Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
Published: November 28, 2006
So you'll jump around, experiencing a handful of different major Marvel character stops; a S.H.I.E.L.D. command ship (Nick Fury's digs), Tony Stark's (Iron Man) Tower in New York, Atlantis (Namor's home), Arcade's Sadistic Theme Park Murderworld (complete with old-school pinball and Breakout bits that are really quite inventive), Asgard (home of Thor), the Shi'ar Empire (were the X-Men's Professor X's one-time hottie, Lilandra, lives), and so on. Scattered throughout each are a smattering of relevant characters (both major and minor for the true geeks to giggle about), and the effect is playing through a big crossover event. It's not perfect, but it works, and really the fun here is just seeing how many references are packed in.
Every area has at least some form of mini-boss fight, and most have major ones that either use a prop in the world or rely on a mini-game sequence to fell that boss. On the PlayStation 3, this is executed via the SIXAXIS' motion sensing bits, so you'll quickly tilt or shake the controller in sequence, though unfortunately, it's not terribly responsive and you can end up botching something when it seems like you did it all right. Throughout the game, sequences where you'd normally mash buttons are replaced with shakes and wiggles. It's gimmicky, yes, but for a while it's fun.
It's obvious that Raven employ more than their fair share of comic buffs; the sheer number of references and little touches are all over the place. Bit players are mixed in with more obvious ones, and as you work your way through the story and beef up your characters (by default, characters auto-level and gain powers as determined by the game, but you can take control at any time and reallocate skill points as you see fit), you'll start seeing things like costumes that give unique buffs and improvements, as well as Simulator Discs that basically help tell the back story of major characters. The fun little trivia challenges form the XML games have returned, giving comic freaks a chance to show off... to other comic geeks.
The game's same drop-in/drop-out multiplayer is in effect here, and can be played online or on the same screen (a simple Co-op option lets the computer control any characters you aren't playing as, while Arcade just lets you play with two of 'em if you so choose), and the online features are well implemented on all platforms, though obvious the PS3's PlayStation Network ability to add buddies is a nice bonus for rematching and playing through the game again with the same person. Still, the PS2, PSP and PS3 versions are logistically the same (the PSP version has the usual Sony-mandated 30% extra content, and you can track all your single-player stats online if you'd like which is a nice touch).
So you'll punch and blast and throw and freeze and burn your way through a good 20 or so hours (add another 5-10 if you take your time and do all the optional side quests and simulations) of dungeons with a smattering of mini-game-style challenges. The draw, beyond the geek factor of seeing all this stuff in one place, is the equally geeky role-playing elements, which are, again, rather deep. If you turn off the game's assists, choosing to power up your character as you see fit, you can mess around with costumes, build up your team bonuses, and use equipment to boost stats and add some basic buffs, all of which add a couple more hours of stat-tracked upgrades.
Though all versions are fairly solid, as you move up from the PSP to the PS3, the framerate and visuals make the obvious jumps up that you'd hope for. The PSP version's framerate is almost universally choppy, but it is exact same game (and a little more, level-wise), while the PS2's videos are a horribly compressed mess. The PS3 one runs at 1080p, but at that resolution, some of the smoothness in framerate is lost. With all three, the same basic tiled layout for the levels is there, with the same squared-off rooms and slightly look-alike corridors.
