Post by Gilvan Blight on Jul 18, 2007 6:34:35 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Quickly:[/glow] Best Marvel game to date.
[glow=red,2,300]Summary:[/glow] The latest multi=platform Marvel beat-em um, using the X-man Legends Engine. This time the game takes place completely in the Ultimates universe and features characters from most if not all of the Ultimate series. You have the Ultimates (Avengers), X-men, Fantastic Four, a bunch of independents (Ghost Rider, Blade, Electra, etc.) and more. There are more Heroes then ever and a lot of new ones you have never gotten to play before. With all the new heroes come a lot of new powers. For example you can now toss Cap. America's shield and control it as it bounces around the screen.
New this time around are costumes. Each character comes with 4 costumes, only one of which is unlocked at the beginning of game. You can spend money to actually upgrade each characters costumes giving you in game benefits (more armour, more xp, more damage, etc). Completing certain things unlocks different costumes, and each costume not only looks different but has different benefits you can upgrade.
The biggest addition to the game, at least on the PS2 is online play. You can go through the entire game playing with friends (old or new) online. You can go through in beat em up style mode, where you just run and bash and level up, or you can go through in story mode. Up to four players can play on a team at once online. There is no charge for this, and the lobby system is very well done and easy to navigate.
The most fun addition is the ability to make your own Super Hero Group. You pick 4 heroes to be in a team, pick out a logo for them and a name. Then whenever you have a group that includes at least 3 members from your team, they get group xp, this xp can be spent on abilities that affect everyone in the team, and include damage boosts, xp boosts and more. You can even unlock more slots to add new members to your team later in the game.
A few other changes from earlier editions: You only get to equip one piece of gear. There is no shop at your base, money is now spent on costume upgrades. There are a ton of unlock-ables that include background stories for all characters, that once complete, unlock classic costumes. There are unlock-able characters in all, some done through story line others by finding hidden items in game. The Trivia is a lot harder and there are a lot more questions.
The Story has got to be the most ridiculous totally epic thing I have ever heard, and thus fits Marvel perfectly. Dr. Doom has gathered the worlds worst villains and has a dastardly plot that has him going as deep as the Underworld and as far as Asgard. To counter this threat Nick Fury has gathered the worlds greatest heroes. I won't give it away as it's set up like a bit of a mystery. There are a ton of side plots added in this time that adds quite a bit more of an rpg feel to the game, most of these are just fetch quests, but it makes the npcs seem more real as they actually make requests of you, instead of just talking about whatever mission you are on.
[glow=red,2,300]The Good:[/glow]Not broken. I know that sounds odd but the last version of the series had issues. NPCs that didn't work, objects you should have been able to interact with, mission objectives that didn't match what you had to do, etc. None of this exists in Ultimate Alliance, which is a great thing. The gameplay still isn't getting old, it's still a ton of fun to try out different teams of four and you can never get sick of picking up cars and throwing them at people. The costume thing is great, it's nice to have something else on your character you can customize and some of the costumes are just awesome (classic Capt. America is my fave). The story is so far fetched it's great. The Loki character is amazingly well done (one of my favorite Villains). The make your own super team is awesome, and a welcome addition, as are the various side quests.
[glow=red,2,300]The Bad: [/glow]The graphics are getting a bit dated, especially in the cut scene area. The voice acting on the whole is pretty poor, there are some shining examples, but most is horrible. Especially with all the movies coming out, some voices just sound wrong. I wish there was a different system for using powers, as now every character gets so many powers it's difficult to swap between them quickly. Perhaps hitting one shoulder button and then a main button for one set, and a different shoulder button and a main button for the other. Replace the block button would be my thoughts, as I don't think I have used it more then twice the entire game.
[glow=red,2,300]The Ugly: [/glow]somewhat stupid AI. More then once I have had a teammate fall off a cliff, or stand in fire until they are dead. This can be frustrating as you have to wait a set amount of time (I can't remember how long, something like 5 minutes) and find a 'save point' in order to resurrect. No-one online. The online play for this sounded so great, but every single time I have tried to play online I find a totally empty lobby, no ones playing this online, which makes online play totally pointless.
[glow=red,2,300]Overall:[/glow]The best Marvel beat 'em up yet. Lots of new heroes, lots of new gameplay elements and a totally Marvel(ous) story to go with it. If you liked any of the earlier installments you have to pick this one up. It's available used at most rental places and at EB so you can usually find it on the cheap (my copy cost $15 from Rodgers, picked up when they had that awesome 2 for $30 deal).
[glow=red,2,300]Summary:[/glow] The latest multi=platform Marvel beat-em um, using the X-man Legends Engine. This time the game takes place completely in the Ultimates universe and features characters from most if not all of the Ultimate series. You have the Ultimates (Avengers), X-men, Fantastic Four, a bunch of independents (Ghost Rider, Blade, Electra, etc.) and more. There are more Heroes then ever and a lot of new ones you have never gotten to play before. With all the new heroes come a lot of new powers. For example you can now toss Cap. America's shield and control it as it bounces around the screen.
New this time around are costumes. Each character comes with 4 costumes, only one of which is unlocked at the beginning of game. You can spend money to actually upgrade each characters costumes giving you in game benefits (more armour, more xp, more damage, etc). Completing certain things unlocks different costumes, and each costume not only looks different but has different benefits you can upgrade.
The biggest addition to the game, at least on the PS2 is online play. You can go through the entire game playing with friends (old or new) online. You can go through in beat em up style mode, where you just run and bash and level up, or you can go through in story mode. Up to four players can play on a team at once online. There is no charge for this, and the lobby system is very well done and easy to navigate.
The most fun addition is the ability to make your own Super Hero Group. You pick 4 heroes to be in a team, pick out a logo for them and a name. Then whenever you have a group that includes at least 3 members from your team, they get group xp, this xp can be spent on abilities that affect everyone in the team, and include damage boosts, xp boosts and more. You can even unlock more slots to add new members to your team later in the game.
A few other changes from earlier editions: You only get to equip one piece of gear. There is no shop at your base, money is now spent on costume upgrades. There are a ton of unlock-ables that include background stories for all characters, that once complete, unlock classic costumes. There are unlock-able characters in all, some done through story line others by finding hidden items in game. The Trivia is a lot harder and there are a lot more questions.
The Story has got to be the most ridiculous totally epic thing I have ever heard, and thus fits Marvel perfectly. Dr. Doom has gathered the worlds worst villains and has a dastardly plot that has him going as deep as the Underworld and as far as Asgard. To counter this threat Nick Fury has gathered the worlds greatest heroes. I won't give it away as it's set up like a bit of a mystery. There are a ton of side plots added in this time that adds quite a bit more of an rpg feel to the game, most of these are just fetch quests, but it makes the npcs seem more real as they actually make requests of you, instead of just talking about whatever mission you are on.
[glow=red,2,300]The Good:[/glow]Not broken. I know that sounds odd but the last version of the series had issues. NPCs that didn't work, objects you should have been able to interact with, mission objectives that didn't match what you had to do, etc. None of this exists in Ultimate Alliance, which is a great thing. The gameplay still isn't getting old, it's still a ton of fun to try out different teams of four and you can never get sick of picking up cars and throwing them at people. The costume thing is great, it's nice to have something else on your character you can customize and some of the costumes are just awesome (classic Capt. America is my fave). The story is so far fetched it's great. The Loki character is amazingly well done (one of my favorite Villains). The make your own super team is awesome, and a welcome addition, as are the various side quests.
[glow=red,2,300]The Bad: [/glow]The graphics are getting a bit dated, especially in the cut scene area. The voice acting on the whole is pretty poor, there are some shining examples, but most is horrible. Especially with all the movies coming out, some voices just sound wrong. I wish there was a different system for using powers, as now every character gets so many powers it's difficult to swap between them quickly. Perhaps hitting one shoulder button and then a main button for one set, and a different shoulder button and a main button for the other. Replace the block button would be my thoughts, as I don't think I have used it more then twice the entire game.
[glow=red,2,300]The Ugly: [/glow]somewhat stupid AI. More then once I have had a teammate fall off a cliff, or stand in fire until they are dead. This can be frustrating as you have to wait a set amount of time (I can't remember how long, something like 5 minutes) and find a 'save point' in order to resurrect. No-one online. The online play for this sounded so great, but every single time I have tried to play online I find a totally empty lobby, no ones playing this online, which makes online play totally pointless.
[glow=red,2,300]Overall:[/glow]The best Marvel beat 'em up yet. Lots of new heroes, lots of new gameplay elements and a totally Marvel(ous) story to go with it. If you liked any of the earlier installments you have to pick this one up. It's available used at most rental places and at EB so you can usually find it on the cheap (my copy cost $15 from Rodgers, picked up when they had that awesome 2 for $30 deal).