HellBoy: The Science of Evil

Rating Teen Genre action Publisher Konami External Links Official Science of Evil Website

Pulled from the bowels of Hell by Nazi occultists during WW II, rescued by Allied soldiers and raised by the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense. Anung Un Rama, better known by his codename Hellboy, might just be our greatest hope, or our most terrifying destruction. He’s also the star of his own comic book series, two blockbuster movies, two animated DVDs, and now his very own portable video game. Character creator Mike Mignola and film director Guillermo del Toro provide the creative direction to this portable title as Hellboy attempts to stop the insane Hermann von Klempt from achieving his dreams of world domination.

So before we talk about the game in detail, we need to make it clear that Hellboy: The Science of Evil has nothing to do with any of the Hellboy movies. For those of you out there who cringe at movie tie-in games have no fear, you will get none of that here. Instead, what you will get is a game with its own unique storyline that sports characters you should have some familiarity with. At its core, Hellboy is a weird blending of an action/adventure title and old school fighting games. Players start the game off controlling Hellboy, eventually gaining access to both Abe Sapien the telepathic Icthyosapien, and Liz Sherman the pyrokinetic love of Hellboy’s life.

Players will make their way through a 3D environment, coming upon monster spawn points that will require the player to destroy all available enemies before making their way onward. Occasionally the game throws puzzles into the players path, but they are kept extremely simple and seem more of an intrusion to the constant fighting as opposed to the usually breath of fresh air one would expect. Combat is taken straight from the classic fighting scrollers of the 80’s. The Square Button is your Light Hit, the Triangle your Heavy Hit, and you grab with the Circle. Combining the attacks will trigger special attack maneuvers such as the Rising Uppercut, the Roundhouse Kick, and the Volatile Chop. Finishing moves are also available when an enemy is near death (Fatality) and the player can activate a Rage Mode that grants our characters even more insanely powerful attacks.

The level designs, while horribly simple in their linear approach, are surprisingly pleasant to look at. Additionally, while the game does not have a wide variety of enemies, the character modeling is not bad for a portable system. Each character has a clearly distinguished look. In an attempt to keep the feel of the comic books, every video sequence is done in a rough, partially animated format. It's an interesting idea, yet it would have been nice to actually have voices for the characters as opposed to the written dialog, which often gets accidentally skipped if the player puts to much pressure on the control pads.

Despite the fact that the game can be beaten during a single lazy afternoon, Hellboy: The Science of Evil does offer some replayability in the form of unlockable interviews and a co-op mode. Overall, this title should provide fans of the series with some enjoyment. Gamers looking for a more in depth gaming experience should seek other titles.