Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

This is a review of the version for the PC. Something that I did not know before I started this became clear to me immediately when I did: That this is a spiritual successor to the X-Men Legends series. Anyone who liked those should enjoy this, as well. There is again a ton of characters(and their personalities are essentially all spot-on, not to *mention* their bad-ass abilities), locations(Asgard, Atlantis, and you'll go to outer space and walk on(!) a spacecraft in motion) and facts(yes, it's kind of a lexicon about it) surrounding what has now been extended to the entire Marvel universe. The story-telling tools are scripted sequences, in-engine videos that operate as briefings(and they are a tad forced, reiterating info that you can find by talking to NPC's; with that said, they are less so than those of XML2, and downright engaging and entertaining at their best; you see the enemies talk to each other at times, as well, only they tip-toe around enough to not let the player know what the intended outcome of their master plan is, which can get a little awkward) and finally, a handful of fully CGI cut-scenes that I'm pretty sure you'll find mention of if you look up the word "awesome" in very recent dictionaries. Voice acting leaves little to be desired(and they tend to be well-cast), if Black Widow sounds like Molly from The Punisher game of 2004, which can be a tiny bit distracting. I think it is the same actress. That is minor, and this has Adrienne Barbeau as Sif, and that's not where the talent in that department ends. Audio in general is impeccable(if there are a ton of reused FX); the music is incredible, well-composed and helps the epic tone and flavor of this, and tends to fit the situation. The one issue is the volume... seriously, this cranks it up in tense situations, so you either have to tolerate it being louder for a while, or turn it down and then back up so that you can hear anything once it returns to the other score. This contains unlockables, like the discs that are now comic missions, much bigger, with time constraints and often a prologue about who you are playing it as, and that is nearly invariably fixed, one per each. It appears to have been made by the companies responsible for the first two. The map remains the same, as does the overall design - saving is done by checkpoint where you can teleport to others and change who your team consists of, or their outfits. You have to turn the camera a lot of the time, but hey, it works. This has a reasonable length, and it doesn't wear out its welcome. The plot is interesting, with unexpected twists that hold up. Apart from the return of what was already great, this improves on a number of things. It genuinely gives you the feeling that you are accomplishing something. The targeting is good, largely automatic. Enemies and areas are rather diverse. The levels continue to be entirely linear, and get shorter as you go along(with that said, they're plenty big to begin with), and with their atmosphere and the dynamic touch(there is a ton of stuff going on, for example in the background) to the environments, it makes those of the previous 2 look static by comparison, and you can return to the majority of them later on. Attacks and the types that you can play as are nicely varied(it doesn't seem to matter particularly who you choose), and everyone is sure to find favorites among them. There is limited mid-air combat for the fliers(and flight is easy to do), and you can jump and strike(in the landing), which can be charged up, same as your Smash move. You can now do additional Throw moves, not merely toss the foe in any of the four directions, you can beat them up, and do this other trick that is specific to the guy you're playing as, and steal and wield weapons(and those are sure strong, if they do break, and you have to put it away to use anything else to dish out punishment with) from some, or simply snatch their gun or shield to remove the advantage that it gives them. Now you can't carry health or energy pickups, and as a trade-off, you can earn them by whaling on opponents. You have more control over your powers(several of them can be recognized from earlier in the franchise, if assigned to others), and you can steer Cap's shield, to name one thing. It is now about 8 per person(and there are projectile, radial and mêlée for most of them, no one is useless), with exceptions, and you assign a key to activating each, and you thus can use any of them anytime you want(save for the final one, that is one that needs storing energy, and is *worth it*), unless you're using a game-pad or something. "Reviving" fallen comrades now takes time and costs nothing. A second player can drop in or out at any time. The graphics are fantastic. They clearly put effort into this, and the new stuff makes it enduring. Unfortunately, there are problems. This never feels difficult or risky, and It tries too hard, constantly chucking this or that(that you can remember from the graphic novels) at you. And a bit of the stuff that is in this to keep it from growing stale(hit this or that button when prompted to, once or tap it) has been seen elsewhere, and here, it is frankly not quite as impressive as it was in other games. It can be repetitive and frustrating. This is clearly rushed and not perfectly smoothed out. There are shortcuts taken, bugs and glitches(noticeable in the AI). And it is not as addictive or fun as it could be. I recommend this to fans of the source material; this is an enjoyable and respectful production about it. 8/10