"The Incredible Hulk" on sale now on all major consoles

Reverberations will be felt throughout the gaming world today, as the latest video game incarnation of the Green Goliath hits store shelves. SEGA's "The Incredible Hulk" is launching for all major consoles, and will feature the Jade Giant smashing his way across Manhattan like only he can. The characters and storyline for the game will combine elements of both the upcoming movie and the Hulk's comic book history. "One of the really cool things that we are excited about is how much it extends the movie experience" SEGA's Erica Mason told CBR News. "About a third of the game follows the story of the movie, and there's about two thirds of the game where we partnered with Marvel, and were able to do cool, unique things and pull a lot of comic book lore and integrate that into the game."Among others, Hulk will throw down with the Abomination, Bi-Beast, the super-scientists of the Enclave, and the cosmically altered U-Foes. As always, the Hulk will be pursued by the military and longtime nemesis, General Thunderbolt Ross. Fan favorite sidekick Rick Jones will be providing some assistance to the Hulk along the way, and several characters from the movie will be voiced by the celebrities themselves, including Edward Norton (Bruce Banner), Liv Tyler (Betty Ross) and Tim Roth (Emil Blonsky).

"The Incredible Hulk" screenshots

Story aside, what Hulk fans really want in a game is the ability to wreak havoc and destruction on a massive scale. SEGA promises to deliver on this front, as almost everything in their open-world version of Manhattan is destructible, with multiple ways to interact with objects, including using them as weapons. "If there isn't anything to grab around you" said Mason, "all you have to do is jump, break a piece of the street [and] pick up a chunk of concrete. You can use it as a weapon, or you can actually use it as a shield to stop the bullets that are coming at you. If there's a bus going by, you can pick up the bus and throw it, or you can rip it apart and use it as these angry Hulk hands to just smash your way through."And as the old adage goes, the angrier the Hulk gets, the stronger he gets. "As you're smashing your way through New York City, your Rage Meter increases" Mason explained. "As that increases, you're able to unlock more moves and get stronger." One of these moves is a thunderous clap that will literally bring down buildings with its shockwave. The game will also feature unlockable skins that will allow you to play as different incarnations of the Hulk. Both the PS3 and the Xbox 360 versions of the game will feature exclusive content in the form of character skins. PS3 owners will get the Planet Hulk "Green Scar" skin, while the Xbox 360 exclusive is the Mr. Fixit skin. Additionally, Xbox 360 owners who buy their version from retailer GameStop will get the added bonus of being able to play as the Red Hulk.

Red Hulk is playable on the XBox 360 version "The Incredible Hulk" if purchased from GameStop

Nintendo Wii fans will be happy to know their version of Incredible Hulk will make use of the motion controls. The DS version of the game will be more of a platformer than an open-world game, but the ability to destroy almost anything in the environment will still be there. "The Incredible Hulk" is rated "T for Teen" by the ESRB and will be available in stores throughout North America for $59.95 on Xbox 360 and PS3. The Wii version of "The Incredible Hulk" is rated "T for Teen" by the ESRB and will retail at $49.95 at launch. "The Incredible Hulk" will also be available on the PlayStation 2 and PC systems and will retail for $29.95. "The Incredible Hulk" on Nintendo DS is rated "E10+" by the ESRB and will retail in North America for $29.95.For more "Incredible Hulk" screenshots, click here.Now discuss this story in CBR's Games forum.