Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

"What am I supposed to be doing...."

Okay I was really pumped to get this game. At first I wanted it for the 360 but changed my mind. Hadn't bought anything for PSP in a while. So I pop in into my PSP and start playing. Everything looked fine, but I was quickly frustrated.....

GRAPHICS: 8/10
They are good, what else is there to say. All the characters look like who they are, its not at all crusty, or choppy. Very clean and clear. Of coarse nothing looks realistic IMO, but I doubt the designers were aiming for that anyway. The only problem I had was how when you are in the actual game, everything was a bit too small.

SOUND: 9/10
The PSP's sound quality continues to amaze me. For a handheld system any audio at all is good. What the PSP gives is just awesome. The voice overs are great. The fighting sounds are pretty good. The only reason this wasn't given a 10/10 was because I know of a few games with better audio.

GAMEPLAY: 4/10
This is what hurt it's score. Yeah its a cool idea, sure the story is fun, but the actual gameplay itself is weak. First of all, the game is just a button smasher. You just run into enemies tap X, O, Square, Triangle, or any combination of them and you will win. Also, I found myself lost almost 80% of the time. There is no directions as to where you are supposed to be going at any given time. Sure thats not really a problem mid-level, but thats taking into account that you found your way to the level. Also, after boss battles, I would have liked the level to end. Not wander around for another 10 minutes, with already dead heroes, looking for the exit. Drove me nuts. However, I was happy to see the wide character selection, and the fact that each character has his/her individuality.

REPLAY FACTOR: 6.5/10
This was marked way down, because its score is highly dependant on the "GAMEPLAY" score, with was bad. But because there are so many different characters to choose from. I found it fun to try over with new characters each time.

(Overall based on weighted average of other scores)

GRAPHICS: 8/10
SOUND: 9/10
GAMEPLAY: 4/10
REPLAY FACTOR: 6.5/10
OVERALL: 6/10

~BUY, RENT, or PASS?~
My local video store doesn't rent out PSP games, but if you can find this to rent go ahead. Otherwise I'd say pass. Maybe try it for another system.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/17/06