weapon, Hulk goes after him. Hulk retrieves it and gives it to Rick so he can destroy it. When Betty Ross has been kidnapped under Major Talbot's orders, Hulk fights a Hulkbuster to destroy the generators trapping Betty Ross in a cage. After Hulk beats the Hulkbuster, Betty tells the pilot in the Hulkbuster that she is General Ross's daughter. This causes the Hulkbuster and the troops with it to fall back as Betty is free. When General Ross is told what happen, his army attacks Major Glenn Talbot who is now wearing a Hulkbuster armor (which is powered by a mini nuclear reactor that will blow up the city if it explodes). Hulk joins the fight and defeats Talbot. When the Hulkbuster armor is about to blow, Hulk throws it into the air where it explodes.

Samuel Sterns has completed the device that will cure Bruce Banner of the Hulk with a chance that it would kill him. Even though it suppressed the Hulk genes, General Ross and his army arrive tranquilizing Bruce and taking him and Betty away as General Ross drafts Samuel to his cause. After General Ross leaves, Emil Blonsky arrives to get more of the treatment from Samuel Sterns. This causes Emil to become Abomination who then attacks the city. Seeing as he's the only one who can stop him, Bruce Banner jumps from the helicopter and transforms into the Hulk to fight Abomination. When Abomination attacks the helicopter that General Ross and Betty are in, Hulk destroys it and continues his fight with Abomination. Hulk defeats Abomination and leaves the area. Betty tells her father that she hopes it was worth it.

Playable characters
Certain characters, i.e. those listed with a specific platform, will only be available in that console platform.


 * Note: Since the game is copyrighted by Sega, if the player jumps to various buildings, they can view a special Sonic The Hedgehog billboard featuring him in poses from Sonic The Hedgehog 2006 video game and Sonic and the Secret Rings.

Cast

 * Edward Norton as Dr. Robert Bruce Banner
 * Fred Tatasciore as Hulk
 * Liv Tyler as Elizabeth "Betty" Ross
 * Tim Roth as RM Maj. Emil Blonsky
 * William Hurt as USAF Lt. Gen. Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross
 * Tim Blake Nelson as Dr. Samuel Sterns
 * S. Scott Bullock as Vector / Simon Utrecht, Jupiter Leader
 * Jon Curry as Richard "Rick" Jones, Abomination
 * Chris Edgerly as Bi-Beast (bottom head)
 * Keith Ferguson as Bi-Beast (top head), X-Ray / James "Jimmy" Darnell
 * Michael Gannon as USAF Maj. Glenn Talbot
 * Mitch Lewis as Ironclad / Michael Steel
 * Rachael MacFarlane as Vapor / Ann Darnell
 * Jeffrey Parker as Abomination Vocal Effects
 * Stephen Stanton as Iron Man / Anthony "Tony" Stark
 * Courtenay Taylor as Summervox, Minerva Leader
 * Simbi Khali Williams as Ceres Leader
 * Dave Wittenberg as Vulcan Leader

Reception
The game received mixed to negative reviews from critics. GameRankings gave it a score of 52.13% for the DS version, 56.55% for the Xbox 360 version, 54.60% for the PlayStation 3 version, 43.33% for the Wii version, 50.75% for the PlayStation 2 version, and 28% for the PC version. Similarly, Metacritic gave it a score of 50 out of 100 each for the DS and PS2 versions, 55 out of 100 each for the X360 and PS3 versions,  46 out of 100 for the Wii version, and 33 out of 100 for the PC version.

Variety gave the game a mixed review and stated: "To be fair, there isn’t a word yet for “post-ultimate” destruction, but the lack of a subtitle is appropriate for this flimsier and less ambitious game that’s unlikely to set off a rampage to videogame stores."