Articles
By Q Dog Sah
Published: Mar. 18, 2007 3:01 PM
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is the spiritual sequel of the two X-Men Legends games. Instead of having a cast of X-Men to choose from, M:UA allows you to assemble a foursome of your favourite Marvel heroes to do battle against the joint forces of evil from the various Marvel comics. For those unfamiliar with X-Men Legends, it is a top-down beat-em-up with some RPG elements thrown in for good measure. Raven Software haven’t messed with this formula too much, and M:UA is a game that remains true to its roots, and is damn good fun to boot.
The story in M:UA is entirely inconsequential, merely giving you an excuse to beat a hell of a lot of guys up. However, if you do choose to pay attention to it you may feel that it is somewhat convoluted. I can understand that it is not easy to come up with a compelling story that allows all these heroes and villains to come together in the one game, so I can forgive this. The game opens with Doctor Doom attacking a Helicarrier that you are on, alerting the combined super heroes to his evil plot to take over the universe. Along the way, you will meet plenty of other Marvel villains who you will need to defeat if you wish to succeed in your quest to save the universe. (just another day in the life of a super hero, really)
There are 25 heroes available to choose from, with about 1/3 of them needing to be unlocked when you start the game. Most of the heroes you will recognise immediately, with familiar faces like Spiderman, Captain America, the entire Fantastic 4 and a handful of X-Men like Wolverine and Storm all available for selection straight off the bat. There are also a few more obscure heroes available, probably more recognisable to fans of the comics rather than recently released movies, such as Miss Marvel and Spiderwoman. The one noticeable, and disappointing, exclusion is the absence of The Hulk. Unfortunately, the rights to The Hulk are owned by a different video game publisher making him decidedly unavailable for M:UA. Not to worry, for fans of big, slow and strong characters, The Thing is a good substitute.
M:UA is predominantly a beat-em-up game, and as such the gameplay revolves around beating things up. If you don’t enjoy endless amounts of hand-to-hand combat, then this game is not for you. Each hero has his or her own powers that you can draw on as you play through the game, such as Spidey’s web or Captain America’s shield toss, as well as stock standard punches and kicks. You can also pick up or even grab off enemy characters various limited use weapons, such as axes or steel bars, to use in your brawling.
As you fight your way through the game, each character you use will gain experience points that will allow you to upgrade their abilities and make them better equipped for the stronger and better enemies you will encounter in the later stages of the game. This is where the RPG element comes in. You will have access to a range of different abilities, as well as different character costumes that will give you various bonuses depending on which ones you choose. There isn’t a whole lot of depth here, but there is enough customisation to keep you interested and it is nice having something to work towards.
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