Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects [Xbox]

Who knows what went wrong? For this foray into spandex action, EA combined a talented development studio, writing from a noted Marvel scribe, and characters designs by a rock-solid artist. Yet the result is this terribly limp outing, which awkwardly merges a two-player fighting game with one-player brawling. Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects could have been great. It coulda been a contender. Instead, it's as exciting as talking to Brando's corpse.

Based on a story by Mark Millar, Nemesis throws mainstay Marvel heroes into battle against an invading alien force. Some characters have been corrupted, leading to unpredictable matchups where, for example, the Thing fights Storm.

The single-player game is all 3D action, with short stages featuring a varied cast trying to smack down the invaders... who look like they might have been rejected by designers on The Suffering. Strangely, though, there's also a two-player component where players can battle online or off in open 3D environments with single Marvel characters.

Let's break it down. First, there's the abysmally uninteresting single-player game. Several storylines play out simultaneously. Players choose between a number of different heroes and stages; many of the storylines eventually converge, typically in a battle. Stages are short -- many take under three minutes -- and are filled with a few uninspired aliens/villains/whatever. Environments are revisited frequently and there's little sense of a story worth following.

It's also not worth playing. An overclocked Final Fight arcade machine offers more combat options. Punch, kick, a lame block, and modifiers to hit faster or harder are the basics. Each character moves and fights in basically the same way; Nemesis doesn't do enough to exploit the wild differences between members of the cast, outside of the most powerful special powers available to each.

Items can be picked up and thrown, but there's no targeting system. Hitting an enemy requires keeping a certain distance, but the aliens can take down Spidey with a barrel thrown from two inches. Go figure. Getting pummeled fills a rage meter. Unleash stored rage and more powerful attacks are available for a few seconds, but you'll have to watch the same rage intro animation. Every. Single. Time.

Eventually, a boss battle will crop up, and these are comparatively more interesting, until you realize how cheap Nemesis really is. Most games build player skills during the main stages and then test them in the boss battle. This sucker tries to be innovative by offering zero skills with which to face off against enemies that can hit faster, target effortlessly, and move without the clumsy analog control that hampers the player. Breaking a controller frequently seemed like a good idea, but we wouldn't give this game the satisfaction.

It might help to mention that the two-player fighting game is slightly better. On the other hand, it might not, since unlocking the dozen or so characters to use in that mode can only be done by beating the lame solo game. In other words, the only decent part of Rise of the Imperfects is dangled like a sweet reward in front of players who are able to bite their tongue and finish the solo game.

Regardless, playing against another human, whether at home or online, is the only way to get even vague satisfaction out of Nemesis. Players will still be hampered by the skimpy move set and rigid controls, but at least they won't have to contend with AI that is alternately dirt simple and superhuman.

Inevitably, some will rush to defend the game based on visual presentation. And indeed, on the Xbox and GameCube, it's not the worst looking game around. The design of each character is interesting, even if many of the underlying models are overly similar. But for PS2 owners... well, not even rose-colored glasses will help. Environments that are simple and boxy on the other consoles are downright ugly on the PS2. Textures are murky and the color palette looks like a mistake. It's like a game created with the last five crayons left in the box.

There is no front on which Rise of the Imperfects is a success. It's a schizophrenic game that tests poorly as both a brawler and a fighter. 80 percent of the game is too easy, and the balance is cheap and simply not fun. With the freedom to pummel friends with a dozen proven Marvel heroes, this should have been an ambitious, entertaining game. Instead, it's just an ugly, boring jumble.