Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (published by Activision) brings back a pack of Marvel super heroes out to save the world once again from the clutches of evil. With super powers of all shapes and sizes you create your ultimate team of heroes to take on the world and all the bad guys you can shake a stick at!
Graphics
Adelle – The first thing that really jumped out to me about this game are the character models! While the in game models are great the detailed models in the selection menu are fantastic! They look great, the textures are fantastic, and I love the costume choices. The graphics in general look very good. While not everything is perfect there are no huge flaws to gripe about. If anything I think the overall tone in the first parts are too dark which makes it difficult to keep track of your character but thats nothing that a little gamma adjustment won't fix. Overall I like the look of this latest installment. I especially love the look of the super powers!
Daniel – I agree that everything looks great. The effects have a very vibrant look to them, and each character brings with them a very distinct set of visuals to accompany their varied powers. The fusion abilities are particularly awe-inspiring, and each one has unique touches depending on which two characters combine to perform it. My only complaint, and it's a small one, is that the enemies don't always provide as much variety as the heroes. Over the course of the game you'll encounter tons of generic looking soldiers and robots. Though they aren't very interesting to look at themselves, when you've got so many different and fun ways to smash, blast, and destroy them they provide an opportunity to see something cool happen regardless of their own mediocrity.
Sound
Adelle – The sound doesn't really pop nor does it fizzle. They did a great job with the catch phrases that each character spouts while fighting the forces of evil. All around the voice acting is fantastic with a few notable voices sneaking in for a surprise. The environmental sounds are well done and crisp but do not overwhelm the rest of the game. Marvel has a great balance between sound and effects and voices. In some games you get it so the voices are loud enough to hear but then the fighting effects are far louder. This game comes well balanced out of the box and I don't think you will be disappointed with the sound.
Daniel – Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 has a healthy variety of sounds to compliment the array of different powers and melee attacks. While, for example, the characters Iron Man and Songbird both have the ability to shoot energy blasts they don't sound the same. Each character in Marvel UA2 has a unique motif for their sound bytes. Iron Man's moves have an electric sound to them, while Songbird's attacks are accompanied by an ethereal shrieking. Fans of Marvel's previous games, animated series, and movies will delight in hearing the distinct sound effects they'll expect from their favorite heroes, from Wolverine's claw slicing to Spiderman's webbed “thwips”. The musical score does its part to frame the action and superhero drama in turn, and is passable. While I don't foresee anyone rushing out to grab the soundtrack for the game it sets a good backdrop for the various scenes of the game. I especially enjoyed the voice acting for the game, and we had fun playing a small game of “name the actor” for the more recognizable voices.
Game Play
Adelle – Both single player and multi-player are excellent in Marvel UA 2! In single player the party AI is quite good and the rest of your part actually helps you instead of wandering about. Although sometimes you wish they would help you a little more I found everything worked pretty well. Its especially helpful to pick out a team that really goes together (The X Men, Fantastic 4) so you can get the party bonus which is very nice. The controls are easy to use and in no way difficult to figure out. If you have played the first one then you can pick up and play with little learning involved. The special powers of each character are pretty balanced and the fusion attacks are fun and effective. Its very easy to create and effective team to fight with. However this game really shines in multi-player. If you want to get the most out of this game play with others!
Also I really like how in this iteration there are fewer powers to mess around with for each character. The point spending is easy and auto spend works really well, and if you don't like the way it spent your points you can manually pull them out at anytime and put them where you want them! The points are split up evenly between the team so no more fighting over who gets to break which boxes open.
Daniel – I'm caught wondering just how much someone would have to hate comic books to not enjoy this game. Even if, say, the site of comic book characters made you bleed from the ears I think you still might find yourself enjoying this game, blood and all. Almost all the things I could've held against previous Marvel beat-em-ups the X-Men Legends series and Marvel Ultimate Alliance are gone or otherwise muted. All characters level at almost the same pace, whether they're in use or not, so you're free to jump from character to character at will. If you don't like the decisions that have been made either in auto-leveling or by a previous player, you're free to take back choices in skill point and power point expenditures at any time and tweak a hero to your liking.
While the move-lists have grown shorter since Marvel Ultimate Alliance, the four moves each hero does have are infinitely more functional thanks to the games new stamina mechanic. Heroes now regenerate the stamina which fuels their various super-abilities at a much faster rate than previous Marvel brawlers. You no longer need to scrounge up blue orbs as in previous games to regain your powers, and the annoying competition for energy sources the previous mechanics inspired is gone completely. All the things the we used to fight over, in fact, have been removed or overhauled.
The game now doles out health to the character that needs it most whenever any player happens across it. Power points, a type of experience, are rewarded to all players whenever anyone collects it as well. These tweaks promote a sense of team-play when things like health, power, and experienced used to drive a wedge between players in previous games. Leaving other players to fight enemies so you can snag all the gold coins, for example, is a thing of the past, as is fighting with each other to see who could kill more baddies. Perhaps that's the greatest compliment I could pay Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. It makes games I loved playing immensely seem like the “dark days” of a franchise.
Overall
Adelle – I really enjoy this game and I look forward to playing it with all my friends! Its a great pick up and play game where the need to play with someone from beginning to end isn't really necessary. I look forward to playing it all the way through but each time I play with someone I don't care if I am playing a level I have already seen. If I get get bored (which I haven't yet) I can just pick another character! Always something new to experience and play with! I can't wait to see what my favorite superheros are like when they really kick ass.
Also I really like the decisions you have to make as far as the talking trees goes and the pro or anti registration debate! Will you join the resistance or will you side with the government? This actually inspired a full blown debate in my house after we had to choose our sides. I look forward to seeing what others have to say about this one!
Daniel – Ultimate Alliance 2 is easily a “must-buy” game, in my opinion. Even if you own previous games in the series there's plenty of fresh ground to stomp around, and the various tweaks and improvements will leave veterans happily surprised. Going into this game without much knowledge of the Marvel Civil War saga, I found myself getting a substantial education of the major players and events of the arc a huge bonus to the already awesome game. Even if someone knew nothing about comics or the characters there-in the narrative does the job of filling a player in without sounding like a nerd lecturing someone at a comic shop. Like I said before, even if one were to somehow loathe all comic books and the associated characters, the great brawler game play and fun of co-op make this a game I would still recommend to someone who is just going to ignore the story. Almost all dialog and cut-scenes can be skipped through if you have to. The bottom line is that you should do whatever it takes to play this game; you will enjoy it.
Darke
said:
 |
Two Player Reviews for the win! You guys always sound genuinely excited or disappointed about a game. I want to go out and try this game out. Oh, as a Marvel fan.... what side did you both choose? |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
x
