titan45's Full Review: Marvel Ultimate Alliance for Xbox
These days, there seems to be little space for simple, arcade-style games. Sure, the platformers can still sell, but if a game isn't complex, aesthetically stunning, or offering something completely original, it has a good chance of being doomed to a niche market and mediocre reviews.
Not to be nostalgic. After all, years upon years of hacking and slashing can get old after a while. However, simplicity can still make for a good game, and few recent ones are better proof than Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is a game that is the product of two different worlds, somehow working in unison. On one end, it harkens back to the simplistic arcade games where attacks were based on combinations of two or three buttons, but on the other end, it's incredibly deep and complex in its RPG/move learning system. Nearly every element of Marvel: UA is a perfect balance of new and old styles of gaming, making for a crossover hit. It's a game that will be sure to lure in the comic book fans, but it has a wide ranging appeal for any gamer.
The Marvel Universe
The first example of the merging of generations that gamers will get is evident in the game's storyline. The story is an old-school throwback to early Marvel comics, where good guys were good and bad guys were bad, just because. No smack-shooting superheroes or crazy Civil Wars. Instead, it opts for a much simpler 1960's style story. Dr. Doom and the Masters of Evil (see?) have attacked the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, attempting to steal an unknown item. Colonel Nick Fury sends a beacon to all the heroes of the Marvel Universe for aid. From there on, its hours on hours of good guy chases bad guy, bad guy throws obstacle and escapes, good guy is too late but kicks henchman a*s in frustration type gameplay.
While this may seem tedious and boring, the charm is in both it's simplicity and depth. The story begins slow, easing newer gamers into the Marvel Universe, and then rockets it way through every corner of it, from Hell to Atlantis to the fictional country of Latveria. As the story progresses, gamers will find themselves drawn further into it. Some may argue that the game's story is simply an excuse for the appearance of multiple villains and their infamous lairs, but this just adds to the fun. Sure, if Marvel: UA was a movie, Roger Ebert would dropkick it all the way to hell and back, but as a game, it's sheer cheesiness in that vintage Marvel style really makes it exciting to play through.
In the vein of entertainment value, Marvel's writing and voice acting are also superb. The lines are all written in a mix of campy old-school Marvel style with more than a generous helping of newer character elements, no doubt influenced by recent movies. Spider-Man shrewdly points out the flaws of the goody-goody clean-cut characters like Iron Man, while Captain America unquestioningly fights in an honorable way, only pausing to tell villains how bad they've been, and why stealing nuclear thingamajigs from America is evil. And if you want to get sadistic, there's always Deadpool, who isn't above wagering for the safety of the innocents. Marvel: UA, really works to define each character, making your choice of who to play as more than just an RPG-inspired one.
Gameplay
But of course, no game can get away on its story alone. Marvel: UA's gameplay is a strong blend of simple, hack n' slash elements, as well as deep RPG elements to encourage in-depth play and strategy.
The game's engine/core gameplay is the same as the one used for X-Men: Legends, also developed by Raven Software. Basically, you control a team of four heroes throughout the game. Depending on how many friends you have, you can allow the CPU to control the remainder of the heroes. Or you can even get rid of them and fight alone for an added challenge.
The heart of the game centers around a typical hack n' slash formula. You are set into one level after another, and must solve puzzles, defeat bosses, and fight henchmen in order to escape. However, leave it to Raven to expand and improve above and beyond. The level designs are excellent, and each one offers its own unique challenge. Some levels are so much fun, in fact, that you'd be hard pressed not to pick one to play again as a stand-alone mission. In Murderworld, you get to battle in a giant pinball machine, beat up clowns, and play something that has more than a striking resemblance to Pitfall. In another mission, you and your team must escape while Galactus begins to smash up the world around you, changing the level as you play in it. The great work in level design makes each world more challenging than the next.
The fighting system also centers around a basic hack n' slash control scheme. One button controls the kick, one for the punch, a throw, block, and a few starting combinations that do different things to enemies. Sure, you can make your way through the game punching and kicking enemies 'til they drop dead, but its also fun to sweep kick them, put them in a daze, or launch them into the air. There's also a grab move that allows you to throw your opponents off ledges (very fun), or knock them out by repeatedly punching them. Early in the game, you'll be forced to rely on the simple kick and punch combos, but as you level up, you'll unlock far cooler and deadlier combinations.
The true seller, however, is the Super Hero-unique special powers. By using a combination of the R-trigger and one of the punch, kick, grab, or block buttons, you get to use one of your Hero's special powers. They vary in quality, how much special power they drain, and what they can do, forcing gamers to think about what to pick. The list of special powers is exhaustive, and as with action RPG games, the longer you stick with a move, the stronger it becomes.
The special powers can be offensive or defensive. Some boost your teammates' powers up, while others wreak all kinds of havoc. You can sling up an enemy in a tight web like Spiderman, or take out a room full of goons by throwing your shield around like Captain America. Later on in the game, you can unlock the Xtreme Power, which is a special attack that when properly timed, can wipe out a room full of even the most villainous henchmen.
Another huge factor of gameplay is the team system in the game. Although you'll start with a set group of four heroes, after not too long, you'll be given the option to switch the members of your team around, each with different advantages and disadvantages. During the game, you can switch between playing any of them, so if you get tired of hacking your way through with Captain America, you can claw your way out with Wolverine, or anyone for that matter. Like the villains in the game, the roster of Superheroes is exhaustive, offering up 20+ in the older platforms like Xbox and PS2, and even more for the 360, PS3, and Wii. The roster balances out the well-known heroes like Iron Man, Wolverine, Spider-Man, and Captain America with more obscure but just as cool heroes like Deadpool.
Although at first its fun to try every hero, later on in the game it is to your advantage to pick a team and stick with it. The game offers you the ability to create and name your own Marvel Team. From this point on, the more you play with this group of four, the more you can develop team-based powers, making each member of the group stronger. You can also use your experience points to create new roster spots, allowing newer members into your team. Plus, you get built-in bonuses for picking existing Marvel Teams, such as the Fantastic Four, or the Avengers.
Finally, the villains. Like the comics, the henchmen aren't very tough to dispatch, requiring a few good punches and kicks to send them reeling. However, you'll also have to square up against some of the most feared Supervillains in the Marvel Universe. Boss fights are plentiful and varied. Some of them require a thorough melee-style smashing, while others take some unique methods to dispatch. For example, during certain battles, you'll be forced to hit buttons as they come on screen to battle certain.
The Boss fights offer a good challenge, but at the same time some of them feel slightly uneven, as if there is no clear strategy involved in beating them. Usually, its a trial-and-error deal. But some battles take a few minutes of aimless wandering and dying to finally understand how to defeat the enemy. Sometimes, it's an unsatisfying combination of melee attacks, with the only thing separating the bosses from the henchmen being how long you have to beat them up for. Still, each Boss offers a new challenge, and some, like Galactus, are wildly fun to fight. Either way, the sheer number of Boss battles means there's some kind of challenge for everyone.
The replayability of Marvel: UA is immense. Depending on how into the game you are, there are hours upon hours that can be spent unlocking new characters, costumes, and more. You can play through Comic Book Missions, which are ripped right from the actual comics. Or, you could scour the levels for unlockable characters. The new costumes you can earn both give your character a cooler look, and new powers. There's just so much to do in Ultimate Alliance that it's hard to just put it away after one play.
In addition, after defeating the Normal difficulty, you can play in Hard Mode, loading up your characters from the previous game and allowing them to level up once again. Finally, for the Xbox 360 and PS3, you also have the option of online co-op or competitive play, which breathes new life into the game.
The only tedious aspect to Marvel's gameplay are the slap-on-the-forehead type puzzles. Many seem like they were placed as simple filler, while others make little sense at all. The frustrating part is that the puzzles tend to really slow down pacing, even in an action packed mission. There's nothing that's more of a buzzkill than being locked in a room and moving "generators" around. Not to say that puzzles are unnecessary, but many of those in Ultimate Alliance bring down the fast-paced nature of the game.
Overall, however, Marvel's gameplay is for the most part its strongest quality. There are an exhaustive amount of customization options for your character, both individually and as a team. However, everything boils down to punching, kicking, grabbing, blocking, and special moves. Raven does an excellent job in breathing new life into an old engine.
With online play, its also a game that you won't want to put down for a long while.
Graphics
With the expansive number of worlds and characters, its a shame that Ultimate Alliance doesn't look better. Technically, the game suffers little to no slowdown, even with thousands of multi-colored bullets flying through the air, which is quite impressive. At the end of the day, it seems that Raven sacrificed graphics for gameplay, which is completely acceptable.
Still, it is worth mentioning that the game doesn't look that great. The character models and worlds look dated and simplistic. It's certainly not bad, but nothing too amazing either. The graphics and set-up of each level is also a bit strange. In addition to looking very cartoonish, the isometric-style view takes some getting used to, as you can see over the walls of every room.
However, in terms of what is going on at all times, Raven pulls off quite the impressive feat. There's no short-cutting on the animation in terms of rendering and frame rate problems, and all in all the mediocre graphics don't detract from any part of the game.
In it's defense, the game does have some jaw-dropping, gorgeous CG cutscenes. You'll be treated to one at the beginning of the game and throughout the rest of the story at intermittent parts. These cutscenes aren't incredibly long, but are impressive in their ability to...well...look awesome. It's certainly worth playing through to unlock all the CG cutscenes.
As far as sound goes, it is also mediocre. The heroic songs are filler music, and the sound effects repeat themselves at a very early point in the game. Overall, this is a game with far more emphasis on gameplay than on presentation.
Final Thoughts
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is an incredibly entertaining game. With it's pick-up and play quality, mixed with deep RPG elements, there truly is something for most kinds of gamers. The kiddy-grade puzzles and simplistic controls might turn some away, but it does a great deal with such a simple engine, and the game is always entertaining and never dull.
However, there's nothing in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance that would suggest it is a great game, even in it's own genre. The graphics and sound are mediocre, the storyline is fun but cheesy, and the gameplay is typical hack n' slash. This is where the Marvel license comes in. With an absolutely stunning number of characters, worlds, and moves ripped right from the comics, plus online play, the game is still worth the price even without being completely original or innovative. At the end of the day, it's a worthy part of any collection, as a testament to how fun hack n' slash can still be.
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