You take on the role of Hellboy, the demon from hell who was raised by humans. The story centers around a plot by Hermann Von Klempt, an insane Nazi who has hatched a plot to take over the world with the help of his personal army, the kriegaffen.

The single player features six levels to it, during which you must take out multiple enemies in brawler-style combat, using Hellboy's signature "Right Hand of Doom", building up combos which will allow you to unleash special moves onto enemies. In addition, Hellboy can pick up pieces of scenery such as pipes, barrels and fallen enemies in levels to throw at and melee bash enemies that form part of finishing moves. You can also use Hellboy's Samaritan pistol, which fires single, powerful bullets. You will also come across puzzles during play, which can sometimes be solved using unique Samaritan ammo types to destroy cursed vines, for example. Other puzzles that you will encounter include obstructions that have to be cleared.

During various levels, you will be able to find various collectibles throughout the game that will shed light on the story as well as improve the energy storage capacity of the Hellboy ability.

The game also has a co-op mode that can be played over Xbox Live or PSN. The host will play as Hellboy, while Player 2 will take on the role of Abe Sapien or Liz Sherman.

There is also a PSP version of the game.