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Looking Back at Hulk: Ultimate Destruction

The Hulk is pretty low on my list of top superheroes; just something about a big green giant with anger management issues never grabbed me. I saw him more as the Jade bully, just one who was trying to be good and do better. This brute was one of my brother’s favorites, however, and I remember rushing to tell him about this game after I played it for the first time. Other than the ‘90s cartoon, The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction was one of the first pieces of media that left me liking this character, seeing a little more of why my sibling enjoyed him so much.

Batman, Spider-Man, the X-Men: all of these heroes have a list of great games to play, and although Hulk has had his fair share of outings, only a few truly stick out. In 2005, Radical Entertainment blessed us with a new adventure for The Incredible Hulk, after having worked on the tie-in game for the 2003 Ang Lee film. The developers learned a lot from that project, especially in what fans wanted less of: stealth missions as Bruce Banner. Instead, it was time to focus on Hulk’s strength, his power, and embrace the agent of chaos he becomes whenever the beast is unleashed. One of the game’s taglines said it plainly: “Jump anywhere, climb anything, and smash everything!”

Smash Everything!

We often think of movement in video games in ways that are tied to heroes’ abilities: being able to shoot webs and swing with Spider-Man, glide like Batman and use his awesome gadgets, or run as fast as the Flash and deliver a hundred punches before the opponent even knows we’re there. But I’m not sure fans respected Hulk’s power, his mobility, the exquisite untapped rage, and potential for ultimate destruction, until this came out. The team had opened up the sandbox and allowed players to be the wrecking ball, making almost every action feel like a blast. Pick up cars, destroy buildings, lift a giant burger sign, and use it like a bowling ball. We can do anything, because HULK IS THE STRONGEST, BABY!

We often hear about focusing on core gameplay, and Radical Entertainment ensured that controlling this beast was an exciting experience. The control scheme was tight, and it doesn’t take long to get into the groove of playing as this force of nature. Hulk has a large arsenal of moves to purchase for more creative smashing, some of which players will rarely use after finding what works. Many of these moves can be charged, and the critical mass super attacks are tremendously satisfying. Destruction becomes intuitive, running up buildings, leaping across the city, leaving indentations in the pavement, breaking everything in sight, and surfing away from the scene on a flattened city bus. This may be the perfect game for venting frustrations.

Considering that, it’d be easy to think that the game’s story is its weaker component, but writer Paul Jenkins, an industry veteran who had worked on the Hulk comics, was brought in to pen the story, craft dialogue, and even help consult on some of the mechanics. I interviewed Jenkins back in 2022, and he spoke very positively about the experience, how Radical Entertainment wanted to make sure they had the right person for the job. Once they were convinced, the team gave him the leeway he needed to make the story feel right. He was his own editor, and Jenkins made sure to present Hulk as the creature who isn’t attacked and defends himself, but the one who takes the initiative and creates the mayhem. He’s the problem no one can prepare for. There’s a darker tone here; it shows how much of a menace this monster can be, even while trying to do good, not to mention how everyone fears and blames him, no matter the truth. The narrative embraces a darker tone and includes wonderful side characters from the comics, such as Doc Samson, Mercy, and Devil Hulk, which many fans weren’t familiar with yet.

You Won’t Like Him Angry

That’s not where the comic book makeover for the game ended, however, as the art style changed from the previous game’s cel-shading to something that looked a bit more like it jumped off the pages with a touch of hyper-realism, and that was with the help of artist Bryan Hitch, who provided concept drawings and the cover art. It’s hard not to appreciate what they could do with Hulk’s model at the time, showing off expressions, muscle definitions, and finer details. The enemies don’t look bad either, many of them having an impressive sense of scale and size to show us just how big Hulk’s world really is.

The city and hub areas we’re running around and smashing in are fantastic. There are only two main environments, however, the other being the desert, or ‘badlands,’ which isn’t as enjoyable, and there is less for Hulk to bounce off of or run up. These places are slightly accented by the day/night and weather settings, but they can feel old after a while. Sadly, there are numerous short loading screens when moving between areas or missions, and that time adds up quickly.

Ultimate Destruction’s score is serviceable, kicking up the excitement in a couple of parts, but not producing anything memorable. The music is honestly drowned out by the superior sound effects, considering how much is going on around us and everything we’re breaking. The team worked hard on getting the Hulk to roar right, but even more important, the screams of those he’s traumatizing, and the crunching of metal, which were recorded in an actual junkyard. If the rampage doesn’t sound satisfying, then what’s the point? There are some amazing voices behind these characters, also, several of which are reprising roles from the 1996 The Incredible Hulk cartoon (it’s good). Neal McDonough plays Bruce Banner, Fred Tatasciore is Hulk, Ron Perlman provides the voice of Emil Blonsky, while Richard Moll (who was in the cartoon, but voices a different character here), Michael Donovan, Daniel Riordan, and others help round out the cast. It’s a solid group of talent, creating a memorable part of the game.

Up to this point, I’ve been mostly raving about Ultimate Destruction, and if the story is good, gameplay is tight, and the voice cast rocks, where’s the downside? Well, it’s in the mission structure and some specific mechanics. Things are going great when our only goal is to smash, but most of these missions require us to escort something or someone back to a specific point, which becomes incredibly annoying when getting hit causes Hulk to drop his precious. We also can’t attack when holding anything vital. Some of the quests to acquire important story items were long and didn’t offer any save points, which definitely caused frustration. The action can become repetitive, but the game attempts to break this up with simpler, humorous side missions, like destroying spotlights, juggling enemies in the air, and playing giant games of golf. Some people enjoyed these, especially completionists, but many others called them unnecessary and silly compared to the main game.

The difficulty can be somewhat annoying as well, especially in the later parts, as the military is sending EVERYONE to stop the Hulk. Swarms of respawning soldiers, tanks, Hulkbuster mechs, and more, who are all shooting off waves of missiles, hoping to bury us under the rubble. At times, it feels like the hordes of baddies are only manageable when they get hung up on the environments, or we get them into a pattern with the power moves. There are some excellent boss fights in this game, but a couple of the encounters can test us before we get the satisfaction of victory. Beating the game offers a harder difficulty for anyone masochistic enough to try to take on the world.

Hulk SMASH!!!

There are reasons to replay this ten-ish hour game, with several collectibles, the new game plus-type mode to unlock even more abilities, artwork, cheats, and the real prize, some new skins. These include alternate shorts for Hulk, or more drastic changes, like being able to play as Abomination, Grey Hulk, Joe Fixit, and even a Savage Bruce Banner. Some of these have their own animations and voice lines, not drastically different, but a nice touch.

Ultimate Destruction received positive reviews and pleased many fans, praising the ruinous playground, the ‘weaponizable’ environments, and just how easy it is to control the titular character. Alas, it wasn’t as commercially successful as its predecessor, and most blamed that on it not being attached to a film. Lame. Even still, this amazing adventure has left a legacy as one of the best ways to do a superhero game. It influenced other endeavors in the genre, and Radical Entertainment would take what they learned here to create the Prototype games. More impressively, this is the title that made a younger me reconsider the character of the Hulk, not just in video games, but overall. Now, I respect that Hulk is the strongest, and more. 

Did you play The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction? If so, which versions and which one was your favorite? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

8Bit/Digi is an independent news outlet that provides insight into the video game and fandom community of the San Francisco Bay Area.