Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

Written by Jason Young  on August 28, 2006

First Impressions: Marvel's ultimate kick-ass party has begun to take namesЕ let's just hope that the almighty Puck isn't on the list.

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As true believers everywhere are engaged in the newest edition of Marvel's latest saga, Civil War, it was only a matter of time until a crossover game of that scope was made as well. Who wouldn't want to have the valorous Captain America fighting alongside Marvel hottie Elektra, after all?

Although game crossovers have been done before, such as Capcom's successful VS. series, a lot of lesser known characters have been routinely left out in favor of more well-known ones. Thankfully, Activision has heard the call and has decided to work with Marvel in order to create an RPG with over 140 of your favorite Marvel heroes and villains. With the highly successful RPG-series, X-Men Legends, under their belts fans everywhere have been eagerly anticipating the release of this game as it takes everything that we love about the Legend series and mashes it into an epic of biblical proportions.

Though the character list hasn't entirely been revealed to the public as of yet, people can expect to see their favorites in the game: Spider-Man, Elektra, Ghost Rider, Blade, Wolverine, etc. Although out of the 140 or so characters in the game, only twenty-four are expected to be playable in the game's mission mode; with more being available for competitive play. With that many characters in the game there's going to be plenty of customization to go around.

Gameplay-wise, the game can't help but draw comparisons to X-Men Legends. There are a few differences however. In Rise of Apocalypse one of the game's drawbacks was the fact that players were only able to access Danger Room levels that were either unlocked or progressed through single player mode, but in Ultimate Alliance, players can now progress through any level in multiplayer/online mode in over seventeen fully destructible environments ranging from the X-Mansion to Asgard.

Each of the playable characters will have his/her own trademark move divided into both standard and weapon attacks while the ability to use a super remains. Just like Legends, using combinations of attacks with two or more characters will form stronger attacks. New to the game is the addition for all characters to be able to block attacks as opposed to just running like in Legends.

The game's play modes consists of both solo and multiplayer mode, which entails a Competitive and Co-op; both which can be played online. In Competitive mode, the game keeps track of your progress and stats so you can compare your score against a friend. In off-line competitive play, player one will control the heroes while player two plays as the villains. For those of us who prefer to play solo, players can expect to switch back and forth between characters; making for some particularly fast-paced battles.

Graphically, fans can eagerly anticipate seeing a plethora of moves on-screen that associate producer, Chris Palmisano, claims will be pushing the limits of what next-gen machines can do. After a live demo of the game available at the San Diego Comic Con 2006, how can we not believe him?

The game looked simply awesome as the developers took plenty of time and effort to correct the texture and lighting problems that were present at the E3 presentation of the game. Although only the Xbox 360 version of the game was available at press time, progression of the Nintendo Wii version has been coming along as well. Although the graphics won't be as flashy as the PS3 or 360 versions, they're still flashier than what's presently available for the current generations.

Perhaps the most interesting feature about the game is the fact that every console will have its own unique set of features included in the game. The PSP will have exclusive prequel missions, while the GBA has the ability to call in a Сstriker' to cause massive on-screen damage. Wii owners can expect the game to have innovative controls assigned to maximize the system's unique control system.

Although the game's storyline isn't particularly innovative in terms of writing, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is shaping out to be one of the most anticipated superhero games in years. With a roster spanning over 140 characters, unique comic-book specific missions, and multiple endings, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is the superhero game that you've been waiting for.