Marvel Ultimate Alliance makes improvements from the X-Men Legends series, but some poor decisions hurt the overall feel
Character Selection and Improvements:
Most of the classic Marvel characters are in this game in some capacity (the biggest notable exceptions are the Punisher and the Hulk). They all play about as expected: Spider-Man webs enemies, ensnaring and web swinging around; Captain America has his incredibly fun shield throw power and other shield-based attacks; Blade has at least one power based on a weapon from the movies; et cetera.
Unfortunately, some of the characters in the game seem more like Marvel’s attempts to boost comic sales than a legitimate choice as an iconic character (Ms. Marvel, Spider-Woman, Luke Cage, and Deadpool). Granted, all of these characters probably have their rabid fan base (personally, the only reason I bought this right after the game’s release was that Deadpool was a playable character), but they do not really fit in when compared to the A-list of Marvel. Their inclusion also affects some classic teams that cannot be built properly (more on that later).
The powers setup has changed from the X-Men Legends setup. The active powers are fewer in number (per character) and a wider variety of use. The “chargeable powers” are new (where you hold the assigned button for a few seconds to increase damage, add effects, et cetera) and add a level of strategy; do I just press the button for a quick swipe or do I charge up and risk the enemy moving out of the way. The “press and hold powers” are more than the radial and gun attacks, including Captain America’s shield throw, where, by holding the button, you can control the shield. These powers automatically get added unless you turn auto-level off for each character.
The X-Treme power also does not require collecting doodads to power up; it will charge by using multiple basic attacks (called momentum), which is a nice touch.
All of the passive powers from X-Men Legends were moved to uniform upgrades purchased with in-game money. This is an improvement since one does not have to use precious skill points buying these passive buffs to make powers more effective. There are 4 uniforms per character with 3 different upgrades. There does not seem to be one uniform that is better than the others; uniform selection would be determined by play style and “cool=looking” factor, as it should.
The gear changes were a bit of a disappointment. Gone are the myriad of generic gear that, though functional, were kind of lame. Gone also are the unique gear that one would get from the training disc stages that helped make playing those discs worthwhile (you unlock the 4th uniform though the discs now). There are still the semi-generic character power-boosting gear, but they are less numerous than in X-Men Legends. You now get unique gear from most of the bosses based on that boss; but it seems a little out of character for Spider-Man to use Scorpion’s Tail or Mysterio’s Master Hologram.
One last note is that focus now boosts mental damage, but there is a lack of mental characters to take advantage of that change.
Team Creation:
What was once a nice quirk in X-Men Legends 2 is now a full-blown system. One can build a team based on the actual Marvel Universe or play “What If?” But, as I said before, some notable characters are missing as playables to make correct classic teams.
Here is the number of characters as playables in the game, by classic team (based on the X-Box version):
X-Men: 3 (unless you consider Deadpool as an X-Man based on 2 issues of the modern “Cable & Deadpool” comic, but the X-Men did not name him an honorary member, he is not an actual mutant, and Raven did not include either of his uniforms from those issues [a stylish midnight blue and yellow uniform and a creepy Marvel Girl one] in the game; you can check Marvel.com and your local comic books shop if you don’t believe me.)
Fantastic Four: 4
New Fantastic Four: 3
Avengers (Old and New): 9
Defenders: 2 (unless you dig into the “Defenders for a Day”)
Heroes for Hire: 3 (though missing Iron Fist, it almost seems pointless)
Daredevil’s Unnamed Super-Hero Team (aka Marvel Knights): 4
SHIELD: 4
That means, unless you play Avengers or FF, you are going to have to break the classic team by adding people in for subbing (or to fill in the 4 member requirement). That probably does not bother anybody other than the rabid Marvel comic nerds, but it would have been a nice touch.
The team will level up, though you will lose reputation points for removing characters from the team roster. The roster can have up to 10 members (6 member slots can be locked with spending rep points). The team can also use those rep points for adding bonuses, such as increased health, energy, experience points, momentum, and damage output. The team gets those bonuses when 3 of the 4 characters you are playing as are a part of your team.
Plot and Gameplay:
The plot is rather ridiculous, to be frank, but what comic book game does not have a ridiculous plot? The CG cut scenes are cool, as they were in X-Men Legends 2.
The actual gameplay is the same as Raven’s other Marvel dungeon crawlers, though I seem to recall more stages per area in X-Men Legends 2. Maybe that is because Raven broke the areas up better in their previous game or maybe that is because Raven opted for having less stages and making them longer. Outside of the first two (the SHIELD Helicarrier and a SHIELD research base), each stage is distinct. There is also a nice variety of bosses in the game; there are several mini-bosses per stage as well as the main boss, which requires some puzzle solving and (usually) the use of a random contextual button press mini-game. The context button press mini-games were a nice distraction, but the fact that the button presses were random pulls you out of the illusion of immersion. The training discs cannot be purchased anymore, so you will have to go back and collect them if you miss one.
The graphics and sound are the same as in X-Men Legends 2 without the thick comic book outlines around the characters. The game engine is starting to show it’s age, especially compared to what the next-gen systems look and sound like.
Overall, poor character choice, auto-leveling set to on, and equipment system step-backs pretty much cancel out the advances Raven made in this game, with the random button mini-games as a love/hate addition. If you liked the X-Men Legends series, you will have equal enjoyment out of this one; but it is not the pinnacle of Marvel dungeon crawling that the advertising pitch would make it seem.