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Vicarious Visions takes over development duties in the latest Ultimate Alliance.
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, the sequel to 2006’s Ultimate Alliance, takes place during the Civil War period of the comics. In case you are unfamiliar with the comics, the Civil War doesn’t refer to the American Civil War but rather the 2006 crossover event written by Mark Millar. In the storyline, focus on the Superhuman Registration Act, which was passed after a superhero-related event killed over 600 people. The Marvel superheroes quickly break off into two sides: one, led by Iron Man, are in favor of the registration, while the other, led by Captain America, who refuses to chase down superheroes, strongly opposes it. The game diverges from the comics at one point, which may turn off fans of the comics, but delivers a rather satisfying story nonetheless.
Ultimate Alliance 2’s core gameplay plays as you would expect as you (and up to three friends) play as four interchangeable characters through a number of well-done levels. The levels change depending on which side you choose (which unfortunately means that you can’t play as say, Iron Man and join the Avengers). Throughout the levels, you’ll gain experience that you can use to level up characters and earn new powers and abilities (such as being able to have more than two fusion attacks ready to go). There’s even a medal system that awards bonuses to everyone currently on your team. There is a cool new feature called “Fusions” that combine two character’s special powers. The developers boast that there are hundreds of unique fusions (which is sort of true since there are 24 playable characters, each with four unique powers) but you’ll notice that there’s about a totally different fusion attacks. Nonetheless, some of the effects, like using Wolverine’s claws to turn beams into an area-devastating attack are awesome.
There are other gameplay enhancements that seem relatively minor but do make the experience notably better. New to the game is the ability to heal team members (or revive them completely) something that should enable stronger players to play alongside weaker players and have them both have fun, especially combined with the new medal system. There’s also a neat touch in co-op game that lets you use your skill points on-the-fly without pausing the action while an A.I. character takes control of your character. It keeps the game moving and doesn’t force the other players to stop because someone is upgrading their character.
Visually, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 is a strong improvement over its predecessor. While Ultimate Alliance was designed as a last-gen game, this sequel was definitely designed with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in mind. The character models are much more detailed than before, with stunning animations and excellent textures. The visual effects, especially some of the effects found in combat, are also excellent. The physics engine and lighting have both been improved, as well.
The game’s campaign will keep you busy for 8-12 hours depending on skill level. However, you’ll probably want to play the game again to experience the other side’s story and continue looking for all of the collectable items in the game, which unlock new costumes and characters. The game supports four-player online co-op on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and if you can’t find a buddy to play with locally is definitely the way to play the game.
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 is certainly the most refined game in its series (including its prequel and the X-Men Legends game before it). The gameplay is as engaging as always, especially when playing with friends. The addition of fusion moves and Vicarious Visions’ efforts to make the game more accessible also result in a very fun game. If you didn’t see what all the fuzz was about before, this won’t change your mind but if you loved Ultimate Alliance, then you just found your next must-have. -- Adam Nunez, PGNx Media
---- Sep 15, 2009
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