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The latest videogame adaptation of a motion-picture to
hit the Xbox360 this summer is Konami’s Hellboy: The Science of
Evil. Having been compared to the mighty
God Of War by the film’s Director – Guillermo del Toro – who
reportedly had a great amount of influence over the game in both
gameplay and aesthetic remits, Hellboy: The Science of Evil
has a lot to live-up-to for a relatively small budget production;
especially when, for all-intents-and-purposes, it’s effectively been
whisked onto UK shop shelves without even an announcement of a
European release.
The game is intended to be played as a traditional
linear Hack-N’-Slash, amongst the likes of the
Devil May Cry series and
Kingdom Under Fire: Circle Of Doom, as well as Silicon
Knights recently released big-budget production,
Too Human. The Camera happily sits atop the action in a
modern pseudo-isometric fashion or behind the player’s avatar as
with the majority of Third-Person Action titles for the most part,
zooming-in on specific areas or characters when the need presents
itself. Unreliable would be the highest level of praise that could
be offered to the state of the Camera, frequently providing the
player with views of walls and Hellboy’s beaming mug and exactly the
worst possible times and, worse still, will often be directly
responsible for a player’s death.
Most of the games objectives involve killing every enemy in the
current area to remove a screen blocking your access to the next.
And while the occasional
 puzzle may present itself, few are remotely
challenging or engaging. Later in the game, Hellboy: The Science
of Evil attempts to demonstrate some ingenuity through the use
of enemies only fellable with Quick-Time Entry sequences. Not only
has this been done before – effortlessly better in the
God Of War series – but it also insists on featuring a disjointed
explanation of the sequence, which actually hinders more than it
helps.
Combat is basic at best. While the usual light and heavy attacks are
present on the X Button and Y Button respectively, and combinations
are available by switching between, the sense of impact is so
incredibly vague that most players will simply resort to hammering
the X Button, which, unlike games in this genre that demand a level
of skill – Ninja Gaiden II and Devil May Cry 4, to
name but two – is a perfectly feasible tactic.
One of the most rewarding features of titles in the Hack-N’-Slash
genre would be the advancements a player can make. Whilst beginning
with basic equipment and abilities, a few Levels in typically sees a
player belting the enemy with a weapon twice as large or
regenerating Health at twice the speed. This progression aspect,
however, is severely limited in Hellboy: The Science of Evil
due to the fact that all the player’s combat moves are available
from the start. The only change in the combat presented in the first
Level would be the weapons a player can collect from fallen enemies
– but even these have limited use.
Although a welcome inclusion, the Split-Screen Multi-Player brings
along with it more than a handful of issues. Aside from limiting
players abilities to get Achievements – no doubt one of the few
reasons to purchase such a release – many of the angles the Camera
is positioned at are even more infuriating than that of the
Single-Player. An online Co-Operative Mode is also available; the
entirety of the Single-Player Campaign in-fact. However, finding a
game is nigh-on impossible, and should you manage to establish a
connection, don’t expect to find any further depth. With the only
press coverage prior to the European release having touted the game
as a Co-Operative centric title, to state that Hellboy: The
Science of Evil is a little off-target would only be to state
the most obvious.
While Hellboy: The Science of Evil does well to maintain the
visual style of it’s motion-picture big brother – perhaps the best
praise the title could receive – it’s a visual style that is far
from challenging the Xbox360 hardware. Chunky Character Models fill
the screen and are animated to an agreeable standard, yet are
lacking detail and with an incredibly slim variety, should carry
more weight. Occasional grapple Cut-Scenes
 are a highlight, but
become an irritation after a short while, and as a whole the
presentation is sorely lacking. The voice-acting has been well
addressed – perhaps under the influence of the film’s Director – yet
the in-game dialogue is more repetitive and mundane than gamers of
the genre will have ever experienced; quite something next to Too
Human’s continual repetition of inane chatter every couple
minutes.
It takes quite something for a release to be deemed a “bad game” by
Electronic Theatre; it’s thoroughly believed in these offices
that few videogames (if any) begin production with the intention of
becoming a poor playing experience. However, when a game such as
this is cobbled
together with seemingly little thought for the Level design,
objectives and the degree of player involvement in the proceedings,
it becomes quite obvious that Hellboy: The Science of Evil
was never expected to break any new ground, and, in-fact, was most
likely intended for release in whatever state the developers had
achieved by their final date – with or without Guillermo del Toro’s
approval. And with this in mind, it’s a relief that Hellboy: The
Science of Evil offers any playability at all. |
