E3 2011: Hulk Hogan's Main Event Impressions Preview

Currently scheduled for release in October, Hulk Hogan's Main Event is an Xbox 360-exclusive wrestling game that promises to be every bit as over the top as its star. In the game, you'll assume the role of an up-and-coming wrestler learning the ropes from your mentor, Hulk Hogan. We had an opportunity to sit in on a brief demo of the game earlier today and came away feeling pretty positive about what we saw.

Hulk Hogan's Main Event has a colorful and humorous sense of style that was shown off to great effect as we watched a Majesco representative creating a custom wrestler to play as. Using the randomize option, he was presented with wrestlers with all manner of physiques and wearing a vast array of different, suitably ridiculous outfits. After passing on guys dressed as cowboys, guys sporting massive tattoos, and a guy with an especially hairy belly wearing tiny trunks, he eventually settled on a guy in a red-and-white leotard with matching mask.

In the finished game you'll be able to play through a career mode that gradually introduces you to Hulk's lessons (known in-game as "stunts"), but for the purposes of the E3 demo, all 15 of them appeared to be unlocked. The first stunt we saw was Chair Hit, which, as you've probably figured out for yourself, focused on the art of smacking people with seats. The action was viewed from a third-person perspective, and the stunt challenged the player to wrestle a chair away from an opponent and then proceed to deplete his health bar with it. All the while, a graphic of Hulk Hogan could be seen in a corner of the screen suggesting moves to perform, and in the arena, Hulk himself could be seen acting as the player's cornerman and trying to yell instructions. We didn't play the game ourselves on this occasion, but the controls certainly appeared to be responsive.

Next up was a stunt called Beat Down, which simply required the player to deplete an inactive opponent's health bar as quickly as possible. Hulk Hogan's Main Event purportedly recognizes around 60 different moves, and we saw plenty of head-butts, elbows, and knees to sensitive areas during the unanswered onslaught. In this stunt, we were told that opponents will replenish health anytime you leave them alone for too long, so it's important to maintain a constant flurry of attacks.

Hulk Hogan's Main Event won't offer competitive online play, but you will have the option to tag team with a friend as you go up against AI opponents. We look forward to bringing you more information on Hulk Hogan's Main Event just as soon as we're able to climb into the ring ourselves.