Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

"Grab your hero and prepare to fight in the far corners of the Marvel Universe"

We've all waited for something like this. The ability to grab some of our favorite Marvel heroes and just beat the crap out of everything that gets in our way be it a crate or a galactic super-being. There's hours of solid, unadulterated battles ahead of you in Marvel Ultimate Alliance (or MUA from here on). Feel up to it, champ?

Graphics [9/10]
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To put it bluntly, the graphics are stunning. The characters, environments, the enemies, all well detailed. You'll find yourself gazing at the background from time to time be it you're in an industrial complex or a hellish dimension. Admittedly, there are points where if feels as if you've been in the same area before due to similarity in room design from stage to stage, but that's assuming you're not busy trying to survive from an onslaught of minions. One major flaw, however, are drops in the frame-rate, causing hiccups in action. However, you'll find them forgivable.

Controls [8/10]
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Fairly intuitive here. Two buttons act as combat buttons (weak & strong), while you have your jump, block, and grab buttons. The triggers bring up mini-menus that allow you to use special abilities or issue commands to your A.I. partners. Everything is in order here.

Sound [7/10]
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A bit disappointing in this department. Right off the bat, the voice acting is probably the biggest complaint here. Some of the characters just don't seem right (ex. Colossus and Thor really stand out, not in a good way) while others are fine and fitting. The background music is okay, nothing really wow-inspiring or amazing however they suffice.

Gameplay [8/10]
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The gameplay is really hit or miss with its audience. If you enjoy pure, hack n' slash action then MUA delivers it in spades. If you find that you get bored relatively easily with hack n' slash games, then this'll be a rental for you. Either way you look at it, the gameplay is solid and delivers the action you've been seeking with the RPG options (stat upgrade, equipment selection, etc). In the first stage, you'll already find yourself fighting off five villains from the Marvel Universe. From there, they just get bigger and nastier (c'mon, would you expect any less?). As soon as you start the game, you'll have roughly 20 some characters at your disposal with four unlockable characters; add to that each character has at least four different, unlockable costume options that alter their stats. An impressive list, though some fans may be disappointed with who made the roster (ex. So I get Luke Cage but no Hulk? Huh...). MUA also features nice multiplayer options, with you being able to grab a friend and do up to four-player co-op in the middle of any stage (stuck in a rut? Grab your friend and see if he can help you). Don't have friends you can call on? Get yourself on Live and team-up, or go for some head-to-head competition. However, online is rather lag-prone (as with other games, but if you thought single-stutter was bad, online gets nasty). But for the most part, there's solid multiplayer action to be found here. Only reason why gameplay hasn't gained a high score is being you'll find yourself getting the "seen this, done that" syndrome immediately, especially if you've played the X-Men Legend games. Take it for what you will.

Replay [8/10]
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What can be said: there are a lot of villains to beat the crap out of, especially with friends and through Live, not to mention collecting comic covers, videos, and secret missions. Also, if you enjoy experimentation, you'll find yourself busy mixing and matching what are good super-teams and character traits. However, it goes down to your tolerance of the core-gameplay: if you have little patience for repetition or hack n' slash, then this may be a rent only product. But overall, there's quite a bit to do before you can really say you're done.

Scores
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Graphics: 9/10
Controls: 8/10
Sound: 7/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Replay: 8/10
Overall: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/06