The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (GC, 2005)
Graphics-7.5 Sound-7.5 Control-7 Challenge-7.5 Story-6
Level Design-7.5/7* Frustration-8.5 Fun-7.5/7* Originality-6
Overall Score-7
*Most side missions, General Ross boss fight, finale
+
Lock-on aiming allowing circle strafing around targets. Can quickly switch between targets to lock onto with the c-stick
Various fun/interesting moves (default: aimed throws which can be combined with the lock-on feature (can throw cars at helicopters), can pick up and throw many different objects and enemies as well, high charge jumps (see Spider-Man 2 or SMB2) and charged throws. Can also charge another jump while in mid-air to jump again immediately after landing. Can also do a charge throw after a charge jump, can run and jump up walls (similar to Spider-Man 2) as well as keep going upwards while jumping off and onto one or transition from running to climbing and back, steel fist ability - can break some objects in two after picking them up and use each part like a brass knuckle, air strike=mid-air dash+punch, can perform grapple combos (attack grabbed enemies); bought: pick something up while running with the running grab move - need to also buy double fist toss to throw while running though, dashing straight - dash attack while running, sonic clap - aoe desperation move which can also be upgraded, air stomp, throw while running, shield weaponization - turn a large vehicle wreckage into a shield which blocks attacks from any direction as you walk or attack (front only if you run)+can be thrown like a boomerang if you buy an upgrade, additional air dash which can also be upgraded three times for a total of two longer and faster dashes, double air dash (late-game), tornado frenzy - air combo, rising upper - uppercut enemy into the air, missile punchback (deflect projectiles with a well-timed punch+aimed deflection at an enemy) and missile catch, shield grind - ride a wreck turned into a shield like a skateboard over uneven surfaces (used for some challenges), critical atomic smash and sonic clap - smart bomb-style attacks with some charge time, spinning tank throw, target kick - kick a grabbed aircraft into another one, etc.)
Fun exaggerated physics when throwing or running into things and when running/jumping up walls
Open World and Platform Adventure elements (hub map w/ partially non-linear structure, access a moves shop in churches, bought lifebar+critical mass power+some attack move upgrades, some hidden items (comic books (see below) and money), find some additional lore via the Blonsky files - Bruce/Hulk and his buddy Samson also comment on these when they're accessed at the church)
Partially destructible environments (vehicles, some smaller buildings and a few larger ones during story missions, rock formations, weak walls during some indoors boss fights) - gain money/smash points from destroying things which can be used to buy new moves in a shop
Can perform four hit combos if you combine special attacks with regular punches in a certain way (1 special followed by 3 regular punches). Can charge any attack during a combo and keep it going (some enemies are armored and require charged attacks to harm). Can also buy a 6-hit punch combo from chapter 2 onwards and a 5-hit shockwave one in chapter 4 (which can be upgraded for more damage+a spread to it), plus you can combine a dashing uppercut with a 4-hit air combo from around chapter 3 onwards.
Teleporters (jump markers) - can exit a hub area at any point via these. There are also several teleporters you can find per hub area which can be used as shortcuts and reward you with money for finding them
Satisfying feedback from actions and when getting hit overall
Mini-map with objective markers (shows the direction of the objective - GTA?)
"Critical mass" mode (similar to intenso mode in guacamelee) - energy is built up from the point that you gain 100% HP via health from defeated enemies/destroying some objects/placed health items and while the mode is active you do more damage with each attack and can use special critical mass attacks. Using critical moves and getting hurt lowers the meter and eventually takes you out of it
Some cool weapons (homing missile launcher from chapter 5 onwards, ball and chain (from large crane trucks so pretty situational) - used like a yo-yo and pull enemies and vehicles towards you or throw it)
Pretty nice explosion and object breaking visual effects (some fall apart in a kind of comical way not tied to where you are hitting them though)
Tracks various stats like number of deaths and jumps
Sometimes comical tone (various NPC comments during missions)
Subtitles toggle (doesn't add it for some NPC comments during minor cutscenes though and the mission briefing texts are completely different to the spoken ones)
Regenerating health but only up to half the health bar and it's a bit slow
Decent map system (shows the basic layout in 2D and mission markers+teleporters/jump markers, not zoomable, doesn't show building heights, can't place your own markers or notes, no cardinal directions+the mini-map spins when you turn around)
Various mini-game style side missions/challenges (rooftop fire rescue - alright, knock car into ring of flares without carrying it - meh, on foot race - pretty good once you get air dash and stomp, destroy the spotlights - alright but they're too spread out, get cars on top of a skyscraper - decent except for the control issues below, batter up (hit a soldier dropping from a helicopter as far as possible) - fun idea but too simplistic, unfriendly fire (have tanks kill each other with friendly fire) - pretty good but too easy and drawn out time-wise, punt kick (american football) - too hard to aim, golf - again hard to aim but a bit better, soldier wave within small area - alright, hulk smash (destroy stuff) - pretty good though there could be less dead space, race while avoiding white cars - decent but memorization-oriented since it's so easy to accidentally touch one while running, destroy the tanks while staying in a small area - decent, jump on rooftops (travel as far as possible without wall running or climbing - there's also a timed version where you can wall run and climb) - pretty good, carry cabs to destinations without breaking them - too drawn out, soldier seeker (take out rocket soldiers on rooftops) - decent, soldier juggling - fun idea but goes on for too long and variation isn't rewarded so you only need the rising upper, hulk float (hang glider segment w/ the balloon) - alright, defend the roof without falling off - pretty good (kinda like smash bros), soccer/penalty kicks - alright but again hard to aim)
ERS meter/threat level meter (similar to GTA) - eventually a strike team is sent after Hulk if you destroy enough things and you get extra smash points/money for taking them out (also resets the meter)
Decent story mission variety (retrieve object and escape with it before it breaks aka fetch quests, defend structure for a set time, search and destroy, chase and destroy, escort car, deliver while under continuous attack)
Can quickly access any finished side missions from the story mode menu
Shows enemy and object health bars
Air recovery move (recover from knockback-causing attacks similar to when thrown in Streets of Rage) - have to buy it
Can use a certain balloon in the first city as a hang glider
People run away in fear and driven cars tend to veer to the side and into walls when you get close - nice touch
Get some tips on how to beat a mission if you fail at it+a mocking comment from bosses
Enemies can accidentally damage and kill each other with their shots
Skippable cutscenes
Decent sense of vulnerability during some of the later retrieval missions
Some good bosses (hulkbuster prototype - calls on reinforcements if you don't take out the satellites, can use the environment vs the first and second bosses, devil hulk besides it being near impossible to break free when he tries to chew you)
Good animation in-game
Can skip getting trapped at one point in the late game (no other skips?)
Difficulty options (easy-hard, have to unlock hard)
New game+ (restart with all moves you bought)
Some unlockables (play as abomination and savage banner)
Decent VA
+/-
Save anywhere while in a hub area (5 slots, can't save during a mission or boss fight, shows the current mission only), Can abort and retry missions and boss fights at any point
Partially non-linear structure (side missions/challenges are optional and can be done in any order (have access to 12 of them after the tutorial and two intro missions), story missions are done one at a time in a set order, new shop moves are unlocked with each finished chapter which is 2-5 story missions long)
Running always starts with a forward dash at a set length with some delay before starting to run - generally not a problem but can be when trying to climb a building quickly without falling off
Placed health items as well as ones dropped by enemies and ambulances (health also fills up the critical mass meter a bit) - respawns when re-entering an area but not when retrying a failed mission
Weird that there's not penalty for destroying non-enemy structures and objects
Optional collectathon element (find comic book covers (60 in total) to unlock codes, movies and art)
Optional tutorial though you'll miss some unlockable items if you skip it. Optional move tutorials for some bought moves as well
No in world explanation for there being a shop or who supplies Hulk with new moves and how
Hilarious "inner voice" cutscenes during some missions - not sure if intentional
Loading times before and after missions (they use the same area)
Weird how the game doesn't react to you throwing civilians off rooftops besides giving you a lower rank at the end of a side mission (also doesn't react to you hurting NPCs during for example the hit the car into ring of flames challenge)
Can't easily follow up a dash towards a human enemy with a combo since they get knocked away from it if hit
Slide pretty far down if you have downward momentum when grabbing onto a wall
No damage or other penalty from falling into water - Hulk just jumps back out of it
Can't access the shop during a mission
Some money items (yellow orbs) are basically placed out in the open
Enemies in hub areas spawn based on the threat level you achieve and if you move around the basic enemies seem to respawn (police - a few missions in these get replaced by military). Surviving story mission enemies also tend to still be there when you exit a mission. During some story missions there are frequently respawning enemies
No dodge moves but can use larger vehicles' wreckages as shields and deflect projectiles after buying these moves (chapter 2) - protects even from behind
Smaller second hub area and shorter second chapter (3 missions and a boss). Third chapter is only 2 missions and a boss plus it takes place in the first hub area (city). Fourth chapter also takes place in the first hub area
The lacking mid-air control during running jumps is mostly solved by the air dash though it is a bit short and should've been available from chapter 1 instead of from chapter 2 onwards - can upgrade the air dash once you reach chapter 3 (and the air strike in chapter 4)
While there is an item drop magnet it is very short - breaks flow a bit
Need to use a temporary shield or the punchback move to deal with groups of missile tanks and giant robot missile volleys in some missions as air dashing is too slow (punchback also doesn't quite work against a volley of them) - the upgraded one is faster though
No puzzles
Kinda weird how the threat level goes down to zero when taking out a helicopter strike team (otoh it would be annoying if the helis kept coming and out of character for Hulk to run away until it lowers)
Throwing and air stomping is more efficient than melee combat against tanks (repeating dashing uppercuts and shockwave smash also works well)
Some moves become obsolete as you progress
Sonic clap is more flexible than ground slam
Rapid Punch Burst is sometimes tricky to pull off against enemies that you'd want to use it against due to the pauses between parts of it and long duration of it (there is invincibility time against regular enemy punches during its middle animation though)
Adrenaline Surge mode - do more damage+gain access to critical mass moves while very low on health (more of a help if you're doing poorly than a risk/reward thing)
Temporarily gain the hammer toss throw during the "throw the gas pods in the ocean" mission - could've given it to you or made you buy it since you need it for the "turning point" mission not long after anyway
Mostly short story missions (they get a bit longer in the late-game)
Take damage while readying a spinning tank throw (not the case against general ross's laser attack)
The long charge time on critical moves makes them tricky to use as breakout moves whenever you're facing multiple enemies that can knock you back (unlike a breakout move in SoR or a smart bomb in a shoot 'em up)
Very limited ammo on the weaponized missile launchers
-
Health resets to a little below 100% in-between missions
Control/interface issues (no invincibility time after taking a hit from a homing missile means you can get pinned and hurt very quickly from volleys of them (they also take priority over an air stomp move) - air cannonball helps a bit but you get it very late, the lock-on sometimes prioritizes neutral objects when there are aerial enemies all around you and sometimes only nearby enemies can be switched to when you want to throw a tank into a giant robot further away, no button config - jump and punch should've been switched, can't steer in the opposite direction in mid-air by default (for if you overshoot a jump or jump in the wrong direction) unless standing still or you're lucky enough to lock on to something behind hulk and can use the air strike, can't use the camera quick turn in mid-air, camera quick turn doesn't work while moving towards the camera (you'll turn while it's doing it) and it's not instant, kind of floaty jumps with some delay at the peak of a jump - can buy an air stomp pretty early on however there's about 2 secs of delay after landing and you can't cancel the air dash or air strike with it, somewhat loose camera when turning around while running, some delay when dashing while running, wall climbing is pretty slow compared to running, can't transition from climbing to wall running in any direction but upwards and it always starts with a dash, air strike automatically homes in on enemies and breakable objects nearby, annoying how most tutorial messages pause the gameplay+cover the whole screen (there's also a ~1.5 second delay before you can close a tutorial message or blonsky file notification for some reason - it also repeats if there are more than one messages in a row) - the tutorial area had mostly voiced messages so why not the rest of the game?, some delay before enemies drop health, different button from dropping an NPC and dropping an object, weird how "return to buy menu" is displayed after finishing story missions when there's no shop available from that menu, can't see how far you were from the next rank on the ranking screens, occasionally get semi-stuck on minor obstacles (happens a lot during the general ross boss fight) - silly when you generally wreck obstacles simply by running into them, sometimes twitchy camera when jumping or climbing around between building walls and sometimes it goes side view during climbing/wall running when it's not optimal, can't jump to the side while running horizontally on a wall (see Sands of Time), sometimes distracting wreckage smoke - should've been semi-transparent, Hulk automatically breaks if you let go of the run button (unless you were jumping) - breaks flow a bit, when air dashing backwards (with R - the bought move) the camera ends up in side view instead of turning the whole way around however this is solved by upgrading the air dash, some menus don't wrap around and you can't use L/R to browse the shop menu quickly, kind of picky hit detection for the hitchhiker move (grab onto robots and pummel them), shield grinding/using a vehicle as a skateboard is somewhat slow, dashing straight sometimes misses despite locking on and being in range)
Some trial & error (general ross's laser attacks, homing missile shots from behind - not shown on the mini-map, Mercy/third boss's stun attack, civilians standing inside fires during a fire rescue mission so that they're harder to spot - optional and kind of rare mission though, in chapter 5 you play two missions in a row and then move on to the next one - can access the shop in-between them only via the menu here (same thing happens between two missions in chapter 6 as well), some arbitrary "out of mission area" limitations during some missions such as the convoy destruction one, finding the water towers in the city for a certain challenge mission, can't run up walls during the facility escape mission, the range on the mid-air critical sonic clap is a bit shorter than it seems)
Can't pick up certain objects that you'd expect to be able to
Some weird limitations on combining regular and special attacks for default combos - can only do a 2 hit combo ending with a special and can't combine punches with special attacks while grappling someone (only do a 3 hit punch combo or pound them into the ground)
Missions feel detached from their areas in that you go up to a star to start them and then the screen cuts to a new scene within that area rather than talk to an NPC and it's not something happening as you're traveling through the area like in Spider-Man 2
Sometimes uneven difficulty (spike at the "defend the church" mission and the one two missions before it (retrieve three items), spike at the first defend mission - can get insta-killed by tanks crushing you in-between them and if you go meet the closest group of tanks you auto-fail the mission (need to stay near the building and keep the tanks busy fighting Hulk), easy second retrieval mission - a bit ludicrous how easily you can shake the enemy troops as Hulk)
Some tedious aspects (the airplanes in the defend the church mission and during the final missions (they tend to go way too high to hit and will often just dodge your fastest air dash move (air cannonball) - when they're up high it's also tricky to even aim at them+if using a homing launcher weapon you'll drop it if you get hit by a knockback attack), not enough health items during the general ross fight, having to buy air versions of moves, the tutorial area doesn't replenish its enemies, overly long cutscenes for the critical atomic smash and sonic clap moves, too hard to dodge homing missiles - need to use temporary shields instead, some dead space, part of one mission where the warchief robot keeps running away to skyscraper rooftops, can't break free when grabbed by a giant robot+all their attacks knock you back+they're a bit spongy and the most efficient way of dealing with them is repeating one move, repeats the game pausing tutorial message for switching lock-on targets several times in the late-game - gets annoying during some fights, some grinding to be able to buy all moves - unless you get a gold ranking on each side mission maybe)
Repeating a single move such as elbow drop/dashing uppercut/homing missiles is often the best tactic against larger targets (undermines the combo system in the game) - it is possible to follow up an air strike with an air combo against some if they're distracted or performing certain moves but it's overly tricky to pull off by comparison
Can't turn some vehicles that you'd expect to into steel fists
Arbitrary invisible walls near the top of mountains and at the edge of the hideout/church area
10+ seconds of loading to get out of the shop (3 to get in) and to enter some story missions. 10 seconds of loading in-between mission objectives at one point in the late-game
Can't attack NPCs but can throw them around including off of rooftops and into water - without penalty!
Some tutorial messages are completely pointless (like explaining what timers do when you're several missions into the game) and some of the ones you find (question marks) repeat earlier tutorial messages
Some moves are too similar (sonic clap and ground smash, rising upper and tornado uppercut)
The finisher moves on bosses during cutscenes could've been QTEs. Also weird how in the neural retrieval mission (chapter 2) you can't manually attack the objective robot suit - have to walk up to it to trigger a cutscene instead
Some of the story is told with plain black text on a screen (some of the "recaps" also tell you things that haven't happened yet)
Sometimes dated or weird model physics (the cows are rather stiff, water towers fall apart simply from jumping into them)
Showing all the side mission locations in an area right away takes away from the exploration aspect (teleporter shortcuts/jump markers are not shown and also reward you with money for being found which works better)
No sfx from the stomp move at the end of the four hit combo
Dashing uppercut pretty quickly replaces tornado uppercut and rising upper for being a faster way of knocking enemies into the air besides the latter being useful in a challenge
A few too many fetch quest missions
Though there are some surprise attacks by enemies during missions they tend to involve 1-2 objectives only (would've been cool if some of the mini-game elements such as rooftop jumping were incorporated into them and the areas were a bit more varied)
Some framerate drops (when fighting 2 giant robots and other enemies at once)
No new hub areas after chapter 5 (and the second hub area uses the same assets as the tutorial area) - there is one new indoors location in the end-game though and two outdoors ones for bosses
Can't stop the dam from being burst during the finale for a better ending
Bugs:
-Sometimes can't grab a tank during the general ross boss fight where you're supposed to toss them at him
-The hit detection can get a bit glitchy around some rooftops and mountain parts when running up walls
-No music while in a shop menu - starts if you go to the main menu and then back to it. The music also sometimes stops during certain missions (convoy)
-If standing near a car while locking onto a rocket soldier (to deflect the rocket), Hulk aims at the car instead when attacking with Y (overhead smash/special attack)
-The hit detection glitched out once while fighting robots making Hulk act like he's constantly in the air and being knocked back for about 30 secs
-Cyclone skyjack (grab an aircraft and make it crash while spinning) tends to get glitchy making it take longer to use than it should
-Bug where I did zero damage with a critical move on a giant robot in the defend the church mission - same thing happened a couple of times against Abomination during the finale too
-Some of the checkpoints in the escort mission seem a bit glitchy - sometimes the car stays in an alley until you destroy all nearby enemies while other times it tries to move through them
Level Design-7.5/7* Frustration-8.5 Fun-7.5/7* Originality-6
Overall Score-7
*Most side missions, General Ross boss fight, finale
+
Lock-on aiming allowing circle strafing around targets. Can quickly switch between targets to lock onto with the c-stick
Various fun/interesting moves (default: aimed throws which can be combined with the lock-on feature (can throw cars at helicopters), can pick up and throw many different objects and enemies as well, high charge jumps (see Spider-Man 2 or SMB2) and charged throws. Can also charge another jump while in mid-air to jump again immediately after landing. Can also do a charge throw after a charge jump, can run and jump up walls (similar to Spider-Man 2) as well as keep going upwards while jumping off and onto one or transition from running to climbing and back, steel fist ability - can break some objects in two after picking them up and use each part like a brass knuckle, air strike=mid-air dash+punch, can perform grapple combos (attack grabbed enemies); bought: pick something up while running with the running grab move - need to also buy double fist toss to throw while running though, dashing straight - dash attack while running, sonic clap - aoe desperation move which can also be upgraded, air stomp, throw while running, shield weaponization - turn a large vehicle wreckage into a shield which blocks attacks from any direction as you walk or attack (front only if you run)+can be thrown like a boomerang if you buy an upgrade, additional air dash which can also be upgraded three times for a total of two longer and faster dashes, double air dash (late-game), tornado frenzy - air combo, rising upper - uppercut enemy into the air, missile punchback (deflect projectiles with a well-timed punch+aimed deflection at an enemy) and missile catch, shield grind - ride a wreck turned into a shield like a skateboard over uneven surfaces (used for some challenges), critical atomic smash and sonic clap - smart bomb-style attacks with some charge time, spinning tank throw, target kick - kick a grabbed aircraft into another one, etc.)
Fun exaggerated physics when throwing or running into things and when running/jumping up walls
Open World and Platform Adventure elements (hub map w/ partially non-linear structure, access a moves shop in churches, bought lifebar+critical mass power+some attack move upgrades, some hidden items (comic books (see below) and money), find some additional lore via the Blonsky files - Bruce/Hulk and his buddy Samson also comment on these when they're accessed at the church)
Partially destructible environments (vehicles, some smaller buildings and a few larger ones during story missions, rock formations, weak walls during some indoors boss fights) - gain money/smash points from destroying things which can be used to buy new moves in a shop
Can perform four hit combos if you combine special attacks with regular punches in a certain way (1 special followed by 3 regular punches). Can charge any attack during a combo and keep it going (some enemies are armored and require charged attacks to harm). Can also buy a 6-hit punch combo from chapter 2 onwards and a 5-hit shockwave one in chapter 4 (which can be upgraded for more damage+a spread to it), plus you can combine a dashing uppercut with a 4-hit air combo from around chapter 3 onwards.
Teleporters (jump markers) - can exit a hub area at any point via these. There are also several teleporters you can find per hub area which can be used as shortcuts and reward you with money for finding them
Satisfying feedback from actions and when getting hit overall
Mini-map with objective markers (shows the direction of the objective - GTA?)
"Critical mass" mode (similar to intenso mode in guacamelee) - energy is built up from the point that you gain 100% HP via health from defeated enemies/destroying some objects/placed health items and while the mode is active you do more damage with each attack and can use special critical mass attacks. Using critical moves and getting hurt lowers the meter and eventually takes you out of it
Some cool weapons (homing missile launcher from chapter 5 onwards, ball and chain (from large crane trucks so pretty situational) - used like a yo-yo and pull enemies and vehicles towards you or throw it)
Pretty nice explosion and object breaking visual effects (some fall apart in a kind of comical way not tied to where you are hitting them though)
Tracks various stats like number of deaths and jumps
Sometimes comical tone (various NPC comments during missions)
Subtitles toggle (doesn't add it for some NPC comments during minor cutscenes though and the mission briefing texts are completely different to the spoken ones)
Regenerating health but only up to half the health bar and it's a bit slow
Decent map system (shows the basic layout in 2D and mission markers+teleporters/jump markers, not zoomable, doesn't show building heights, can't place your own markers or notes, no cardinal directions+the mini-map spins when you turn around)
Various mini-game style side missions/challenges (rooftop fire rescue - alright, knock car into ring of flares without carrying it - meh, on foot race - pretty good once you get air dash and stomp, destroy the spotlights - alright but they're too spread out, get cars on top of a skyscraper - decent except for the control issues below, batter up (hit a soldier dropping from a helicopter as far as possible) - fun idea but too simplistic, unfriendly fire (have tanks kill each other with friendly fire) - pretty good but too easy and drawn out time-wise, punt kick (american football) - too hard to aim, golf - again hard to aim but a bit better, soldier wave within small area - alright, hulk smash (destroy stuff) - pretty good though there could be less dead space, race while avoiding white cars - decent but memorization-oriented since it's so easy to accidentally touch one while running, destroy the tanks while staying in a small area - decent, jump on rooftops (travel as far as possible without wall running or climbing - there's also a timed version where you can wall run and climb) - pretty good, carry cabs to destinations without breaking them - too drawn out, soldier seeker (take out rocket soldiers on rooftops) - decent, soldier juggling - fun idea but goes on for too long and variation isn't rewarded so you only need the rising upper, hulk float (hang glider segment w/ the balloon) - alright, defend the roof without falling off - pretty good (kinda like smash bros), soccer/penalty kicks - alright but again hard to aim)
ERS meter/threat level meter (similar to GTA) - eventually a strike team is sent after Hulk if you destroy enough things and you get extra smash points/money for taking them out (also resets the meter)
Decent story mission variety (retrieve object and escape with it before it breaks aka fetch quests, defend structure for a set time, search and destroy, chase and destroy, escort car, deliver while under continuous attack)
Can quickly access any finished side missions from the story mode menu
Shows enemy and object health bars
Air recovery move (recover from knockback-causing attacks similar to when thrown in Streets of Rage) - have to buy it
Can use a certain balloon in the first city as a hang glider
People run away in fear and driven cars tend to veer to the side and into walls when you get close - nice touch
Get some tips on how to beat a mission if you fail at it+a mocking comment from bosses
Enemies can accidentally damage and kill each other with their shots
Skippable cutscenes
Decent sense of vulnerability during some of the later retrieval missions
Some good bosses (hulkbuster prototype - calls on reinforcements if you don't take out the satellites, can use the environment vs the first and second bosses, devil hulk besides it being near impossible to break free when he tries to chew you)
Good animation in-game
Can skip getting trapped at one point in the late game (no other skips?)
Difficulty options (easy-hard, have to unlock hard)
New game+ (restart with all moves you bought)
Some unlockables (play as abomination and savage banner)
Decent VA
+/-
Save anywhere while in a hub area (5 slots, can't save during a mission or boss fight, shows the current mission only), Can abort and retry missions and boss fights at any point
Partially non-linear structure (side missions/challenges are optional and can be done in any order (have access to 12 of them after the tutorial and two intro missions), story missions are done one at a time in a set order, new shop moves are unlocked with each finished chapter which is 2-5 story missions long)
Running always starts with a forward dash at a set length with some delay before starting to run - generally not a problem but can be when trying to climb a building quickly without falling off
Placed health items as well as ones dropped by enemies and ambulances (health also fills up the critical mass meter a bit) - respawns when re-entering an area but not when retrying a failed mission
Weird that there's not penalty for destroying non-enemy structures and objects
Optional collectathon element (find comic book covers (60 in total) to unlock codes, movies and art)
Optional tutorial though you'll miss some unlockable items if you skip it. Optional move tutorials for some bought moves as well
No in world explanation for there being a shop or who supplies Hulk with new moves and how
Hilarious "inner voice" cutscenes during some missions - not sure if intentional
Loading times before and after missions (they use the same area)
Weird how the game doesn't react to you throwing civilians off rooftops besides giving you a lower rank at the end of a side mission (also doesn't react to you hurting NPCs during for example the hit the car into ring of flames challenge)
Can't easily follow up a dash towards a human enemy with a combo since they get knocked away from it if hit
Slide pretty far down if you have downward momentum when grabbing onto a wall
No damage or other penalty from falling into water - Hulk just jumps back out of it
Can't access the shop during a mission
Some money items (yellow orbs) are basically placed out in the open
Enemies in hub areas spawn based on the threat level you achieve and if you move around the basic enemies seem to respawn (police - a few missions in these get replaced by military). Surviving story mission enemies also tend to still be there when you exit a mission. During some story missions there are frequently respawning enemies
No dodge moves but can use larger vehicles' wreckages as shields and deflect projectiles after buying these moves (chapter 2) - protects even from behind
Smaller second hub area and shorter second chapter (3 missions and a boss). Third chapter is only 2 missions and a boss plus it takes place in the first hub area (city). Fourth chapter also takes place in the first hub area
The lacking mid-air control during running jumps is mostly solved by the air dash though it is a bit short and should've been available from chapter 1 instead of from chapter 2 onwards - can upgrade the air dash once you reach chapter 3 (and the air strike in chapter 4)
While there is an item drop magnet it is very short - breaks flow a bit
Need to use a temporary shield or the punchback move to deal with groups of missile tanks and giant robot missile volleys in some missions as air dashing is too slow (punchback also doesn't quite work against a volley of them) - the upgraded one is faster though
No puzzles
Kinda weird how the threat level goes down to zero when taking out a helicopter strike team (otoh it would be annoying if the helis kept coming and out of character for Hulk to run away until it lowers)
Throwing and air stomping is more efficient than melee combat against tanks (repeating dashing uppercuts and shockwave smash also works well)
Some moves become obsolete as you progress
Sonic clap is more flexible than ground slam
Rapid Punch Burst is sometimes tricky to pull off against enemies that you'd want to use it against due to the pauses between parts of it and long duration of it (there is invincibility time against regular enemy punches during its middle animation though)
Adrenaline Surge mode - do more damage+gain access to critical mass moves while very low on health (more of a help if you're doing poorly than a risk/reward thing)
Temporarily gain the hammer toss throw during the "throw the gas pods in the ocean" mission - could've given it to you or made you buy it since you need it for the "turning point" mission not long after anyway
Mostly short story missions (they get a bit longer in the late-game)
Take damage while readying a spinning tank throw (not the case against general ross's laser attack)
The long charge time on critical moves makes them tricky to use as breakout moves whenever you're facing multiple enemies that can knock you back (unlike a breakout move in SoR or a smart bomb in a shoot 'em up)
Very limited ammo on the weaponized missile launchers
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Health resets to a little below 100% in-between missions
Control/interface issues (no invincibility time after taking a hit from a homing missile means you can get pinned and hurt very quickly from volleys of them (they also take priority over an air stomp move) - air cannonball helps a bit but you get it very late, the lock-on sometimes prioritizes neutral objects when there are aerial enemies all around you and sometimes only nearby enemies can be switched to when you want to throw a tank into a giant robot further away, no button config - jump and punch should've been switched, can't steer in the opposite direction in mid-air by default (for if you overshoot a jump or jump in the wrong direction) unless standing still or you're lucky enough to lock on to something behind hulk and can use the air strike, can't use the camera quick turn in mid-air, camera quick turn doesn't work while moving towards the camera (you'll turn while it's doing it) and it's not instant, kind of floaty jumps with some delay at the peak of a jump - can buy an air stomp pretty early on however there's about 2 secs of delay after landing and you can't cancel the air dash or air strike with it, somewhat loose camera when turning around while running, some delay when dashing while running, wall climbing is pretty slow compared to running, can't transition from climbing to wall running in any direction but upwards and it always starts with a dash, air strike automatically homes in on enemies and breakable objects nearby, annoying how most tutorial messages pause the gameplay+cover the whole screen (there's also a ~1.5 second delay before you can close a tutorial message or blonsky file notification for some reason - it also repeats if there are more than one messages in a row) - the tutorial area had mostly voiced messages so why not the rest of the game?, some delay before enemies drop health, different button from dropping an NPC and dropping an object, weird how "return to buy menu" is displayed after finishing story missions when there's no shop available from that menu, can't see how far you were from the next rank on the ranking screens, occasionally get semi-stuck on minor obstacles (happens a lot during the general ross boss fight) - silly when you generally wreck obstacles simply by running into them, sometimes twitchy camera when jumping or climbing around between building walls and sometimes it goes side view during climbing/wall running when it's not optimal, can't jump to the side while running horizontally on a wall (see Sands of Time), sometimes distracting wreckage smoke - should've been semi-transparent, Hulk automatically breaks if you let go of the run button (unless you were jumping) - breaks flow a bit, when air dashing backwards (with R - the bought move) the camera ends up in side view instead of turning the whole way around however this is solved by upgrading the air dash, some menus don't wrap around and you can't use L/R to browse the shop menu quickly, kind of picky hit detection for the hitchhiker move (grab onto robots and pummel them), shield grinding/using a vehicle as a skateboard is somewhat slow, dashing straight sometimes misses despite locking on and being in range)
Some trial & error (general ross's laser attacks, homing missile shots from behind - not shown on the mini-map, Mercy/third boss's stun attack, civilians standing inside fires during a fire rescue mission so that they're harder to spot - optional and kind of rare mission though, in chapter 5 you play two missions in a row and then move on to the next one - can access the shop in-between them only via the menu here (same thing happens between two missions in chapter 6 as well), some arbitrary "out of mission area" limitations during some missions such as the convoy destruction one, finding the water towers in the city for a certain challenge mission, can't run up walls during the facility escape mission, the range on the mid-air critical sonic clap is a bit shorter than it seems)
Can't pick up certain objects that you'd expect to be able to
Some weird limitations on combining regular and special attacks for default combos - can only do a 2 hit combo ending with a special and can't combine punches with special attacks while grappling someone (only do a 3 hit punch combo or pound them into the ground)
Missions feel detached from their areas in that you go up to a star to start them and then the screen cuts to a new scene within that area rather than talk to an NPC and it's not something happening as you're traveling through the area like in Spider-Man 2
Sometimes uneven difficulty (spike at the "defend the church" mission and the one two missions before it (retrieve three items), spike at the first defend mission - can get insta-killed by tanks crushing you in-between them and if you go meet the closest group of tanks you auto-fail the mission (need to stay near the building and keep the tanks busy fighting Hulk), easy second retrieval mission - a bit ludicrous how easily you can shake the enemy troops as Hulk)
Some tedious aspects (the airplanes in the defend the church mission and during the final missions (they tend to go way too high to hit and will often just dodge your fastest air dash move (air cannonball) - when they're up high it's also tricky to even aim at them+if using a homing launcher weapon you'll drop it if you get hit by a knockback attack), not enough health items during the general ross fight, having to buy air versions of moves, the tutorial area doesn't replenish its enemies, overly long cutscenes for the critical atomic smash and sonic clap moves, too hard to dodge homing missiles - need to use temporary shields instead, some dead space, part of one mission where the warchief robot keeps running away to skyscraper rooftops, can't break free when grabbed by a giant robot+all their attacks knock you back+they're a bit spongy and the most efficient way of dealing with them is repeating one move, repeats the game pausing tutorial message for switching lock-on targets several times in the late-game - gets annoying during some fights, some grinding to be able to buy all moves - unless you get a gold ranking on each side mission maybe)
Repeating a single move such as elbow drop/dashing uppercut/homing missiles is often the best tactic against larger targets (undermines the combo system in the game) - it is possible to follow up an air strike with an air combo against some if they're distracted or performing certain moves but it's overly tricky to pull off by comparison
Can't turn some vehicles that you'd expect to into steel fists
Arbitrary invisible walls near the top of mountains and at the edge of the hideout/church area
10+ seconds of loading to get out of the shop (3 to get in) and to enter some story missions. 10 seconds of loading in-between mission objectives at one point in the late-game
Can't attack NPCs but can throw them around including off of rooftops and into water - without penalty!
Some tutorial messages are completely pointless (like explaining what timers do when you're several missions into the game) and some of the ones you find (question marks) repeat earlier tutorial messages
Some moves are too similar (sonic clap and ground smash, rising upper and tornado uppercut)
The finisher moves on bosses during cutscenes could've been QTEs. Also weird how in the neural retrieval mission (chapter 2) you can't manually attack the objective robot suit - have to walk up to it to trigger a cutscene instead
Some of the story is told with plain black text on a screen (some of the "recaps" also tell you things that haven't happened yet)
Sometimes dated or weird model physics (the cows are rather stiff, water towers fall apart simply from jumping into them)
Showing all the side mission locations in an area right away takes away from the exploration aspect (teleporter shortcuts/jump markers are not shown and also reward you with money for being found which works better)
No sfx from the stomp move at the end of the four hit combo
Dashing uppercut pretty quickly replaces tornado uppercut and rising upper for being a faster way of knocking enemies into the air besides the latter being useful in a challenge
A few too many fetch quest missions
Though there are some surprise attacks by enemies during missions they tend to involve 1-2 objectives only (would've been cool if some of the mini-game elements such as rooftop jumping were incorporated into them and the areas were a bit more varied)
Some framerate drops (when fighting 2 giant robots and other enemies at once)
No new hub areas after chapter 5 (and the second hub area uses the same assets as the tutorial area) - there is one new indoors location in the end-game though and two outdoors ones for bosses
Can't stop the dam from being burst during the finale for a better ending
Bugs:
-Sometimes can't grab a tank during the general ross boss fight where you're supposed to toss them at him
-The hit detection can get a bit glitchy around some rooftops and mountain parts when running up walls
-No music while in a shop menu - starts if you go to the main menu and then back to it. The music also sometimes stops during certain missions (convoy)
-If standing near a car while locking onto a rocket soldier (to deflect the rocket), Hulk aims at the car instead when attacking with Y (overhead smash/special attack)
-The hit detection glitched out once while fighting robots making Hulk act like he's constantly in the air and being knocked back for about 30 secs
-Cyclone skyjack (grab an aircraft and make it crash while spinning) tends to get glitchy making it take longer to use than it should
-Bug where I did zero damage with a critical move on a giant robot in the defend the church mission - same thing happened a couple of times against Abomination during the finale too
-Some of the checkpoints in the escort mission seem a bit glitchy - sometimes the car stays in an alley until you destroy all nearby enemies while other times it tries to move through them