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BREAKING NEWS: Batman Arkham Asylum developer Rocksteady has released a full length trailer for their next Batman game. The trailer includes some unexpected guest appearances and story hints that will have all comics fans playing this one. This is a must watch. See it here.

Hellboy: The Science of Evil

Publisher: Konami
Developer: Krome Studios
Rated: Teen
Platforms: Playstation 3, PSP, Xbox 360
Release Date: June 24, 2008

I love what I do here for ComicAttack.net. I really do. It’s hard to complain when your job is to play and rant about video games, but games like Hellboy: The Science of Evil makes complaining that much easier. At first glance, Science of Evil looks like a pretty cool game. Hellboy is a cool character, and he’s even voiced by Ron Perlman who portrayed him in the films, and that’s the only direct tie to the films. Sadly, it’s only once you start playing Science of Evil that you see just how evil the experience truly is.

Hellboy has beef with a witch who keeps referring to herself in the third person and suddenly Hellboy is fighting some cyborg gorillas and there’s something about Nazis. That’s really all you get out of the story. It makes practically no sense. Even the poorly rendered unskipable cutscenes provide little or no story movement.

The gamplay is incredibly dull. Hellboy has a basic melee punch which is all it really takes to defeat any enemy, but you also have your over sized six-shooter to change things up a bit. The enemy AI is amazingly stupid. Mostly they just stand there and wait for you to slaughter them. Even the boss fights are super simple, just with bigger health bars. Along the way you’ll find weapons like spears or swords that break after three hits to use on enemies, but they pack no more power than your own stone fist.

There are a few very confusing and frustrating puzzles to deal with. Like when you figure out you have to light certain torches to advance to the next area, but you’re not even hinted toward the flaming bullets you have to pull out of one of the torches. Or better yet, you’ll probably spend a good hour running around one area before you realize there is a switch on the wall that you were never directed toward that you have to press to move on. And even if you find out where you’re supposed to go, you wont be aloud to continue until all the enemies are cleared.

There is co-op available on and off line, and the addition of another player make the campaign less painful, but it also makes the game twice as easy. The graphics look last-gen, and even though the game’s Tim Burton-esque style is nice, the environments and characters look flat and bland. Ron Perlman does a decent job with his wisecracks and one-liners, and the rest of the voice acting isn’t bad, but the sound design and music are all mediocre.

the PSP version of the game is nothing different. The same lackluster game, just in portable form. There is really no reason to give Hellboy: The Science of Evil a chance. Even hardcore fans of the series will have trouble finding anything redeemable here. Although I am excited for the sequel — Hellboy: How to Make Mike Mignola Cry and Watch Him Dry His Tears With His Money.

Hellboy: The Science of Evil gets a 1/5.

April Fools jokes aside, Activision and Marvel have revealed the first details on their new Spider-Man game Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. Primarily set in the Ultimate Universe, Spider-Man will venture into four dimensions including original 616 Marvel, and Spider-Man Noir, and each dimension will have unique gameplay elements. Penned by acclaimed Marvel comic book writer Dan Slott, the story takes players on a mission to capture the magical energy of the Tablet of Order and Chaos, which has been shattered and scattered across parallel universes. Gamers are challenged to battle fan-favorite villains such as the lethal Kraven and a custom, never-before-seen Noir version of Hammerhead, in a quest to restore the fabric of reality.

Gamespot.com got an exclusive first look at the game which you can see here. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions is being developed by Beenox and will hit major game consoles in September 2010.

Scott Pilgrim: The Video Game was spotted at PAX East video game conference in Boston by German game site Attract Mode. New York punk band Anamanaguchi, who is providing the music for the game, preformed at PAX East and premiered scenes from the game which you can view here. Scott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O’Malley is working closely with Ubisoft to give the game more of a look from the graphic novels rather than the film.

Checkout The Comics Console next week when we play Iron Man / X-O Manowar in Heavy Metal!

Andrew Hurst
andrewhurst@comicattack.net