Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

Dec 4, 2006

When X-Men Legends was released in 2004, we were shown what a team-based superhero game should be. Armed with all of the powers that they were known for, the X-Men managed to pull off one of the most satisfying superhero games in years. Now, the next step has been taken with Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, sporting not just the cast of mutant heroes we're all familiar with, but a whole laundry list of champions from the Marvel U, making for one hell of a good time.

As the game begins, we find the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier under a huge offensive from Dr. Doom, and Nick Fury has no other choice than to put out a distress signal to any superhero in the area. Enter our starting lineup of Captain America, Thor, Wolverine and Spider-Man, complete with their distinct personalities and powers, all at your command. As you progress through the game, your travels will take you through heaven and hell, and from the ends of the earth to the far reaches of the galaxy, all in the name of saving the day in an epic story that remains compelling throughout.

Gameplay is exactly what you'd expect from a dungeon crawler: lots of hack-and-slash action with plenty of enemies and boss fights to plow through. Using a team of four heroes, it's up to the player to save the universe from another one of Dr. Doom's nefarious schemes. Melee combat uses three buttons (heavy attacks, light attacks and a grapple function) to pummel the enemy into submission. However, the real treat in combat comes with the special powers that each hero has. Using the right trigger button, you can launch a flurry of special attacks that are unique to each hero. Spidey hurls web balls at his enemies, while Daredevil uses his batons. Ghost Rider has his chains at his disposal, and Cap can throw his shield at any foe in his path (and in Cap's case, you can manually control the shield's path, should you desire).

Another great feature is that each character has their own style of fighting that fits their traits from the comics. Spidey relies on speed, using a flurry of kicks and punches when he's out of web fluid. Wolverine is the brawler of the bunch, unleashing devastating attacks, with one special attack where he pounces on his victim and stabs them several times before backing off. With every enemy that you defeat and every team combo that's pulled off, a character's momentum will increase, eventually allowing you to perform momentum attacks, which act as finishing moves, dealing out heavy damage and clearing the battlefield of most enemies. Naturally, if you use these during fights with well-known villains of the Marvel Universe, you won't be seeing a one-hit kill, but you'll certainly dish out some heavy damage.

Boss fights, on the other hand, are handled a bit differently. The Avengers aren't really called to action when some dude who uses his mastery of mirrors for evil is on the prowl. Rather, they have to take down Hydras, 100-foot-tall killer robots, and devourers of worlds. That said, it wouldn't really make sense if Blade went into hand-to-hand battle with a giant baddie and did damage to nothing more than an ankle. Instead, these boss fights are handled in a style similar to what's found in God of War: find a trigger to an attack, perform a combo that triggers a little sequence that winds up putting on the hurt, and repeat the process until your baddie is felled. It makes for some frantic and satisfying boss fights, and once they're over you'll find yourself relieved that you made it out of the battle in one piece.

Some great fun is to be had with the team selection process, as there are 25 characters (many of which have to be unlocked) that you can choose from, with a huge potential number of teams that can be assembled. Staple teams of the Marvel U are accounted for, including the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and Marvel Knights, and with every proper team that you put together, you'll get team bonuses. Other "theme teams" will also get you some additional bonuses, and teams catering to heavy hitters or the smarter characters will also see unique bonuses to help them on their way. My personal favorite group of heroes is the New Avengers, who see a nice team bonus and consist of Captain America, Iron Man, Spidey and Wolvie, making for a solid assortment of ranged attacks, speed and strength. If you have a group of heroes that you've always wanted to see team up, but they've never grouped together, you have the option to create your own team. You can choose four heroes to form up, and as you play through the game with your group, you'll open up new spots on the team and you'll also receive bonuses, making for a more effective unit.

The customization options offer up another good deal of fun, allowing you to upgrade skills and abilities, or even suit up in a new costume. You'll get experience points throughout the game that can be used to improve your stats. If you want Johnny Storm to focus on ranged attacks, improve his fireball skill. Tony Stark's supposed to be crowd control? Up his energy pulse skill. Different costumes also allow you to focus on certain traits. While one costume will affect Captain America's shield mastery, another will improve his combos. One costume may improve Wolverine's healing factor, with another helping out his striking stat. Most importantly, the costumes look cool. My team sees Captain America in his WWII uniform, Iron Man in his Ultimate Suit, Wolverine in his Astonishing costume and Spidey in his crimson and gold Tony Stark costume. Other costumes include Storm's punk getup (including the Mohawk), Colossus in his classic costume, and Daredevil in his original yellow and black outfit. These options don't make or break the game, but they are certainly a nice touch that will be appreciated by many comic fans.

The variations between the different versions of the game are mostly aesthetic, but the difference is substantial, with the next-gen versions leading the way. There are small touches, like the scales on Captain America's uniform or the texture of Spidey's costume, that show off the care and detail put into the next-gen versions of the game. The visuals on the PS3 version are still a leap above the current-gen, but they don't look quite as good as what's found on the Xbox 360. Some jaggies can be seen and the detail that's found on the 360 isn't quite there on the PS3. It's far from terrible, but if you're looking for the best possible picture quality, the 360 version remains the one to get.

The biggest change from the other versions of the game to the PS3 is that it makes a lot of use of the Sixaxis features, and not necessarily for the best. In the current-gen versions, you have the ability to pull weapons and shields from various baddies by quickly tapping a button, which is simple enough. In the PS3 version, you're forced to grab the item in question and shake the controller up and down instead of tapping a button. This is a real turn off as it feels awkward and it makes you look like a child throwing a tantrum. During the boss fights, you'll be prompted to tilt the controller in a Simon Says-style sequence, rather than pressing buttons as found in the other versions. It certainly doesn't break the game, but it is sometimes unresponsive, making for some frustrating moments.

Though the single-player modes are a lot of fun, the multiplayer is another can of worms. The offline multiplayer mode is fair enough, with support for up to four players, each player controlling one hero in your four-man team. Two modes are available for multiplayer: co-op and arcade. Cooperative play just has players go through the story mode of the game -- no special gimmicks or anything, just the normal game with four-player support. Arcade mode is similar, but with one twist: Players compete for the most points, with the leading hero deemed the winner at the end of a level. It's doesn't grant the player any bonuses, it just allows for bragging rights.

When you go online, the same two modes available for offline play are available for the online game, with one nice touch. When you host a game, you have the option to load up a saved game from your campaign, allowing you to continue the adventure online. When we previously reviewed the other versions of the game, the one for the Sony platform worked rather well, while Xbox versions were laggy and unresponsive. The PS3 version seems to have a bit of both worlds, as it sometimes works splendidly, while other times it's absolutely unplayable, suffering from severe lag and ridiculous frame-rate drops without any rhyme or reason. While the poor performance could potentially be due to a bad connection on the host's end, when it works well, it's a real blast to play.

There are only a small number of superhero games being released this year, and an even smaller number are actually worth your time. With Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, there's a lot of fun to be had with the slew of comic legends at your disposal. If you're a fan of X-Men Legends, then it's safe to say that MUA is right up your alley. If you dig either dungeon crawlers or Marvel comic icons, you'll probably enjoy what Ultimate Alliance has to offer. Considering the civil war currently going on in the Marvel books, it's a joy to see our heroes working together in all of their glory.