Marvel Ultimate Alliance

[Z]

http://powet.tv/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/marvel_ultimate_alliance.jpg
http://powet.tv/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/marvel_ultimate_alliance.jpg

So I have not played this game yet. I was thinking about getting the PS3 version. I've heard mostly good things about the series but was curious if anyone here has played it yet.

This summer they will be coming out with a Part 2 and I have to admit the movie clips looks amazing. The gameplay, however, looks a little clunky to me but, again, I've never actually played.

From Wikipedia:

Marvel Ultimate Alliance

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is an action role-playing game (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_role-playing_game) released in 2006. It is set within the fictional (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiction) Marvel Universe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Universe) and features many of the superheroes, supervillains, and supporting characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Comics).

Plot:
The heroes must work together, under Nick Fury (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Fury)'s command, to stop master villain Dr. Doom (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Doom), and the group of supervillains known as the Masters of Evil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_Evil) who plan to conquer the world, through an intricate plot whose ultimate goal has Doom stealing Odin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odin_%28comics%29)'s very powers so he can remodel the world to his own image.

The missions cover a range of various locations from the Marvel Universe: the S.H.I.E.L.D. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.H.I.E.L.D.) Helicarrier (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicarrier) U.N.N. Alpha; Stark Tower (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stark_Tower); S.H.I.E.L.D. Omega Base; Atlantis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis_%28Marvel_Comics%29); Mandarin's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_%28comics%29) palace; Sanctum Sanctorum; Arcade (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcade_%28comics%29)'s amusement park (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amusement_park) Murderworld (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murderworld); Mephisto's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mephisto_%28comics%29) realm; Valhalla (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valhalla); the Bifröst (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bifr%C3%B6st)Asgard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asgard_%28comics%29); Niflheim (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niflheim); Attilan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attilan); a Shi'ar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shi%27ar) space vessel; the Skrull (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skrull)Latveria (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latveria).

Features:
Players can select teams of four from a range of more than twenty-two playable characters (although some characters are not initially available and need to be unlocked), allowing them to create their own superhero teams or recreate famous teams from the publications. Bonuses are also available if forming certain groups (e.g. the Avengers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avengers_%28comics%29), Fantastic Four (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_Four), Marvel Knights (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Knights)). The game also has alternative endings, dictated by the number of optional missions the player completes. Also included are trivia, artwork, and "simulator discs", which unlock non-story related missions for characters. Each character also has a variety of costumes that offer different advantages.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, previously known as Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Fusion will be the sequel to the 2006 action role-playing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_role-playing_game) video game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel:_Ultimate_Alliance). The game is being developed by Vicarious Visions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicarious_Visions) and will be published by Activision (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activision).[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Ultimate_Alliance_2:_Fusion#cite_note-GameInformer-preview-1) The game features characters from the Marvel Comics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Comics) universe and centers around the Marvel's Civil War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_%28comics%29) storyline. [3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Ultimate_Alliance_2:_Fusion#cite_note-E2-2008-2)

Gameplay
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 follows the same basic gameplay patterns as its predecessor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel:_Ultimate_Alliance). The game allows to players to choose four heroes from a roster at any given time to play through the game. Players will also have the ability to level up (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Level_up#Level-based_progression) characters and earn new abilities and powers. Vicarious Visions have made changes in the game and camera controls for greater fluidity during gameplay. The Comic-Con (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic-Con_International) 2008 trailer shows an improvement in the power combo system; instead of merely doing some extra damage, two combined powers will yield a new attack altogether, such as Invisible Woman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_Woman) creating a force field and Iron Man (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Man) overloading it with energy, effectively creating a bomb, or even the classic Fastball Special (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fastball_Special) maneuver. [4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Ultimate_Alliance_2:_Fusion#cite_note-comic-con_trailer-3)



On paper, these games sounds awesome. I'm just not sure if the concept translated very well onto the playstation.

[deathofcheese]

I know that Ultimate Alliance is now bundled with some 360 boxes, along with some other game, maybe a racing game. I borrowed UA from a friend and played it one afternoon. It's definitely a mindless button-mashing beat-em-up arcade-like basic game. If that's your thing, I think you'll enjoy it. I was entertained, but I wouldn't call it a "good" game, or even pay for it.

[Z]

While I'm not always a fan of button mashing games, I have a feeling I will be picking this one up tomorrow (hopefully cheap). Do you know if multiplayer is available online (as in, other players at their homes can play on a team rather than having to invite 3 people over)?

[deathofcheese]

I know that it has a multiplayer mode, but I don't know if it's available over network. Also, whereas the PS3 and 360 versions are supposedly identical, I'm intrigued by the PC version, since you can mod customized content into it (meaning any hero you want, in addition to premade unlockable heroes that you don't have to purchase).

[Z]

I went looking around for it over the lunch break today. Gamestop has the PS2 version selling for $12 and change. I couldn't find a location that had the PS3 version but amazon is selling it used for $21 and change. I'm not sure if there's enough difference in the titles to pay nearly double for the PS3 but if it's network capable, I may have to go ahead and try it out. If not, the PS2 version seems to be the way to go.

---------- Post added at 14:51 ---------- Previous post was at 14:48 ----------

Okay, according to IGN, the PS3 version does have online multiplayer.

http://ps3.ign.com/objects/822/822967.html
Memory Blocks

2 MB HDD Space

Multiplayer Functions

Offline Versus Multiplayer (4 players)
Online Versus Multiplayer (4 players)
Online Multiplayer

Support Functions

16:9 Support
480p Support
720p Support
1080i Support
1080p Support
Dolby Digital


So I may just have to amazon this one.

[deathofcheese]

Keep scouring bargain bins. Amazon/eBay might be a nice alternative, but $21 + s/h seems too much to me.

[Z]

They had a new crop of sellers on amazon that lowered the price to $19. I went ahead and got it at that price.

[tjkitsune]

Awsome game! The online mode is a bit buggy. I've tried playing it on the 360 and it often lags, always having to wait for other players, especially if you have 4 of them on your team. There's a good, solid cast of characters to choose from. I HIGHLY recommend finding the Gold Edition, as it includes the Villians/Heroes packs sold seperately from the original release.

Alliance 2 looks to be even better. I actually met one of the artists for the game at ACEN a year ago. Even got some art from him. He let it slip to me that he had been working on another Alliance game at that time, before it was even announced, but couldn't give me any details, as he did just the art for it and knew nothing about the story, but said the visuals would be even better in the 2nd game, so we'll see. And with all the other crappy Marvel games out there these days, Alliance is definetly the better of the bunch. Ravensoft makes some good RPGs though too. And the company is located in Madison, WI!

[Z]

Well my copy came in today. Unfortunately (if you want to consider it unfortunate, which I actually don't), I'm too caught up in inFamous to try the game out right now. We'll see how it goes. Maybe I'll give it a shot later tonight.

[Z]

I actually forgot I had this game for a while there (after inFamous, I got caught up in Prototype).

Having tried the game out, now, I think I am enjoying it a bit. It's definitely a simple game but it's cool to see the cameos and story play out. The wierd part is the casting. It seems like a handful of these characters are from the Ultimate Marvel Universe but the creators neglected to make certain changes. For instance, Nick Fury is still the white guy from the regular Marvel Universe (The Ultimate version is a black dude that resembles Sam Jackson as Shaft). Also, Iron Man seems to be in the regular uniform, rather than the Ultimate one. It appears they've mixed and matched how they saw fit.

The gameplay is easy enough. You have your standard attacks and then you have 4 special attacks for each character. Initially, you only have access to 1 of your 4 special attacks but the others unlock as you level up.

Lots of gathering to be done in this game as well. You can grab Action Figures, Sketch Pads (for bonus art), and stat boosts. Initially, you already have a wide array of characters to choose from to get on your team but there's also a handful of locked characters you have to earn.

But, like I said, it's not an overly complicated game and while pure button-mashing might not get the job done, it gets it pretty close sometimes.

If I enjoy this all the way through, I'll definitely get the sequel (which, oddly enough, is based on a Regular Marvel Universe storyline; the Marvel Civil War. They even added Green Goblin who looks like the Regular Green Goblin (rather than the Ultimate one). Captain America, Hulk/Banner and Wolverine are definitely the Ultimate versions, though, so it gets a little odd.

[Z]

I've gotten pretty far. I'm currently at the Ymir (Frost Giant) boss fight. My 6-axis tilt on the controller was being unresponsive so I lost but, after the other controller charges up, I should be able to kick Ymir's ass pretty easily.

ALso, Classic costumes are available for playable characters (as opposed to the Ultimate costumes) but, with Nick Fury being a white dude, I still think this is supposed to be set in the Classic Marvel Universe.

My current team of choice is Captain America, Spider-Man, Dr. Strange and Wolverine (for, for the Asgard levels, I'm using Thor instead of Wolvie). I've been personally controlling Captain America the most and giving him all the Body and Strike upgrades so, right now he's an uber badass.

I'm a little disappointed with Spider-Man in this game, and even Dr. Strange to a degree, but Strange has some decent powers (such as mind controling enemies and turning them into boxes filled with exp coins) and Spidey is decent at crowd control (can slow down time by 50%, like bullet time). Captain AMerica's richocheting sheild throw has proven invaluable, though, especially when upgraded. I've taken out 5 enemies at once with that thing when most CC attacks can only handle 3.

But, to reiterate, gamplay is fairly simple. The story is just 'okay'. But, for a comic fan, it's been fun :D

[Z]

I got MUA2 a while back and played through it. It's incredibly similar to the first as far as gameplay style, though there are a few tweeks (like the ability to execute fusion attacks which is pretty much attacks that involve 2 superheroes' powers at once).

The visuals looks better though the storyline deviates greatly from the source material. Basically, the game takes place during the Marvel Civil War. WIth most characters, you can choose to play on either side of the conflict (Pro-Superhero Registration or Anti-Superhero Registration). The game includes multiple endings and a decent cast of characters.

There will also be downloadable additional characters in the very near future (like Carnage, Psylocke and others).

My biggest gripes against the game is that each character only comes with 1 alternate costume and Dr. Strange is oddly absent from the cast currently (whereas he was included in the first game). Hulk is in the cast, though, which is a little weird since Hulk was on another planet during the Civil War in the comic books.

If you pre-ordered the game, you also get to use Juggernaut (via download) though I have a feeling Juggs will become available to everyone at some point in the future.

Anyone play it? You like?