Review by Neilie Johnson:
"I'm never excited to hear about a game tied into a movie. Aside from 2004's Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, I can't think of a good one. So when I heard about the Hellboy movie game I couldn't help but think, "Ah crap."
After all, the movie business is bad these days and studios are relying on cheesy marketing tie-ins to make a profit. That means we're doomed to have one of two things foisted on us: (1) Old products wearing new labels (Spider-Man Corn Flakes anyone?) or (2) Shabbily-made new products-like video games. The marketing wizards at Universal must have thought that Hellboy II: The Golden Army wouldn't be a blockbuster without its own ancillary product-er...game, thus Hellboy: The Science of Evil was born.
The game shares nothing with the movie but Hellboy. It has its own plot involving a mad scientist hatching a Nazi plot and except for a co-op Multiplayer mode, totally excludes Hellboy's colorful cohorts, Liz Sherman and Abe Sapien. It also excludes good acting, amazing graphics and cohesive story progression."
Following last week’s look at the Top Ten Games Based on a Movie, this week’s Sunday Special feature is about to turn things upside down, this week looking at the top ten worst videogames based on a motion-picture release. As bad as some games based on a movie licence may be, at least most them are playable. But not these abominations.
This week's episode of Distributed failure features discussion on Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, Rune Factory: Frontier, Patapon 2, Plants vs. Zombies, Legendary, Hellboy: The Science of Evil, and much more! They follow that up with some gaming news including the closure of Factor 5 studios and the possible announcement of a "slim" PS3. After that, they dive into the "Sausage Dump" and chat up some movies, as well as the Lost finale.
Thunderbolt Games: "It's safe to say that I'm quite a Hellboy fan. The world created in the two movies is fantastic, and I just love the character - even taking the time to dabble in the comic books. Hellboy: The Science of Evil dips in to both these mediums, creating a universe more suited to the comics whilst also borrowing elements from the films. Sadly, it fails to live up to the name, descending to a place far worse than hell itself… mediocrity."
