We've all waited for something like this. The ability to grab some of our favorite Marvel
heroes and just beat the crap out of everything that gets in our way be
it a crate or a galactic super-being. There's hours of solid,
unadulterated battles ahead of you in Marvel Ultimate Alliance (or MUA
from here on). Feel up to it, champ?
Graphics [9/10] Webmasters Rating
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To put it bluntly, the graphics are stunning. The characters,
environments, the enemies, all well detailed. You'll find yourself
gazing at the background from time to time be it you're in an industrial
complex or a hellish dimension. Admittedly, there are points where if
feels as if you've been in the same area before due to similarity in
room design from stage to stage, but that's assuming you're not busy
trying to survive from an onslaught of minions. One major flaw, however,
are drops in the frame-rate, causing hiccups in action. However, you'll
find them forgivable.
Controls [8/10] Webmasters Rating
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Fairly intuitive here. Two buttons act as combat buttons (weak &
strong), while you have your jump, block, and grab buttons. The triggers
bring up mini-menus that allow you to use special abilities or issue
commands to your A.I. partners. Everything is in order here.
Sound [7/10] Webmasters Rating
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A bit disappointing in this department. Right off the bat, the voice
acting is probably the biggest complaint here. Some of the characters
just don't seem right (ex. Colossus and Thor really stand out, not in a
good way) while others are fine and fitting. The background music is
okay, nothing really wow-inspiring or amazing however they suffice.
Gameplay [8/10] Webmasters Rating
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The gameplay is really hit or miss with its audience. If you enjoy pure,
hack n' slash action then MUA delivers it in spades. If you find that
you get bored relatively easily with hack n' slash games, then this'll
be a rental for you. Either way you look at it, the gameplay is solid
and delivers the action you've been seeking with the RPG options (stat
upgrade, equipment selection, etc). In the first stage, you'll already
find yourself fighting off five villains from the Marvel Universe. From
there, they just get bigger and nastier (c'mon, would you expect any
less?). As soon as you start the game, you'll have roughly 20 some
characters at your disposal with four unlockable characters; add to that
each character has at least four different, unlockable costume options
that alter their stats. An impressive list, though some fans may be
disappointed with who made the roster (ex. So I get Luke Cage but no
Hulk? Huh...). MUA also features nice multiplayer options, with you
being able to grab a friend and do up to four-player co-op in the middle
of any stage (stuck in a rut? Grab your friend and see if he can help
you). Don't have friends you can call on? Get yourself on Live and
team-up, or go for some head-to-head competition. However, online is
rather lag-prone (as with other games, but if you thought single-stutter
was bad, online gets nasty). But for the most part, there's solid
multiplayer action to be found here. Only reason why gameplay hasn't
gained a high score is being you'll find yourself getting the "seen
this, done that" syndrome immediately, especially if you've played the
X-Men Legend games. Take it for what you will.
Replay [8/10] Webmasters Rating
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What can be said: there are a lot of villains to beat the crap out of,
especially with friends and through Live, not to mention collecting
comic covers, videos, and secret missions. Also, if you enjoy
experimentation, you'll find yourself busy mixing and matching what are
good super-teams and character traits. However, it goes down to your
tolerance of the core-gameplay: if you have little patience for
repetition or hack n' slash, then this may be a rent only product. But
overall, there's quite a bit to do before you can really say you're
done.
Overall [8/10] Webmasters Rating
