Hulk (Windows, Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube)

Hulk
Developer: Radical Entertainment Publishers: Universal Interactive (US/EU), CyberFront (JP) Platforms: Windows, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox Released in JP: January 8, 2004 (PS2) Released in US: May 27, 2003 Released in EU: June 13, 2003 This game has unused code. This game has a hidden developer message. This game has a prerelease article

To do: Tons of content to add: Document the Source Code leak from 2021. Like the Simpsons Hit and Run codebase it leaked along side it has gigabytes of never before seen cut assets.

Hulk is a beat-em-up/stealth hybrid that's ostensibly based on the movie of the same name.

Describing this game is a real doozy. First, it uses some elements from the film with Eric Bana reprising his role as Dr. Bruce Banner and that film's iteration of Betty Ross making an appearance. Second, Radical Entertainment threw everything else about the movie right out the window; this game's actually a more straightforward adaptation of the Marvel comics themselves. The game truly was a labor of love, with a staggering amount of care put into its design and gameplay. Hulk's commercial success gave way to Radical's next Hulk game, which pretty much ditched any pretense of being a tie-in.

One particularly bizarre aspect about Hulk the game is that it was bolted onto Hulk the movie's initial DVD release. When you played the film's DVD on a Xbox, you got to play a demo of Hulk's first level. Announced by Universal in news articles at the time, the way this was achieved was nothing short of hacky; said DVD has half of a entire Xbox dashboard .XBE crammed inside the disc. Since you can easily look inside a DVD's files, anyone with a PC can just grab the .xbes off the disc - they're not obfuscated at all.

Since this implied you could just burn a special DVD and play custom software, this was briefly investigated by the Xbox's thriving mod scene to see if the DVDs could be used as a hacking exploit, but unfortunately never saw any results.

Sub-Pages

Prerelease Info

Demo Version

Developer Comments Developer comments left in the code of the game.

Commented Code

Unused Audio Tons of unused dialogue...

Unused Graphics

This picture of Hulk's face can be found in frontend/art. It's not referenced in any scripts of the game and looks completely unused.

Some unused frontend backgrounds and loading screens are left in the p3d files of frontend folder:

There are also some temporary menu Hulks from promo arts:

Also there's one unused tazer inventory picture left near other inventory pickups from Chemical Effect level. Looks like Bruce could get a weapon on that level! Even the official manual in the files of the game says there is such ability to equip weapons found on levels.

Arguments

You can create args.txt file in the root folder of the game and put the following arguments there (hyphen symbol is required) to use some hidden possibilities of the game:

• -soak

• -fesoak

• -supersoak

• -framerateicon

• -lang

• -level

• -fmvvol

Soak and supersoak make the game load _soak versions of the level scripts instead of _scenario ones. It makes Hulk and Bruce teleport from one point of the map to another literally completing the levels for you. Hulk also uses his rage powered ground slam attack after these teleports, but takes damage from them. The game also starts levels for you so you don't need to press a confirm button. However, soak makes the game load the first level instantly and it doesn't let you to go back to menu using "quit" button in the pause menu. It also makes Hulk resistant to enemy damage. Supersoak on the other hand unlocks everything (cheats, bonus materials), but not challenges. Fesoak suddenly unlocks everything including the challenges, but loads normal _scenario versions of the level scripts. Maybe because FE is for frontend, so it only breaks the main menu. Maybe some additional side effects of these arguments are yet to be noticed.

Framerateicon makes some weird green rectangle appear in the upper left corner of the screen, but it doesn't show anything.

Lang argument gives you an option to change the language of the game. Put one of these languages codes after the -lang parameter (and don't forget the space): de, en, es, fr, it. Example: -lang de (it will make the game load the deutsch language).

And level actually works almost like soak, but it loads the required level instantly and doesn't do anything "else". To load the level you need - put the code of this level after the argument. You can see the codes of every level in Art\Levels folder. For example, -level C2L5 will load the Savior level.

Also fmvvol can be used to change the volume of the cutscenes. For example, fmvvol 0 will make the cutscenes silent.

Some more arguments can be found in Hulk.exe, but it's unclear what they do:

• -window (it doesn't make the game load in windowed mode, what's then?)

• -nofilenotfound (maybe it disables some error, but it's not like you even get it during the gameplay)

• -lighthack (it freezes the game on level loading, because it requires lighthack.p3d file in art folder. However, there's no such file and if you create one - the level will load, but no changes will be seen)

• -drawcode (it doesn't draw anything at all...)

• -pal (no idea. Maybe it changes the region to pal. But what for?)

• -nosound (the sound still plays)

• -firewire (absolutely no idea...)

• -nocd (maybe it disables the CD requirement for the game)

Unused/Cut Features

Unused Cheats

There's many unused cheats referenced in frontend\lang\ files. I'd say there's much more unused cheats, than actually used ones. Here's the list:

TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_8	Turn Enemy Combat AI Off
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_9	Low Gravity*
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_10	Toughmen*
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_11	Unlock all Special Features
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_12	Unlock all Concept Art (in Special Features)
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_13	Unlock all Movies (in Special Features)
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_14	Unlock all Soundtracks (in Special Features)
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_15	Unlock all
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_16	Turbo*
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_17	Riot
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_18	Killer Boom
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_20	Toggle through languages in FE
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_21	No enemies
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_24	Blind Enemies
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_25	Time
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_26	HP indicator
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_27	Finish Level
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_29	Display Room #
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_30	Kill all enemies in the room immediately
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_31	View collision volumes
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_32	Boss 1
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_33	Boss 2
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_34	Boss 3
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_35	Boss 4
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_36	Boss 5
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_37	Boss 6
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_38	Boss 7
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_39	Debug Cam
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_40	Longest String

TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_8	Enemies do not fight the Hulk
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_9	Enemies and objects are much lighter
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_10	Enemies only take damage from special attack
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_11	Unlock all features in Special Features
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_12	Unlock the Concept Art features in Special Features
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_13	Unlock the Movies in Special Features
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_14	Unlock the Soundtracks in Special Features
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_15	Unlock EVERYTHING in the game
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_16	Enemies are half their speed
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_17	Enemies attack themselves and Hulk
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_18	A Sonic Clap will instantly kill all enemies in range
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_20	Ability to toggle through all the languages in a FE screen
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_21	No enemies will appear in the level
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_24	Enemies will not see Banner/Hulk
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_25	A timer will appear on the HUD to indicate time spent on level
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_26	A numerical display of all HP (Player, enemies and object)
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_27	Level successfully completed
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_29	A numerical display of current room
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_30	Kill all enemies in room upon entering
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_31	Shows the wireframe of collision over current renderings
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_32	Start game off in Half-Life Boss area
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_33	Start game off in Madman Boss area
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_34	Start game off in Flux Boss area
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_35	Start game off in Ravage Boss area
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_36	Start game off in Half-Life and Madman C5L1
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_37	Start game off in Leader Boss area
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_38	Start game off in Madman fight in C5L2
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_39	Access to debug Cam
TBS_MENU_ITEM_BONUS_FE_CHEATS_UNLOCK_INFO_40	The FE will show the longest string of any of the available language with reference ID

It's unclear if these functions are still in the game or not. Working cheats in frontend\fe_real.txt call function "DoUnlockable" with the value, for example "7" is for Grey Hulk unlock. There are 50 values in use and values from 8 to 32 are used for the cutscene viewer. I tried to create my own cheat pages and buttons with values from 50 to 120 and it was a success, but sadly nothing happens withing the game after enabling cheats with these values. These cheats might be either protected by something, or just completely removed, but at least now it's clear, that the game could have much more interesting possibilies.