The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (XB/GC/PS2, 2005)

• Gain only one new traversal/exploration move used for progression by buying it at your home base (air dashing and its upgrades are optional but very useful for timed missions or on higher difficulties), Shield grind helps with some side missions and some combat moves are required for progression or for certain side missions)

• 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)

• 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

• 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), Mini-map with objective markers (shows the direction of the objective - GTA?)

• 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, Can quickly access any finished side missions from the story mode menu

• Partially destructible environments (vehicles, some smaller buildings and a few larger ones during story missions, rock formations, weak walls and pillars during some indoors boss fights) - gain money/smash points from destroying things which can be used to buy new moves in a shop

• Bought lifebar+critical mass power+some attack move upgrades

• Temporary weapons and shields, Temporary "skateboard" car wreckage vehicle, Can use a certain balloon in the first city as a hang glider though it's underused

• Can deflect larger enemy projectiles with a couple of bought moves

• 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 (the home base)

• "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

• 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

• Skippable cutscenes

• People run away in fear and driven cars tend to veer to the side and into walls when you get close

• Enemies can accidentally damage and kill each other with their shots

• Decent sense of vulnerability during some of the later missions

• Can skip getting trapped at one point in the late game (no other skips?)

• Difficulty options (easy-hard, have to unlock hard)

• Some unlockables (play as abomination and savage banner, new game+ (restart with all moves you bought))

• 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

• Optional tutorial though you'll miss some unlockable items if you skip it. Optional move tutorials for some bought moves as well

• No damage or other penalty from falling into water - Hulk just jumps back out of it

• The game doesn't really react to you throwing civilians off rooftops besides giving you a lower rank at the end of one side mission (also doesn't react to you hurting NPCs during for example the hit the car into ring of flames challenge)

• 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

• While there is an item drop magnet, its range is very short

• 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)
  Some notable cons:

• Health resets to a little below 100% in-between missions

• 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) - besides shields the air cannonball helps a bit but you get it very late

• No button config

• Air strike automatically homes in on enemies and breakable objects nearby

• 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, Some tutorial messages are also pointless

• Missions feel detached from their areas in that you go up to a star to start them (rather than talk to an NPC) and then the screen cuts to a new scene within that area, and it's not something happening as you're traveling through the area like in Spider-Man 2

• Arbitrary invisible walls near the top of mountains and at the edge of the hideout/church area

• 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)

Playthrough (Easy) - Video Review - Mini Review

Influenced by: Spider-Man 2, probably GTA 3 and its spinoffs, possibly Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time/DMC/God of War

Influenced: Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, Prototype?