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This alliance isn't really that ultimate
Not a whole lot needed changing in the last Ultimate Alliance game. Unfortunately, much has been changed for the sequel, and most of it for the worse.
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 follows the story of the Marvel Civil War, the conflict that rips the super-hero community apart and sees friend fighting friend. On one side is Iron Man and Shield, who want all super-humans to register and become federal agents. Against them stands Captain America and his White Star militia.
This game leaves a lot to be desired. The original MUA was one a very solid action RPG that spanned a wide variety of Marvel vistas and characters. MUA 2 seems to throw all that out the window by trading sweeping vistas and casts for several generic base/city street/rooftop/factor levels and a couple unique settings. The original's wide cast of characters has been swapped for a slightly smaller character pool, made even smaller by the elimination of several characters for a third of the game depending on which side you choose.
And that brings me to the other problem I have with this game. The civil war storyline of the Marvel universe spanned several years in the comics, and featured double-dealing, black ops, betrayals and alliances, and people being cloned and shot into space, among other things. All that is thrown out the window in the video game and replaced with three levels that feature the epitomy of cliché: a base defense/assault, protect/ambush the convoy, and a big brawl in a chemical factory. As a matter of fact, the biggest event of the Civil War, the death of Captain America, which main nation-wide mainstream news, is not even addressed in the game. The developers seem to have played a very intense game of cherry-picking when writing the game's story, which is a deadly dance to be doing when you're creating a game in a series that it could be argued is the epitome of comic book fan-service.
There is a little bit of good to be had in this title however. Deadpool plays a prominent role in this game, chiefly as comic relief, and some of the fourth-wall breaking humor he provides is absolutely hillarious. Also, some of the background items in the game, such as the audio clips and dossiers, provide an immense amount of background information for interested players. The game also features a new game + feature that allows you to play repeated play throughs while keeping your progress in terms of levels and unlockables.
Also, the game is genuinely enjoyable to play. I had a good time playing it, even though I was frustrated constantly by what was missing. This comes from the solid controls game play of the title. Your characters respond to you moves quite well, and I didn't seem to find myself getting stuck in the environment as much as I did in the first MUA game.
I can't unconditionally recommend this game for purchase, there's just too much lacking. Still, give it a try, you might like it.
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System: |
Xbox 360
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| Genre: |
Action RPG
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| Experience: |
Finished the game on normal difficulty
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