Hellboy (video game)
Encyclopedia
Hellboy: The Science of Evil is a video game based on the comic book
character of the same name
. It was released for the PlayStation 3
, Xbox 360
and PlayStation Portable
on June 24, 2008 in North America, followed by an August 15 release in Europe and August 28 release in Australia.
All versions follow the same story line, however the PSP version of the game differs from the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions. There are 4 playable characters: Hellboy
, Abe Sapien
, Liz Sherman
and Lobster Johnson
(voiced by Bruce Campbell
). Herman von Klempt
(voiced by Jürgen Prochnow
), the Nazi head-in-a-jar, who, ironically, is supplied with a full body in the videogame, is the game's main villain, along with several of his 'kriegaffen'. The game has online and off line multiplayer co-op for up to 2 players.
The game was created under the creative direction of both the comic book's creator, Mike Mignola, and the film's director, Guillermo del Toro. Ron Perlman
, Selma Blair
and Doug Jones
reprise their roles from the film as Hellboy, Liz and Abe respectively, providing full voice-overs.
in a third-person
perspective as they progress through a series of levels broken up into six chapters. Levels consist of separate stages and routes occupied by multiple groups of enemies that differ between chapters. In most cases, all enemies in the current area must be defeated in order to move to the next phase of the chapter, with ghostly barriers of smoke blocking paths while foes remain present. To combat opponents, Hellboy uses his stone "right hand of doom" for most hand to hand combat situations, with heavy and quick attacks that can be mixed together for varied combinations. Foes can eventually be stunned, as indicated with a grey flash. Hellboy also performs other attacks, such as slams and head butts, along with cinematic finishing moves when his opponent is near death. These finishing moves are necessary in the boss fights. As Hellboy defeats his enemies, he receives energy that's stored in his health meter. This energy is used to execute certain grapple moves and to activate "Hellmode", where Hellboy’s right hand of doom becomes engulfed in flames causing further damage in combat.
Another weapon that can be used is Hellboy’s oversized pistol known as the Samaritan. The weapon fires single shots with up to nine different types of ammunition (certain types aren’t available on certain levels). While most kinds are for damaging opponents like "Heavy", "Grenade
" and "Splinter" ammunition, others can be used during the game’s puzzles like "Ignite" to light beacons or "Release" to destroy cursed vines. Additional types of ammunition like "Charge" can only be obtained by defeating certain enemies with a finishing move.
Hellboy can also pick up various objects on each level to be used as a projectile or weapon such as barrels, hammers, pipes, rocks and even parts of enemies or their own weapons. Some items are also used in tasks to progress through levels such as lighting fires or lanterns. Other puzzle elements include certain obstacles like doors and cracked walls that require Hellboy to smash through with his right hand of doom and then pull levers connected to obstructions. Throughout the single player mode, there are collectables in the form of artifacts and lores. These act as additional small details to the story but also increase maximum energy capacity for the Hellmode ability.
The story mode can also be played cooperatively with another player, both locally with another controller or online over Xbox Live
for the Xbox 360
version and PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3
version. The game’s host always plays as Hellboy and can save each chapter while the second player has the choice of playing as either Abe Sapien
or Liz Sherman
, both with their own unique abilities and form of combat such as Abe’s array of martial arts moves for combat or Liz’s pyrokinesis
.
where Hellboy has been sent to track a crazed witch through an abandoned graveyard inhabited by werewolves and the undead
. As he battles the witch, she shapeshifts into a swarm of crows that retreats and takes refuge in the nearby village. When Hellboy arrives, he's ambushed by a Nazi soldier and pushed down hill into the village.
The action shifts to 25 years earlier in an unknown part of rural Japan
where Hellboy has been sent in to investigate reports of paranormal activity. He is quickly attacked by an Oni. It's revealed through an old monk later that the Oni's hostility is because their sacred artifact was stolen by the Nazis' under the command of Herman von Klempt
who is seeking to use it for their own gain. After heading into the cliffs, Hellboy spots Klempt but is attacked by one of Herman’s Kriegaffe. Their fight continues in an old temple until Herman falls over the cliffs after accidentally being struck by a log thrown by his own minion. Hellboy returns the artifact to the old monk.
The story continues back in the present in Romania with Hellboy pursuing the witch into the abandoned village, which is filled with the undead and Nazi robots battling one another. In a final battle with the witch in the village church, Hellboy pulls down the giant bell, crushing the witch. This is followed by the collapse of the church itself with Hellboy falling into the underground catacombs, where he finds a group of excavating creatures resembling an Ogdru Hem
, also swarming with "frog monsters". Eventually Hellboy destroys the foundations of the catacombs, causing it to cave in and knocking him into an abyss.
The following chapter again follows Hellboy on a past mission 40 years ago in the Tunisia
n desert. He stumbles upon a wounded alien soldier who tells of the Nazis yet again attempting to gain power. This time they tried to use an alien beast, but failed and even though the alien is contained it in a crystal prison, it was controlling the fallen Nazis in an attempt to destroy all life on Earth. Further on another soldier reveals that the beast had followed the alien soldiers to Earth. Hellboy then tracks down and battles the giant worm while underground. Eventually he leads the worm to the surface and defeats it.
Back in present day, Hellboy wakes up after washing up on the shores of an unknown part of Eastern Europe
. There he finds a giant castle on the cliffside. He tries to send a transmission for backup, but his radio signal overlaps with Herman von Klempt’s, alerting each to the other's presence. After making his way further into the castle, Hellboy encounters an undead soldier who tells him the castle was built by the Nazis to carry out their experiments, with Klempt returning to finish his work. Hellboy eventually tracks down Klempt to his laboratory. Klempt releases a giant cyborg mutant to kill Hellboy, but during the battle Klempt’s control room catches fire and he is badly burned revealing him to be a robot. After Hellboy and the cyborg continues their battle outside, Klempt's real head appears in a hovering jar. Hellboy grabs Klempt's jar and forces it into the power core on the mutant’s back, causing it to explode, throwing Hellboy off the castle and into the ocean. After emerging from the water hellboy watches the castles destruction only to suddenly spot the same swarm of crows the witch turned into leading hellboy off once again on another mission.
Upon the game's initial release it received mixed to negative reviews with an average critic score of 52% for the PS3 version, 49% for the Xbox 360 and 42% for the PSP at Game Rankings
. While EGM magazine gave the game a 58% ranking, Game informer gave it 7/10 and Game Pro gave it 4/5. While some critics praised the combat style, most of them complained that the game had repetitive game play and that the graphics weren't up to current console generation standards. Team Xbox stated that if this game had been made for last-gen consoles, it would have fared better, but since it wasn't, it loses the appeal. They gave an overall 5/10. X-Play
gave it a 1 out of 5, Hardcore Gamer gave it a 2.25/5 and IGN gave it 3.5 for Xbox 360 and PS3, but only 3.0 for the PSP. GameSpot
gave 3.5/10 for Xbox 360
version.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
character of the same name
Hellboy
Hellboy is a comic book superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 , and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers...
. It was released for the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
on June 24, 2008 in North America, followed by an August 15 release in Europe and August 28 release in Australia.
All versions follow the same story line, however the PSP version of the game differs from the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions. There are 4 playable characters: Hellboy
Hellboy
Hellboy is a comic book superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 , and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers...
, Abe Sapien
Abe Sapien
Abraham "Abe" Sapien is a fictional character in the comic book series Hellboy, created by Mike Mignola. He takes his name from "Icthyo sapiens," the fanciful species designation chosen for him by his colleagues in the 19th-century Oannes Club, and from Abraham Lincoln, on whose assassination date...
, Liz Sherman
Liz Sherman
Elizabeth 'Liz' Sherman is a fictional character appearing in the Hellboy comic book series created by Mike Mignola.-Fictional character history:...
and Lobster Johnson
Lobster Johnson
Lobster Johnson is a fictional character featured in the Hellboy and Bureau For Paranormal Research and Defense comic books published by Dark Horse Comics. He was created by Mike Mignola....
(voiced by Bruce Campbell
Bruce Campbell
Bruce Lorne Campbell is an American film and television actor. As a cult movie actor, Campbell starred as Ashley J. "Ash" Williams in Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series of films and he has starred in many low-budget cult films such as Crimewave, Maniac Cop, Bubba Ho-tep, Escape From L.A. and Sundown:...
). Herman von Klempt
Herman von Klempt
Herman von Klempt is a villain created by writer/artist Mike Mignola for the Dark Horse Comics series Hellboy. He first appeared in the Comics Buyer's Guide.-Character Biography:...
(voiced by Jürgen Prochnow
Jürgen Prochnow
Jürgen Prochnow is a German actor. His most well-known roles internationally have been as the sympathetic submarine captain in Das Boot , Duke Leto Atreides I in Dune , the minor, but important role of Neo-Stalinist dictator General Ivan Radek in Air Force One and the villain Maxwell Dent in...
), the Nazi head-in-a-jar, who, ironically, is supplied with a full body in the videogame, is the game's main villain, along with several of his 'kriegaffen'. The game has online and off line multiplayer co-op for up to 2 players.
The game was created under the creative direction of both the comic book's creator, Mike Mignola, and the film's director, Guillermo del Toro. Ron Perlman
Ron Perlman
Ronald N. "Ron" Perlman is an American television, film and voice over actor. He is known for having played Vincent in the TV series Beauty and the Beast , a Deathstroke figure known as Slade in the animated series Teen Titans, Clarence "Clay" Morrow in Sons of Anarchy, the comic book character...
, Selma Blair
Selma Blair
Selma Blair is an American actress who has worked in film, theatre and television. She has performed in feature films including Cruel Intentions, Legally Blonde, The Sweetest Thing, Hellboy, The Fog, Purple Violets and Hellboy II: The Golden Army...
and Doug Jones
Doug Jones (actor)
Doug Jones is an American film and television actor best known to science fiction, fantasy, and horror fans for his various roles playing non-human characters, often in heavy makeup, in films and television series such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth and Fantastic Four: Rise...
reprise their roles from the film as Hellboy, Liz and Abe respectively, providing full voice-overs.
Gameplay
Players control HellboyHellboy
Hellboy is a comic book superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 , and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers...
in a third-person
Third-person shooter
Third-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...
perspective as they progress through a series of levels broken up into six chapters. Levels consist of separate stages and routes occupied by multiple groups of enemies that differ between chapters. In most cases, all enemies in the current area must be defeated in order to move to the next phase of the chapter, with ghostly barriers of smoke blocking paths while foes remain present. To combat opponents, Hellboy uses his stone "right hand of doom" for most hand to hand combat situations, with heavy and quick attacks that can be mixed together for varied combinations. Foes can eventually be stunned, as indicated with a grey flash. Hellboy also performs other attacks, such as slams and head butts, along with cinematic finishing moves when his opponent is near death. These finishing moves are necessary in the boss fights. As Hellboy defeats his enemies, he receives energy that's stored in his health meter. This energy is used to execute certain grapple moves and to activate "Hellmode", where Hellboy’s right hand of doom becomes engulfed in flames causing further damage in combat.
Another weapon that can be used is Hellboy’s oversized pistol known as the Samaritan. The weapon fires single shots with up to nine different types of ammunition (certain types aren’t available on certain levels). While most kinds are for damaging opponents like "Heavy", "Grenade
Grenade
A grenade is a small explosive device that is projected a safe distance away by its user. Soldiers called grenadiers specialize in the use of grenades. The term hand grenade refers any grenade designed to be hand thrown. Grenade Launchers are firearms designed to fire explosive projectile grenades...
" and "Splinter" ammunition, others can be used during the game’s puzzles like "Ignite" to light beacons or "Release" to destroy cursed vines. Additional types of ammunition like "Charge" can only be obtained by defeating certain enemies with a finishing move.
Hellboy can also pick up various objects on each level to be used as a projectile or weapon such as barrels, hammers, pipes, rocks and even parts of enemies or their own weapons. Some items are also used in tasks to progress through levels such as lighting fires or lanterns. Other puzzle elements include certain obstacles like doors and cracked walls that require Hellboy to smash through with his right hand of doom and then pull levers connected to obstructions. Throughout the single player mode, there are collectables in the form of artifacts and lores. These act as additional small details to the story but also increase maximum energy capacity for the Hellmode ability.
The story mode can also be played cooperatively with another player, both locally with another controller or online over Xbox Live
Xbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
version and PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
version. The game’s host always plays as Hellboy and can save each chapter while the second player has the choice of playing as either Abe Sapien
Abe Sapien
Abraham "Abe" Sapien is a fictional character in the comic book series Hellboy, created by Mike Mignola. He takes his name from "Icthyo sapiens," the fanciful species designation chosen for him by his colleagues in the 19th-century Oannes Club, and from Abraham Lincoln, on whose assassination date...
or Liz Sherman
Liz Sherman
Elizabeth 'Liz' Sherman is a fictional character appearing in the Hellboy comic book series created by Mike Mignola.-Fictional character history:...
, both with their own unique abilities and form of combat such as Abe’s array of martial arts moves for combat or Liz’s pyrokinesis
Pyrokinesis
Pyrokinesis, derived from the Greek words and , was the name coined by horror novelist Stephen King for the ability to create or to control fire with the mind that he gave to the protagonist Charlie McGee in Firestarter...
.
Plot
The plot opens in RomaniaRomania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
where Hellboy has been sent to track a crazed witch through an abandoned graveyard inhabited by werewolves and the undead
Undead
Undead is a collective name for fictional, mythological, or legendary beings that are deceased and yet behave as if alive. Undead may be incorporeal, such as ghosts, or corporeal, such as vampires and zombies...
. As he battles the witch, she shapeshifts into a swarm of crows that retreats and takes refuge in the nearby village. When Hellboy arrives, he's ambushed by a Nazi soldier and pushed down hill into the village.
The action shifts to 25 years earlier in an unknown part of rural Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
where Hellboy has been sent in to investigate reports of paranormal activity. He is quickly attacked by an Oni. It's revealed through an old monk later that the Oni's hostility is because their sacred artifact was stolen by the Nazis' under the command of Herman von Klempt
Herman von Klempt
Herman von Klempt is a villain created by writer/artist Mike Mignola for the Dark Horse Comics series Hellboy. He first appeared in the Comics Buyer's Guide.-Character Biography:...
who is seeking to use it for their own gain. After heading into the cliffs, Hellboy spots Klempt but is attacked by one of Herman’s Kriegaffe. Their fight continues in an old temple until Herman falls over the cliffs after accidentally being struck by a log thrown by his own minion. Hellboy returns the artifact to the old monk.
The story continues back in the present in Romania with Hellboy pursuing the witch into the abandoned village, which is filled with the undead and Nazi robots battling one another. In a final battle with the witch in the village church, Hellboy pulls down the giant bell, crushing the witch. This is followed by the collapse of the church itself with Hellboy falling into the underground catacombs, where he finds a group of excavating creatures resembling an Ogdru Hem
Ogdru Hem
The Ogdru Hem are fictional creatures in the Hellboy universe. After awakening, the demonic Ogdru Jahad gave birth to the 369 Ogdru Hem. The Ogdru Hem are essentially weaker versions of their parents, but even so they wield unimaginable power...
, also swarming with "frog monsters". Eventually Hellboy destroys the foundations of the catacombs, causing it to cave in and knocking him into an abyss.
The following chapter again follows Hellboy on a past mission 40 years ago in the Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
n desert. He stumbles upon a wounded alien soldier who tells of the Nazis yet again attempting to gain power. This time they tried to use an alien beast, but failed and even though the alien is contained it in a crystal prison, it was controlling the fallen Nazis in an attempt to destroy all life on Earth. Further on another soldier reveals that the beast had followed the alien soldiers to Earth. Hellboy then tracks down and battles the giant worm while underground. Eventually he leads the worm to the surface and defeats it.
Back in present day, Hellboy wakes up after washing up on the shores of an unknown part of Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
. There he finds a giant castle on the cliffside. He tries to send a transmission for backup, but his radio signal overlaps with Herman von Klempt’s, alerting each to the other's presence. After making his way further into the castle, Hellboy encounters an undead soldier who tells him the castle was built by the Nazis to carry out their experiments, with Klempt returning to finish his work. Hellboy eventually tracks down Klempt to his laboratory. Klempt releases a giant cyborg mutant to kill Hellboy, but during the battle Klempt’s control room catches fire and he is badly burned revealing him to be a robot. After Hellboy and the cyborg continues their battle outside, Klempt's real head appears in a hovering jar. Hellboy grabs Klempt's jar and forces it into the power core on the mutant’s back, causing it to explode, throwing Hellboy off the castle and into the ocean. After emerging from the water hellboy watches the castles destruction only to suddenly spot the same swarm of crows the witch turned into leading hellboy off once again on another mission.
Downloadable content
One of the options from the Single Player menu is labeled "Downloads" which states "Play levels downloaded from the Playstation Store." As of February 14, 2011 there is no Hellboy content available on the Playstation Network. It was probably due to the fact that the game was considered a failure that the downloadable content wasn't released. However, there is a petition on the internet that has been made in order to get the downloadable content released.Reception
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| GameSpot GameSpot GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which... |
3.5/10 |
| Game Informer Game Informer Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations... |
7/10 |
| GamePro GamePro GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and... |
4/5 |
| Game Revolution Game Revolution Game Revolution or GR is a gaming website created in 1996. Based in Berkeley, California, the site includes reviews, previews, a gaming download area, cheats, and a merchandise store, as well as webcomics, screenshots, and videos... |
C |
| Official Xbox Magazine Official Xbox Magazine Official Xbox Magazine is a monthly video game magazine which started in November 2001 around the launch of the original Xbox. A preview issue was released for E3 2001, with another preview issue for November 2001. The magazine is bundled with a disc that includes game demos, preview videos and... |
4/10 |
| Eurogamer Eurogamer Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on... |
5/10 |
| Game Trailers | 5.4/10 |
| IGN IGN IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment... |
3.5/10 (360 and PS3) 3/10 (PSP) |
Upon the game's initial release it received mixed to negative reviews with an average critic score of 52% for the PS3 version, 49% for the Xbox 360 and 42% for the PSP at Game Rankings
Game Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
. While EGM magazine gave the game a 58% ranking, Game informer gave it 7/10 and Game Pro gave it 4/5. While some critics praised the combat style, most of them complained that the game had repetitive game play and that the graphics weren't up to current console generation standards. Team Xbox stated that if this game had been made for last-gen consoles, it would have fared better, but since it wasn't, it loses the appeal. They gave an overall 5/10. X-Play
X-Play
X-Play is a TV program about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits...
gave it a 1 out of 5, Hardcore Gamer gave it a 2.25/5 and IGN gave it 3.5 for Xbox 360 and PS3, but only 3.0 for the PSP. GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
gave 3.5/10 for Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
version.