Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2
Tags: psychedelic, violence

Plot synopsis:
A trailer released at E3 shows a military operation originating in Latveria, home of master villain Doctor Doom. "The story starts with Secret War. We're using Nick Fury's invasion of Latveria as a jumping off point. The rest of the story is derived from the consequences of those actions," states Dan Tanguay, creative director for Vicarious Visions.
The game then follows the Civil War story arc: a fight between heroes and villains causes an explosion in Stamford, Connecticut, killing 612 civilians (including a number of school children). The government labels the incident "super powered negligence", and the public demand a Superhuman Registration Act. The government passes the act, and all meta-humans are forced to adhere to or disobey the law. In the game, players are able to choose between the Pro-Registration side, headed by Iron Man and Mister Fantastic, or the Anti-Registration side, headed by Captain America and Luke Cage. Several other characters are 'locked' into a specific side.
Songbird is locked to the Pro-Registration side for the Vicarious Visions (PS3, Xbox 360, PS4, Xbox One and PC) versions, with Ms. Marvel and Thor locked to the Pro-Registration side for the n-space (PS2, PSP and Wii) versions. Iron Fist is locked to the Anti-Registration side for the Vicarious Visions (PS3, Xbox 360, PS4, Xbox One and PC) versions, with Daredevil and Storm locked to the Anti-Registration side for the n-space (PS2, PSP and Wii) versions. These ten characters are locked into their specific side, but the others are playable on either side of the conflict. Multiple endings are available, and are determined by the side chosen at the beginning of the game. Tanguay stated that the story follows into the aftermath of the Civil War.
=== Plot ===
The game begins one year prior to the main Civil War story arc. Colonel Nick Fury is leading a team comprising Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, and Wolverine, in addition to several other superheroes, on an unsanctioned attack on Castle Doom in Latveria after discovering that the elected prime minister Lucia von Bardas was supplying weapons to the Tinkerer who in turn supplies them to super villains. The President is adamant against the attack as Von Bardas has been establishing friendly ties with them. The attack is successful and Castle Doom is reduced to rubble, with Von Bardas assumed dead.
The scene then shifts to present day. Ms. Marvel is reported missing after being sent to recover intel on suspicious criminal activity. A team is sent to investigate and find her being interrogated by Shocker. They then uncover a plot by the Latverian military, led by a cyborg Von Bardas and several subordinate supervillains, to destroy New York City. The group thwarts Von Bardas' plan, but many city blocks are destroyed in the process, prompting the government to consider the Superhuman Registration Act (or SRA for short). In light of this incident, Nick Fury disappears, leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill in charge.
Three days later during a telecast of The New Warriors, Nitro creates a large explosion, killing more than 600 civilians in the process, prompting the immediate implementation of the Superhuman Registration Act. Captain America, opposed to the act, goes underground, along with several other superheroes and S.H.I.E.L.D agents (who have formed a group called "The White Star"). At this point, the story branches into two segments; Anti-Registration and Pro-Registration, depending on player choice. In order to aid them, the Pro-Registration group develops nanite technology and use it to mind control super villains, increasing their ranks.
The two story arcs converge when Iron Man fakes a hostage situation at a chemical plant owned by Stark Industries. There, he attempts to negotiate with Captain America, promising amnesty. Captain America refuses and a battle ensues between the two factions. The nanite-controlled super villains go haywire and attack the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents they were programmed to help, stealing explosives to destroy the facility. Fury, disguised as one of the agents, enlists the help of the group to fend off Venom III and Green Goblin while he disarms the bombs. He is thwarted by Venom as he tries to disarm the final one. The ensuing explosion wounds many superheroes whom Fury rescues. The group learns that the Fury they saw was one of his androids. He manages to acquire Tinkerer's help in discovering the cause of the malfunction.
The group is then sent to Prison 42 in the Negative Zone where the rebel superheroes and supervillains that have been captured are held, to get a sample of the nanite formula. They collect the samples and Fury activates the self-destruct system to prevent the spread of nanites. Most of the superheroes involved escape, but Fury's fate is unknown. The team learns the nanites survived and have now spread worldwide. As a result, the Superhuman Registration Act is suspended, uniting the two teams. They split into different groups, with the main group traveling to Wakanda, home of Black Panther. They help him defend the country from nanite agents, now under the moniker of "The Fold", and in the process cure Venom and Green Goblin of the nanites. They also discover that Nick Fury has been taken by The Fold. The heroes establish a base in Wakanda, learning that The Fold cannot comprehend Fury's intel on it, making it temporarily safe from nanite attacks. In order to stop The Fold, the heroes infiltrate a base in Iceland to broadcast a nanite stasis signal that will paralyze those in its control, allowing them to be cured. At the culmination of their mission, the team face off against Tinkerer, who was behind The Fold all along, and then a nanite-controlled Nick Fury enhanced with extra nanites. After defeating Fury, every one who was affected is freed from the nanites.
The game has one of two news-based endings depending on which side the player has chosen:
In the Pro-Registration ending, the Superhuman Registration Act gets amended where the superheroes can voluntarily register without revealing their secret identities while Tony Stark becomes Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
In the Anti-Registration ending, the Superhuman Registration Act gets repealed with the President granting full amnesty to all Anti-Registration heroes.
Also in both endings, a banner running across the screen states that the President has pardoned Nick Fury.
=== Characters ===
The game includes some format-specific characters, with additional characters released as downloadable content. In addition, each character on the PS3 and Xbox 360 has one alternate costume that can be unlocked during the course of the game. Stan Lee, co-creator of Marvel Comics and creator of many of the characters, also lends his likeness and voice to New York senator Lieber; this marks the first time Stan has made a physical cameo in a video game. On April 1, 2009, Aunt May was announced to be a playable character on the official website, as part of an April Fool's joke.
Several playable characters also appear as boss battles throughout the game, such as battling Iron Man if the player chooses the Anti-Registration path, or facing Captain America on the Pro-Registration path. Other playables are unlocked by defeating them, such as Deadpool, Green Goblin and Venom.
In Vicarious Visions versions, Juggernaut was available as a pre-order bonus incentive for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A patch was released to allow those who do not have Juggernaut installed to play with others who have the character On October 9, 2009, downloadable content was announced for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, which includes new characters and comic missions as well as new achievements. It was released on November 5, 2009 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Additionally the once pre-order exclusive character Juggernaut was available for $1.99/160MSP. The content was removed on from both networks December 31, 2009, with Activision claiming the content was "a limited time offer". On July 1, 2010 Activision re-released the DLC on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network shortly thereafter, at Xbox Live were released on July 3, 2010 and at PlayStation Network were released on July 20, 2010. Players could purchase both the five character DLC pack and the Juggernaut pre-order character for the same cost previously mentioned. Activision, however, stipulated that the content would only be available until December 31, 2010. The expansion packs returned to the PlayStation Network (at least in Europe) some time in January 2012, but have not been added back to Xbox Live. In January 2014, the packs were removed once again from PlayStation Network. As of September 2015 Xbox 360 Games on Demand version now bundles the full game with all previously downloadable content. Later at San Diego Comic Con 2016 announcement on July 24, 2016, the re-release edition will use Vicarious Visions version, meaning the exclusive contents, including the ones which were downloadable on PS3 and Xbox 360 versions will appear by default.
^a Exclusive to PS2, PSP and Wii^b Exclusive to Nintendo DS^c Exclusive to Vicarious Visions versions (PS3, Xbox 360, PS4, Xbox One and PC)^d Limited time pre-order bonus on PS3 and Xbox 360^e Originally Downloadable content exclusive on PS3 and Xbox 360, later part of Xbox 360's Games on Demand Edition^f Characters on Nintendo DS