"A chance to unleash your inner hero."

Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects

M32atDon's Review

This game is a chance to unleash the inner hero deep inside you. It involves characters from Fantastic 4, to X-Men, and a new breed of villains; the "Imperfects". If you want to rough up some characters from Marvel comics, then don't let anything stop you from purchasing this. Now, on to my first subject; the graphics.

Graphics: 9/10

So, if you have not noticed already, next generation gaming is starting to make games shiny. This comes mostly to characters in current games. Personally, I love the way the heroes have a glossy look, and not just make it look like they painted their costume onto themselves. This game gives incredible detail to the characters. They look just like they do in the comics. Not only do the heroes and villains look great in the game, but the detail of the level too. Instead of having cars, mailboxes, lamp posts, and things like that look all blocky, they actually have some round to them! Complementing the levels' every curve and feature. This game has incredible detail when it comes to the graphics.

Sound Effects: 10/10

Sound effects is one of the most important things I look for in a game. If the character you are using throws are car 40 mph, the chances are that It'll make a crashing sound. It starts off with someone heaving a truck; CRASH! Then, it starts to catch a flame and you hear a sizzle. The next thing you know; BAM! The explosion makes you feel like you actually destroyed something (instead of a small little boom that most games I own would make). Another thing is the character sound effects. When you hear a web sling, right away you know it is Spiderman. Sounds just like the webs from the movie. When the Human Torch throws a fireball your way, you know what it is. Even the detail of Wolverine's retracting claws sounds flawless. If you had only the sound effects to tell you what was going on, you would know what was happening, just because those sounds are so familiar in movies and other games Marvel produced. Overall in the sound effects, they could just not get any better.

Soundtrack/Voiceovers: 10/10

The music in this game is exactly the same type of music you would hear in any Marvel movies or games. The triumphant sound of the symphony makes you feel empowered. You can tell by this soundtrack that heroes have to be involved. For the voiceovers, it is sort of like the sound effects thing; you can tell who is fighting just by the voices and catchphrases. Spiderman sounds exactly the same as the one in the movies. The voices of the characters sound exactly how you think they would be. Wolverine sounds like a bad ass, Venom sounds like an experiment gone wrong, and things that make them who they are. Overall for the soundtrack and voiceovers, I give them a perfect 10.

Storyline: 5/10

The basic storyline for this game is: A villain named Van Rokel takes these superhuman ordinary people to his lab. He makes it so they can control their power by placing these computer chips on the back of their necks. These chips make them evil, and they do whatever he tells them to. So, the heroes band together to try and stop these "Imperfects" from destroying everything. Eventually, the chips get taken off these Imperfects, and they are free. There really is no storyline when you play it. You understand what is going on, but it does not feel like a story to me. You switch off characters and of course fight evil. Overall, I do not really think this game has a story"line", but rather just a small story to it.

Characters: 8/10

What can I say? The roster for Marvel heroes and villains is great for this game. The only thing I do not like is that some characters are "clones" of each other. For example: Spiderman = Venom = Hazmat and so on. The full list of heroes:

-The Thing
-Wolverine
-Electra
-Spiderman
-Daredevil
-Storm
-Venom
-Human Torch
-Iron Man
-Magneto

There is also a new breed of villains which are called the "Imperfects". They are called this, because each of them has either been involved in an accident, and got genetically altered giving them powers, or some just born with them. They are each unique in their own way. Here is the full list of Imperfects:

-The Wink
-Johnny Ohm
-Fault Zone
-Solara
-Brigade
-Hazmat
-Paragon
-Van Rokel

One of the main reasons I love this game is because of these Imperfects. I love how they give unique abilities and a nice change from just ordinary Marvel heroes. Overall, I love the variety of characters, but there are a lot that could have been great potentials for this game.

Stages: 7/10

The arenas where you fight have got to be the 2nd main factor for any fighting game. Some levels are familiar, and others are just random places around the city. Each level has a destructible environment in which you may use to your advantage. They all have unique things in which you can use, to support the levels' individuality. The list of levels are:

-Bridge
-Avengers Mansion
-NYC Streets
-Daily Bugle
-Grand Central Station
-Power Plant
-Rokel's Headquarters

Each stage you will have something to use to your advantage. Even though there could have been a few more stages, I still think the detail in the current ones are magnificent. Overall, it deserves a 7 only because there were not enough levels to choose from.

Gameplay: 9/10

Ah yes, finally we are to the gameplay; the most important thing in a game. Basically, you pick a character, and use that characters' special ability in combination with fighting mechanics. Each character uses a different type of melee attack that suits them best. For instance, Electra kicks more often since she is very acrobatic. Each melee attack suits them very well. You can not vary in punches and kicks like in most fighting games, but that does not matter to me (as long as I have a fully destructible environment). Yes, along with each of their wonderful abilities, the heroes and villains can use the entire environment around them to take their opponents down. Depending on their size and strength, they are able to pick up different objects. The Thing can pick up a huge truck, where as Storm can only pick up mailboxes and such. Such detail to the gameplay is very admirable. One more thing that catches my eye is the characters' finishing move. It makes the battle more dramatic to fit the scene. As for the mechanics in the gameplay, I simply love it. It is unique than any other other fighting game I own.

Overall: 9/10

All in all, this game was really worth it. I enjoyed opening up a can of whup-ass in a very stylish and unique way. This game makes you feel like a hero, and makes you feel like you actually accomplished something. Feel what the characters in the comics feel. Experience the everyday battles they encounter. This was probably the best game that Marvel has released thus far.

Rent or Buy? BUY

I recently got this game about 3 weeks ago, and It was only $20.00. Everytime I feel like beating the crap out of something, I turn to this game. It is a great game to add to your collection, and I'm pretty sure that if you are a Marvel fan like me, then you will not regret this!

Thank you for reading this review. If you have any thoughts of renting this, try reading other reviews just to make sure your willing to spend $6.45 on renting money. If you have any further questions, feel free to post on the message boards.

This has been a review by M32atDon

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/29/06