Hellboy The Science of Evil Review (PS3)

Not even Hellboy fans will enjoy this by-the-numbers and bland adventure.

by Robert Workman on Wednesday, July 02, 2008

With Hellboy II: The Golden Army set to arrive in theaters next week, Konami has a video game to go along with it. Hellboy: The Science of Evil puts players in control of the Hell escapee turned government agent as he battles enemies across six separate time eras to restore peace to the world. It sounds like a fun time, but this game is one of the worst of the year.

In it, you play as Hellboy, who must stop Hermann Von Klempt, a vicious madman who unleashes an evil force upon the world. There to lend a hand (if needed) is his girlfriend Liz Sherman, a feisty fire starter, and Abe Sapien, an underwater being who specializes in telepathic communication.

Hellboy struggles to find a good game experience. Click to see more images from the game...

You either have the option of pounding foes into the ground with your Right Hand of Doom or killing them with shots from your Samaritan Pistol. Your gun reacts so poorly that you'll mostly stick to melee combat, which offers little diversity with its combos. There are occasional boss battles, but there really isn't that much strategy to them. You sense a weak spot, exploit it and proceed. On occasion, you can supercharge your energy over time to give yourself a boost, but this results in just beating up Nazi zombies and lizard dudes the same way you did before, only quicker. Aside from a couple of cool zoom-in "kill" moves, there's nothing here that makes proper use of Hellboy's arsenal.

Science of Evil's presentation isn't any better. The cut-scenes look great, with a well-rendered Hellboy, complete with glowing eyes, growling at whatever's in front of him. Once the camera scales back, however, the in-game visuals look worse. Environments are fuzzy and lack detail. As for sound, the orchestrated music is muffled and bland and the sound effects barely register. Konami did employ the services of Hellboy's II cast to fill their roles – Ron Perlman as Hellboy, Selma Blair as Liz and Doug Jones as Abe, respectively – but they don't have enough dialogue.

There are numerous levels in Science of Evil and a few unlockables, such as hidden artifacts and a few behind-the-scenes video clips. Outside of that, the only outstanding feature in Science of Evil is the co-op multiplayer mode. Liz or Abe can team up with Hellboy in two-player action, either locally or online through the PlayStation Network or Xbox Live. However, the secondary characters aren't any better to play than Hellboy. Furthermore, they don't show up in the cinema sequences at all.

Hellboy: The Science of Evil doesn't have anything to offer, not even to fans of the films and comics. The gameplay lacks depth, the production values waver too often between good and bad and the extras barely justify the price of a rental. Watch the movies instead.