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Marvel Ultimate Alliance
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Graphics & Sound:
Marvel Ultimate Alliance is brought to us by Raven Software, makers of the similarly constructed X-Men: Legends series of multi-platform fame, and industry veteran Activision. This latest action RPG expands the list of playable characters into the other realms of Marvel’s greatest characters, from The Avengers, Spider-Man, and even the Silver Surfer. Plus, there are a seemingly unlimited amount of cameos during mini-boss battles, versus the likes of Dragon Man, Grey Gargoyle, Bullseye, Tiger Shark, Mysterio, and many more. Excited yet?
Graphically, the basic feel and look isn’t that unchanged, although the black outlined characters are gone, replaced with a sharper, realistic look. Characters range in size and shape from the lithe and sensuous Elektra, to the gruesome giant of The Thing. It helps that the animation is equally stellar, showing a wicked array of acrobatic attacks, jaw-dropping special moves and more. Speaking of the latter, some of these effects include amazing elemental effects, like Thor’s thunderous mastery of lighting, or the Human Torch’s Inferno blaze that can char a packed room of baddies. Many small details like the myriad of uniform options, down to the straps, armor plates, helmets, visors, glasses, etc., really show a great attention to detail by Raven Software.
The environments are also quite spectacular, ranging from the techno-centric S.H.I.E.L.D. Heli-carrier, to the undersea kingdom of Atlantis - even the Skrull Throneworld! The icing on the cake are the impressive CG cut-scenes sprinkled throughout, very professional and as cutting-edge as you can get. I just wish there were more than a handful…
On the sound side, the voice acting is pretty well done, and even borrows many familiar voices from the earlier titles, such as Wolverine, but does sound a tad corny at times. I thought this was 2006 - not 1986. Of course, in their defense, Raven had to dumb down some of the storylines and dialogue to meet a wide range of gamers, from those brand new to comics, to those in the early teen age group, so as not to offend any watchful parental units. I did do a bit of digging, and found notable voice actor Cam Clarke, who voiced Liquid Snake of MGS fame, as well as Shotaro Kaneda, main character of the the immortal anime classic Akira . Also worthy of mentioning is Phil Lamar, voice of the Black Panther, who hails from the popular MAD TV show. The resounding musical score is quite well done too. It adds a steady beat to the brawling action onscreen, and denotes key moments by shifting into even more impressive rhythms and notes. Sound effects are just as impressive as their visuals, with some hearty booms and sharply-tuned audio cues for everything from a machine pistol to a katana.
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Gameplay:
Marvel Ultimate Alliance is a pretty straightforward RPG-adventure game, that follows many of the gameplay mechanics of X-Men: Legends. Your band of heroes are called upon by S.H.I.E.L.D. (Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law-enforcement Division… whew) to stop an attack by Doctor Doom and his newly formed Masters of Evil, along with a host of Doom Bots and other mechanical minions. If you don’t care for the default team of heroes selected, you can always port out using the S.H.I.E.L.D. beacon system (where you can also save too) and strike forth with a myriad of teams. Some of these groupings can add a bonus to damage or health, such as using an all-female line-up (“Femme Fatale”) or throwing together a mutant team for the X-Men bonus, using the likes of Wolverine, Storm, Iceman and Deadpool. The intricacies of choosing the right combinations is pretty fun - do you like the brutal style of using The Thing and Luke Cage to bust some heads? Or do you go for a full-on elemental havoc style using Storm, Thor, Iceman and Johnny Storm? Later on, you can make your own custom teams - cool! Always a good rule of thumb is to keep at least one guy who has ranged powers or can levitate to reach tough obstacles, switches and more. Plus, it’s just faster getting around when you can fly! Over 23 Marvel heroes are playable, with a few needing to be unlocked by collecting a few toys or freeing them from certain devices… Sadly, no Punisher or Hulk here, as those rights were gobbled up by other companies.
So how exactly does the RPG element come into play, you ask? Well, as you fight and gain levels, you can spend points on certain moves that are slowly unlocked as you go. These progress and usually get larger and more impressive as you go, with many heroes having a similar design, such as an area-of-effect attack, projectiles, and finally, the “xtreme” move that can obliterate everything onscreen. Kick back and enjoy the fireworks, as all your heroes pop one off in succession for some true ownage. Basic combat involves a lot of button-mashing melee action, interspersed with a few of these devastating super moves. I say a few because your energy meter isn’t unlimited, and you must be wise not to exhaust it against the lesser enemies, many of which will fall after a few kicks and punches.
It is worthy of note to mention that your entire team of heroes levels up, so don’t worry about neglecting Ms. Marvel. She can hang with the big boys just fine when you travel to Asgard. After a few levels, you can also access a wide array of alternate costumes, that comes with a few different attribute bonuses, such as Spider Man’s suit of armor designed by Tony Stark (Iron Man) that offers increased defense as well as strength. Speaking of Mr. Stark, you can even unlock the badass War Machine costume, although graphically nothing really changes powers-wise (would have floored me to see that over-the-shoulder rocket pack go off just once…). Best of all, if you combine certain nostalgic, or the newest “Ultimate” line of clothing, you can put together some great teams with added stat bonuses.
There are also some cash and item elements as well. Most of the items can be found after defeating bosses, and add stat bonuses to accuracy, perception, chance to knockdown and more. You can have the computer auto assign these, or tweak them individually. In fact, you can have the CPU manage your power selection as well (and also re-customize them at a whim). You can also buy them later from various terminals in the S.H.I.E.L.D sanctuaries scattered between missions. One of the neat things during the interludes are the various trivia games to play too, testing your knowledge of the Marvel Universe.
Rounding out the gameplay are a host of puzzles you have to solve in order to advance, as well as Dance Dance Revolution inspired boss battles. Personally, I just wanted to beat the living snot out of as many evildoers as possible and call it a day. Instead, the player is forced to push/pull huge blocks onto stone slabs, install new circuits into broken panels, along with other more tedious actions to accomplish to pass onto the next level. I will say that the Murder World level, with the giant Pinball game, was rather creative, but most aren’t so lucky. As for the epic boss battles, such as taking on the Kraken or Galactus, you will have to quickly hit certain buttons in quick, timed succession. Thankfully, as long as you keep wailing on the minions popping up for extra health and energy, you really can’t be beat, and you keep getting a chance to knock down the big, bad uber villain.
If single player doesn’t do it for you, you can always hop online or offline in a killer co-op, or versus mode. The latter mode involves you competing against other heroes for kills, various bonus points and more as you progress through the main story. The Co-op mode is just that, without the added competitive incentives - just mash and bash in the name of justice!
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Difficulty:
Gamers who have played X-Men Legends, or even the Baldur’s Gate series for the PS2, will feel right at home here. Being able to strategically choose whom to use at a given junction isn’t that big of a deal, as the relative abundance of health and energy potions, not to mention save locations (that allow for a fresh team after all) really lowers the difficulty on this one. Pretty much just pick whoever you like the best and go for it. There are several pre-set difficulty options, so you may want to start off on normal or something more dangerous. Combine all these factors with a childish puzzle system, and honestly, this game is pretty dang easy.
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Game Mechanics:
First, for this game to be a success, it needs responsive controls, and thankfully, it comes through with shining colors. Each button can deliver a heavy, light, grapple or special attack. Some of these special moves can even be manipulated after launching, such as Captain America’s shield. Some also can be button tapped to extend their duration or frequency. Very cool stuff. Camera wise, there aren’t any issues really, as it is fully zoomable and I actually recommend zooming in tight for a more visceral experience.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance is another solid title from Raven Software, combining stellar presentation values with the mega-popular heroes and villains of the vast Marvel Universe. The only things holding this title back from truly legendary status are the weak sauce puzzles, and the gameplay that feels a little too familiar in some instances. Still, any comic fan should at least head down to their local Hollywood or Blockbuster and check this out, and it would definitely make a great gift for the upcoming Holiday season, perhaps packaged with the engrossing Marvel Civil Wars comic mini-series. |
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-Tybo, GameVortex Communications AKA Tyler Whitney |
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