Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

"Super Heroes to the rescue again"

Introduction:

Marvel Ultimate Alliance comes to us from the makers of the X-Men Legends series. Ultimate Alliance is the same type of game. If you did not enjoy the Legends games this game is most likely not one for you. If you like the world of Marvel as I, then you will be interested in this game.

Game Play: 9

Anywhere between 1 and 4 heroes will be on screen at once. You control one of the heroes while the others may be controlled by friends or CPU. If controlled by the CPU you can change to any of the on screen heroes at any point. Each individual hero has special powers, boosts, and an Xtreme attack. Three of the powers can be mapped to the X, B, and A buttons, while the Xtreme attack is activated with the Y. To use your heroes powers you use the right trigger and the corresponding button of the power desired.

You may choose any of three difficulties to play. Easy. Normal, and Hard are not a much of a challenge most players should be able to advance through the game without much trouble. One of the strengths of the game is the ability to
customize each hero. By destroying enemies you gain experience and SHIELD credits. Both of which can be used to upgrade the heroes powers. Adding more customization, each hero has 4 different costumes (except Moon Knight) that can be upgraded with SHIELD credits.

Story: 8.5

The story is good but presents nothing that is really new. With any super hero game all you have to do is present enemy X with an evil plan then present heroes to stop the plan. This isn't to say the story detracts any from the game. It just doesn't ever feel the heroes are in danger. It may have helped to have more of the upper echelon villains in the game but that may come in the next game of the series.

Graphics/Sound: 9

The characters look amazing, but some of the environments are too similar. The voice acting for the characters is well done even if some of the dialogue is imperfect. The music is unremarkable and hearing the heroes complain about not having enough energy is a necessary annoyance.

Playtime/Replayability: 9

A lot of this depends on if you like to play an initial game at normal difficulty then try your hand at hard. If so the score could be a 10. A bonus for doing so is the ability to start over on hard at the level your heroes ended the normal difficulty with. Also if the same stats are kept each heroes abilities gets additional slots to add skill points to. So if you leveled a particularly strong ability to the max, that ability can be increased further on Hard difficulty. On line play adds some replayability/playtime, especially if you like to move through levels with your friends. There is even a competition mode (Arcade) that adds to the on line experience.

Final Score 9/10

This game is a definite buy for fans of Marvel or the X-Men Legends series. There is plenty here to keep the interest of new comers to the genre as well. With over 20 playable heroes, customization, on line play, and a few interesting battles; Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is one of the better 360 games to date.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/04/06