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EA’s latest fighter isn’t quite perfect. The game’s combat admittedly does meet up to the hype that was established for it. EA Canada very accurately recreates the chaos of having all of these superheroes together and placing them in small quarters. Unfortunately, to get to the good stuff, the game forces you to play through a mediocre single-player mode.
The story in Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects revolves around Niles Van Roekel and his desire to take over another planet. In order to do so, Van Roekel has attempted to create the best fighter ever. He wasn’t quite able to do so, but he did create six characters near that level. These are the Imperfects, who prove to be quite a challenge even to Marvel’s lineup of superheroes.
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects struggles with its single-player portion. In this mode, you go through a number of levels taking on a number of low-level bad guys. You’ll face a countless number of these thugs, but most are repetitive since there are only a few types of enemies for you to face. You’ll occasionally find a larger enemy that can put up a decent fight, and will sometimes find a flying enemy who are quite deadly when left unwatched. Unfortunately, increasing the complexity of the enemies doesn’t make the single-player mode more satisfying. The game fights with having multiple enemies onscreen since you are unable to lock on to different enemies. The camera system doesn’t make it any easier to tell where you’re being hit from.
The biggest disappointment is that you have to deal with Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects’ flawed single-player mode to get to the good stuff, namely the duels that take place. While the single-player mode in most games is its bread and butter, it feels like an after thought in Rise of the Imperfects. Playing the single-player mode unlocks a number of extras including comic books, collectable cards, and videos, but most importantly characters to play in the one-on-one mode.
Once you actually get to a one-on-one duel, however, you’ll notice that Rise of the Imperfects is actually quite fun. The game features an attack button, a jump button, a throw button, and a block button. The left shoulder button handles special movement powers like teleportation. The right shoulder button makes attacks stronger by using special power, which depletes but slowly fills back up. Using special powers fills up the rage meter, which unlocks unlimited special powers for a short amount of time. The combat is very entertaining when you’re facing another super hero, and don’t have to worry about lock-on and camera issues. It’s amazing to see Spider-Man grab onto a wall, web an item and throw it at the opponent.
The Gamecube version supports offline multiplayer, but does not support online multiplayer like PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of the game.
The game’s visuals are aptly satisfying. EA Canada clearly concentrated on the character models and appropriately succeeded in this regard. The different characters look amazing. Marvel’s super heroes are very accurate to their source material. EA’s new fighters, while lacking that distinctive Marvel charm, also hold their own. While the character models are good, the animation is what really sets them apart. All of the characters animate splendidly, authentically pulling off all of the on-screen moves. You’ll notice that Spider-Man moves around fluidly and quicker than the other characters. You’ll also notice that The Thing moves around slower, but each step carries great weight. The environments don’t look quite as good but are good enough to be fighting in. The Gamecube version of the game has a pretty stable framerate even when the screen is hectic.
The game’s audio isn’t stellar but definitely does its job. The game’s voice acting is undoubtedly the audio’s saving grace. The voice-overs work very well for the character, fully fleshing them out and bringing them to life. The sound effects augment the on-screen action, though they aren’t anything spectacular. The background music blends into the background well but none of it is particularly memorable.
If Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects had a better implemented single-player portion, the game could be easily recommended. The actual combat is very quick, very exciting and thoroughly enjoyed. The game also includes a lot of content to please Marvel fans. Unfortunately, the single-player mode is required to get access to additional characters for the one-on-one mode and simply isn’t very fun. If you can battle with the single-player mode while you earn the unlockables, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects will provide tons of fun. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Oct 17, 2005
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