Hulk Hogan's Main Event

Name: Hulk Hogan's Main Event
Item: Hulk Hogan's Main Event
Rating: 2
Author: Michael Lafferty

Game review by

Michael Lafferty, Common Sense Media

Hulk Hogan's Main Event Game Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 14+

(i)

Violent Kinect wrestling sim in which you do the moves.

Xbox 360
$49.99
2011

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A lot or a little?

The parents' guide to what's in this game.

Positive Messages

While the Hulkster may encourage and tell players they are doing well, players are slamming, punching, kicking, clothes-lining, and smacking other players with objects.

Positive Role Models & Representations

This emulates the moves of a professional wrestler and while it is an athletic endeavor, this is also an entertainment medium predicated on violence. Not too many ways it can be colored to give an overall positive vibe.

Ease of Play

This is a Kinect game only, meaning that in order to play this game, there must be a Kinect sensor hooked up to the 360 console. The big drawback with this title is that while wrestling is a reflexive endeavor (your opponent moves, you react and/or counter), the Kinect doesn't always see the moves or register them. While Main Event can be a physical activity, the delay for move input interrupts the flow of the events and robs the game of some of its in-ring urgency. The menus are easy to work through, and the create-a-wrestler mode doesn't offer a lot of variety, but players can end up with a decent, albeit cartoonish, customized character. Two players can go head-to-head on the same console.

Violence

Players will perform many of the antics of professional wrestling, including body slams, high leg drops, choke slams, punches, and kicks -- all of which deplete their opponent's health bar. The first character to have their health bar wiped out can then be pinned for the win, offering little resistance to the finishing moves. In Hulk Hogan's Main Event, the idea is to beat on your opponent until they can't fend off attacks. This also includes using metal chairs to smack your opponents, or ladders to pummel them into submission. There are some bone-crunching sounds, and opponents will stagger about with stars over their heads or will grunt and groan as the damage accumulates.

Sex

Language

Consumerism

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that Hulk Hogan's Main Event is a game that is built on violence -- with fists, feet, legs, forearms, and hands choking, as well as with chairs and ladders -- and requires the Kinect sensor to play (this game cannot be played with a hand controller). Since you are doing the motions of the wrestler on screen, this is a more visceral experience than games played with traditional controllers. The point and goal of the game is to beat an opponent into submission -- either through the career mode, or in head-to-head competition on the same machine.

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What's it about?

HULK HOGAN'S MAIN EVENT allows players to create a backyard wrestler, win a neighborhood contest, and then transition into the world of professional wrestling with the Hulkster himself as the player's mentor and guide. The heart of the game is the career mode, though players can also go head-to-head on the same machine. As players wrestle, they will accrue points for good moves or have points subtracted for poorly executed moves. High scores are uploaded to online leaderboards. Ultimately, players take their created characters to the top of the professional rankings through defeating opponents in numerous matches. Main Event's gimmick is that it uses the Kinect to turn the player into the controller as they use body motions to simulate the wrestling moves.

Is it any good?

Hulk Hogan's Main Event is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what the Kinect may be able to do. Putting players into games is a relatively new concept and this title certainly has a good idea, but bogs down when it comes to the timing and recognition of moves. At times, it seems as if the Kinect can't read fast moves. The game is like a body slam that misses the mark and ends up with the wrestler doing a face plant -- close, but not quite there.

Talk to your kids about ...

Families can talk about how to separate pretend violence and doing the moves within the context of the video game, and real-world violent acts and why a younger player should never do to others what they see in a game.
A discussion can be held on how to play games that require players to get up and move to create action with the video-game world.
Parents can chat with younger players about the differences between the way a pro athlete or even a cartoon video-game athlete looks and how most people look in the real world, and how media skews body images.