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Ultimate Alliance 2 is the ultimate post-9/11 superhero revue
Sometimes while I'm playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, a superhero or villain shows up for a conversation or maybe a boss battle. Some of them get a name stamped onscreen. But sometimes, there's no introduction. The game just assumes I know who it is. I almost always don't. It's like going to a party where everyone already knows each other. Here's Junior Captain America I think. There's a flying orc. Yep, a flying orc. I fight a sixty-foot tall black dude in a Lone Ranger mask. Isn't that Voldo from Soulcalibur? I think I just did a mission with that Blade guy from the Wesley Snipes movies. Oh, and Hercules was there. Not just a strong dude who calls himself Hercules. But Hercules. The Hercules. There's a guy who splits into multiple copies of himself who's called - no joke - Multiple Man. Did you know there's a Spider-Woman? Of course there is. There's even a She-Hulk, but you probably already knew that. This is the Marvel catalog, no holds barred. Me being not much of a comic book guy, I have no idea what the heck is going on.
So why am I enjoying myself so much?
Read the review after the jump.
This is the latest in a series of action RPGs - Diablo clones, really - based on teams of superheroes. It all began with the X-Men Legends games. Most of those games were pretty focused and the introductions were already made with the X-Men movies. I mostly played as Storm, wading through waves of bad guys by spamming her lightning and tornado attacks. It was an easy path to the end of the game. Much to my delight, I can still do that here. In fact, that's pretty much all I've done. I even decided to read Storm's back story. Did you know that Storm is from Kenya? Also, she looks nothing like Hallie Berry. I'm finding Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 quite educational.
But I mostly dig Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 because it's a forgiving beat-em-up with a decent engine and a lot of variety among the characters. Unlike most RPGs, it lets you rebuild at will. Anytime you want to change which four superheroes are in you party, you can. Furthermore, any time you want to rearrange a character's powers and abilities, you can. What makes this work is that there are so many superheroes to choose from and - here's the kicker! - they seem distinct. As befits any videogame with a few dozen superheroes, there's a lot to play with.
At the basic level, characters either punch or used ranged attacks. But there's just enough going on beyond this to make for a gratifying challenge at the default difficulty level. There are different kinds of damage, there is blocking, there are combos, there are upgrades, and there are spectacular power attacks unique to pairs of superheros. Wouldn't you know, Storm seems fond of tornado variants.
In lieu of loot - it's always a dilemma how to include loot into games about altruistic superheroes - you unlock boosters as you play. Each gives your team a special bonus. Some of these you find on the levels, some you earn in the simulator missions, and some you get by accomplishing bonus goals. At any given time, you can equip three. For instance, one booster reduces superpower damage by 50% but makes every melee attack a critical hit. Another booster makes critical hits do extra knockback damage. Yet another will boost your melee damage. Equip these three boosters, select your four favorite brawlers, and punch your way through the game. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is nothing if not generous. It's an almost bottomless box of superhero-themed toys.
The only choice that you can't re-choose is the story, which actually makes certain superheroes and powers inaccessible for a while. Marvel's Civil War storyline supposes superpowers are like WMDs. After a superhero causes a disaster - I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner - there's a government initiative to register superheroes. Our heroes divide along pro-registration and anti-registration lines and get down to punching each other. There's also something about the invasion of an uninvolved country supposedly supporting terrorism. Much like the invasion of Actual Iraq, I'm not sure how it's supposed to fit in with everything else going on.
It's mostly a clumsy post-9/11 allegory about the Patriot Act. But you can also imagine it's commentary on Columbine and gun control, or maybe the nuclear arms race, or any number of "with great power" scenarios. It's all rather silly as a story. But it's wonderful as a gameplay mechanic. In most games, you choose between vanilla good and evil. Do you kick the puppy or save the puppy? Here you choose to call the puppy a terrorist or call the puppy a fascist. Welcome to the 21st century. This doesn't really go anywhere, and by the time the game is over, everyone has come together to defeat a global infection of sentient nanites. There's nothing like a global infection of sentient nanites to motivate people to set aside petty political differences.
As for all the heroes, even though I'm not the target audience for this game, I'm really enjoying the procession of costumed characters. In fact, when I'm done, I might even replay as the other side, so long as I can keep leveling Storm. Did I mention that she's descended from a goddess? Who says videogames aren't educational?
By aaron at 9:36 PM ON 10/06/09
This does look like a fun game. I have the first one. My only problem though is the story sucks and the dialog is horrible. It's almost as if the script is from a 5 year old playing with his action figures. But I completely agree with you... and I always enjoy reading the articles you guys post. You guys are so funny!
By Captain America at 12:47 AM ON 10/07/09
A Post-9/11 allegory? Ugh! We're still doing those? That's like doing a movie involving the Soviet Union in 1992. It's past its time.
By cogadh at 2:15 AM ON 10/07/09
Wow, you really aren't the target audience for this game. All of the characters you seem to know nothing about are not only very well-known (even outside of comic nerddom), most of them actually appeared in the previous games in the X-Men Legends/Marvel Ultimate Alliance series. Are you sure you actually played those games?
BTW - I'm not sure if you were once again trying (and failing) to make a joke, but the character of Blade is not from the Wesley Snipes movies, the Wesley Snipes movies were taken from the Marvel comic book character Blade, who has been around since the mid-1970's.
By Hawkman at 4:56 AM ON 10/07/09
Gotta agree with cogadh on that score. What's the point of having someone review a game when they're clearly not the target audience for the game?
>>>Here's Junior Captain America I think.
If he was black with a triangular shield, then that was Patriot, a Young Avenger.
>>>There's a flying orc. Yep, a flying orc.
No clue who this could be a reference to, but I'm gonna guess Hulkling, another Young Avenger.
>>>I fight a sixty-foot tall black dude in a Lone Ranger mask. Isn't that Voldo from Soulcalibur?
It's Bill Foster, AKA Goliath.
>>>I think I just did a mission with that Blade guy from the Wesley Snipes movies.
As cogadh points out, Blade was created in the comics. The Blade movies were an adaptation of the comic character, not the originators of the character.
>>>Oh, and Hercules was there. Not just a strong dude who calls himself Hercules. But Hercules. The Hercules.
So what? They've also got the real Thor, too. Comics having mythological gods existing as real beings isn't exactly new. Whether it be Thor, Hercules, and Ares in Marvel, to the Greek Pantheon in DC with Wonder Woman.
>>>There's a guy who splits into multiple copies of himself who's called - no joke - Multiple Man.
Yep. And he's blazingly awesome in the comics. For evidence of that, read X-Factor.
>>>Did you know there's a Spider-Woman? Of course there is.
Knew that years ago. There've been at least two, actually. Jessica Drew, the one who wears the red and yellow costume, and Julia Carpenter, who wore the black and white costume (which Spider-Man's black and white costume was based off of. So in other words, her look is the template for Venom).
>>>There's even a She-Hulk, but you probably already knew that.
Yep, already knew that.
>>>This is the Marvel catalog, no holds barred. Me being not much of a comic book guy, I have no idea what the heck is going on.
Pretty apparent. Maybe Syfy should've found someone who IS a comic book guy to review it?
By John Louis Swaine at 6:46 AM ON 10/07/09
I think Tom's a great person to review the game.
Let's face it, we comic book nerds are going to get pissed off if the game doesn't represent characters faithfully or complain if our pet-hero isn't in the game.
The average gamer, however, can probably name about 7 X-Men and 3 Avengers and as long as it's a good ol'fashioned beat-em-up, they'll be happy. It'll be the game play that makes the difference.
MUA2 is a great game which fits the bill in the same way that the new Star Trek movie did. It was great for people who weren't that passionate about Star Trek but still left goodies around for Trekkies to enjoy.
How much did other comic book nerds love the Deadpool sequence in MUA2? I freaking adored it. Then there was the little narrative dusting of talking to Songbird in Stark Tower when the registration act was passed (the way the Thunderbolts sign up for Registration was a neat little part of the story in Civil War - a rarity since the majority of the themes in the books were handled with giant helpings of ham).
The point is, yeah Chick had no idea who Spider-Woman was, much less that she has nothing to do with Spiderman and has an off-colour history with Hydra but he still enjoyed spamming Storm's Gale attack all the way to the end of the game.
Chick is the everyman gamer here - and that's a rare conclusion to reach since he's a Strategy Fiend. He's the other 70% of gamers who are going to buy this game - the ones who don't know who She Hulk is or why Patriot is hanging around Stark Tower.
By Tom Chick at 6:55 AM ON 10/07/09
Hawkman, did you know that Storm looks nothing like Hallie Berry? I mean not even a little bit. It's remarkable and probably an outrage!
You got about half of them. The flying orc is Green Goblin. The Voldo look-a-like is the Penitent, or something like that. He has a costume made with inward pointing spike for each of the casualties in the disaster that kicked off the Civil War. The Blade looking fellow is actually some sort of time travelling superhero. I didn't catch his name. But he's definitely not Blade. Multiple Man actually gets a lot more "screen time" in Ultimate Alliance 2 than most of the other villains, so I figure he must have a following.
And the reason I reviewed the game instead of someone who's into comic books is because a) I really dug the game, and b) none of Fidgit's staff writers has more than a passing familiarity with comics. But I hope I drove home the point that you don't have to be into comics to dig Ultimate Alliance 2.
By Hawkman at 11:31 AM ON 10/07/09
>>>You got about half of them. The flying orc is Green Goblin.
Then why the incredulousness if you know who the guy is?
>>>The Voldo look-a-like is the Penitent, or something like that. He has a costume made with inward pointing spike for each of the casualties in the disaster that kicked off the Civil War.
Penance. Ah, and that makes sense. This part "I fight a sixty-foot tall black dude in a Lone Ranger mask. Isn't that Voldo from Soulcalibur?" made it sound like you were talking about one character, not two. The sixty-foot tall back guy is Goliath.
By jpinard at 4:41 PM ON 10/07/09
Nice review Tom :)
By Caelwyn at 8:43 PM ON 10/07/09
Great review. I've played all the other ones and I'm a huge comic book fan. But its nice to see someone who isn't a comics fan enjoy the game.
The time-travelling black dude is Bishop, also a fan-favorite.
As to repicking a storyline, you can't do that mid-game but once you've finished it you can play again with the same team on legendary difficulty.
The things i loved about the game, coming from previous versions are:
1. All the new stats, the tracking of achievement completion and collections was awesome.
2, The ability to replay each section of every mission to get things you missed. This was infinitely better than all those repetitive character specific simulator missions.
3. The character specific unlocks, forcing me to use people on actual missions (and in some cases against bosses) and in different ways to get their boosts meant i got a much greater idea of what they can do.
4. The art. I'm not saying I didn't like the old art. Except the cut scenes, they were awful, Overall though I liked the very comic-booky style art that the old games had. However, the art in this game is a lot better, the cut scenes are fantastic (really giving a mission-briefing feel).
5. The gameplay. I found myself challenged a lot more on this game than any of the others. I liked the fusions, I liked the way revivals worked, I even liked the boosts more than i liked equipment (it was easier than fiddling with equipment on all your guys), i liked the skills.
By Anonymous at 8:27 PM ON 10/12/09
Mr. Chick, the way you bait fanbois of any stripe (whether comics, consoles, or what have you) is a joy to behold. I hardly read other gaming blogs anymore.
Anonymous:
Mr. Chick, the way you bait fanbois of any stripe (whether comics, consoles, or what have you) is a joy to behold. ...More »