Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

"The power cosmic's got nothin on this game."

Heh. Maybe the title was a bit overzealous. Maybe. But read on my friends, if you're wondering about this title. I will say beforehand, that if you're a Marvel fan, this is a must buy. If you're frugal and need comic book money, it's still a must buy, but maybe wait for a 20 dollar price drop or a platinum collection release. If you're a fan of battle/action/rpg titles (think Xmen Legends, Diablo 2, etc.), read on to determine whether this one is worth a rent or a buy. I'm a bit wordy here, so if you want the overall just skip to the bottom.

Graphics - 10/10 Good, good stuff here. From skin texture (Venom, Silver Surfer), to environment, to super powered abilities, the graphics are very good for this title. Some may find it hard to see certain things here, especially on a standard t.v., but it won't hinder the gameplay one bit. If you aren't used to this type of camera angle (sort of diagnal top down), don't fret, you'll have it within an hour. Everything from clothing material to slick skin (if you're Venom, for example) is rendered nicely, and flame effects (Human Torch, Ghostrider), as well as ice, radiation, mystic stuff, and super powered might all looks more than great. Wonderful light sourcing, FANTASTIC character animations, and pretty innovative maps too (so many cool places to throw baddies over a cliff or three!). Though some new to the genre, or against it, may find a handful of maps (especially comic missions) a bit repetitive. There are average sized characters, smaller characters, and really big characters (Hulk with super buffs to get bigger, Galactus, Mephisto's fire beasties, etc.) on screen, with no slow down or any problems of that ilk as well.

Sound - 9/10 - Doing well here also. The voice clips from bad and good guys are pretty spot on. There are also several clips for each character. Sometimes dialouge changes depending on which characters you have meet up with whoever (Sabertooth and Gladiator, for instance, Inhumans meeting any Fantastic Four members, "in" stuff comic fans would find cool or funny). Sounds of fighting and powers are fantastic. Also, the voice acting borders on top notch for this type of game. There's even new stuff added via downloadable content (Cyclops meating Dark Phoenix for one, etc etc). Overall, pretty good, but it does get very repetitive after extended play sessions.

Story - 10/10 This game shines in the story department. Decent character development, great overall plot, great side stories and comic missions with background that mostly makes sense, and a host of allies and enemies throughout. Dr. Doom is the main villian, and he's stealing some powerful technology as well as some strong magical artifacts. What does he want to do with them? He's also resurfaced with several strong villians at his side, dubbing them the newest incarnation of the Masters of Evil. Loki, Enchantress, Ultimo, Count Mordo, and several other high tier villians abound, and that's just the inner circle. Bullseye, Mephisto, Ulik, Scorpion, and many, many, MANY more villians stand in your path, as well as an army of soldiers and robots (and some demons!). S.H.E.I.L.D.'s leader Nick Fury gets in the middle of this, and calls all meta-humans in to help take down Doom and his Masters of Evil. This includes people like Spider-Man, Thor, Captain America, Wolverine, Deadpool, Blade, Daredevil, Black Panther, Magneto, Moon Knight, Venom, Nightcrawler, Hulk, Silver Surfer, every member of the Fantastic Four, and TONS more playable characters, both good and bad. A strong alliance forms to topple the Masters of Evil and their dark empire, as Doom races to aquire ultimate powers beyond comprehension of even the strongest heroes around.

Gameplay - 9/10 Wait, a nine you say? Yes, sadly. I must include this for one reason. Repetetiveness. This game can be very repetative depending on who you play as and what powers you label them with. For example, Ghost Rider, and Elektra. Two very different characters in the Marvel universe, right? In terms of gameplay, to some, not much different. See, Ghost Rider can opt to use a projectile attack where he makes his chains burst and fly into enemies in several sharp projectiles. Elektra can throw several ninja stars. Same basic attacks, and damage. Iron Man can use a radial nanoblast, Spider Woman can do something very similliar using radioactive bursts. The animations even look fairly similliar. My point is that several heroes in the Alliance can use radial, projectile, and up close attacks. Also buffs (to aid the team in several ways) or debuffs (to hinder baddies) are similliar. Many of the playables can use a buff that slows time, or one that makes the team stronger against types of elements. But, if you skillfully apply abilities and powers to your group, you can easily make the experience much more diverse. In fact, now for the positives. There are SO many characters to play as, especially with downloadable content or the gold edition. There's a wide range of powers to be combined out there, and combo powers as well. There are also "ultimate, legendary" attacks unique to each hero (though some are similliar in terms of damage done and buffs gained). You basically take in a team of four heroes of your choosing, and you can switch in between them on the fly. You assign the powers. Your characters all have access to several, but can use only two attack powers, one buff/debuff skill, and the single Legendary power. You can cycle through these powers too, but the four I listed are types assigned to on the fly command buttons. You storm fairly large maps in top down type view, and use your inherent fighting skill (combos) and barrage of super powers and unique ablities to slam through hundreds of foes until you reach a mini-boss supervillian, or main boss supervillian. There are a few varied goals in between, such as find the items, and extra quests, where in again you must find items scattered over the map, but mostly it's a grind of fighting baddies, gaining experience to gain powers you assign via points, and upgrades. There plenty of hidden things to find on the maps too, that always give you more power and storyline. If you're a completionist, it offers marginal challenge, with great rewards. There are also huge sections set up for training missions, both as a group and singular character (with mini story!). The combos are good, varied but similliar enough not to be very hard to master, the powers can also be comboed together, and the ultimate powers can as well. On easy and normal, the game has a fair learning curve, and if you've played this kind of game before, you'll have no trouble.

Overall, the replayability is high for any Marvel fan. Several powers to be mastered, unlimited team combo possibilities, a unique super team rep system, and several hidden things (comic mission disks for sim, black panther and daredevil dolls to unlock those named, costumes to upgrade and wear, the other hidden characters unlocked in interesting ways, and the downloadable content) keep it fresh and fairly new, as far the genre goes. Also, there is a Hard mode, and several acheivements that will take some time to get (throw 500 foes off ledges, defeat 4000 bad guys over all, get 150 comic triva questions right, etc.). In the end, getting all characters, upgrading all costumes (four per each character usually), seeing all the dialouge exchanges, and mastering every skill is also very time consuming, but fun. If you're a casual action/rpg fan, this one is more than worth a rent. It's pretty long, even for a quick easy mode playtrhough. There are five acts with several maps in between one act and the next. Near the end, most are pretty large. If you upgrade your characters right though, pretty much any foursome combo can beat the entire game. For a five day rental, you'll beat the game on easy/normal. If you're a big comic fan like me, you'll take Hard mode and most all the single player achievements within two weeks. There is also an online mode, that while a little bugy, is a fun option for those of us without one to three other friends that want to play this type of game. Plus, a handful of achievements are online as well.

All in all, if you're new to comics but want to learn about heroes and villians, this is a very good place to start. Combine playing this title with wikipedia searches, and you'll learn alot quickly. If you just love action rpg gaming, you will more than get your fill. And if you're a big Marvel fan, you'll be VERY pleasantly suprised by this gem.

Overall - 9/10 Only the repetitive nature of gameplay and sounds marrs this wonderful title. And I only say repetitive for the casual gamers, or those new to the genre. For anyone that's played this type before, or loves the comics, you'll have a blast!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/30/07