Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

Plot synopsis:
The game begins with Dr. Doom and the Masters of Evil launching an attack on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier U.N.N. Alpha. Nick Fury sends out a distress call to all available super heroes for assistance. Captain America, Spider-Man, Thor and Wolverine respond to the call. Along with the other heroes, they save the Helicarrier from the forces led by Scorpion, Bullseye, Winter Soldier, Radioactive Man, and Fin Fang Foom. In the wake of the attack, Nick Fury is given permission to start a task force to confront the Masters of Evil and Iron Man allows them to use Stark Tower as their headquarters. Fury asks the heroes to investigate an odd message received from Dum Dum Dugan on the Omega Base, a S.H.I.E.L.D. mobile research facility. The team defeats supervillains MODOK, Crimson Dynamo, and Mysterio to prevent the Omega Base from crashing in to a dam and launching several gamma bombs. With their mission successful, the heroes travel to Atlantis, where the inhabitants are being mind-controlled by Attuma, who has usurped Namor from his throne. With the help of nano-technology that enables them to breathe and move freely underwater, the heroes are able to save Namor and defeat Attuma and Tiger Shark. After defeating Attuma, the heroes encounter Mandarin, who unleashes the Kraken, which the team defeats by toppling pillars on it.
They then travel to the Valley of Spirits to confront Mandarin in his palace. After his defeat, he reveals that he attempted to take command of the Masters of Evil and, upon failing, left the group. He suggests that the Mandarin they saw in the catacombs was actually Loki, god of mischief. Upon returning to base, the team learns that Nightcrawler and Jean Grey have been kidnapped. Due to the involvement of mystical forces, Nick Fury has the team relocated to the Sanctum Sanctorum. Professor X tracks Nightcrawler to Castle Doom, but upon trying to transport the heroes there they are sent to Murderworld by a spell from Baron Mordo. After defeating a mind-controlled Jean Grey, Rhino, and Shocker, the heroes battle a large mech, piloted by Arcade. Victorious, the heroes learn that Dr. Doom has used Nightcrawler to access Mephisto's Realm, and the team is sent in pursuit.
Upon arriving, minions of Mephisto kidnap Jean Grey and Nightcrawler. Blackheart, Mephisto's son, puts them in separate cages above the Infinity Vortex, stating one must be saved and the other sacrificed before the team can defeat Mephisto. During their battle with Mephisto the sacrificed hero returns, resurrected by Mephisto, but now under his control. As a final effort, the resurrected hero sacrifices their life to defeat Mephisto and allow the team to escape. Meanwhile, in Asgard, a massive army of Super Soldiers attacks and imprisons the Asgardian gods. The heroes travel to Valhalla to liberate it from its invading force and free Heimdall (who is guarded by Rhino and Shocker), Tyr (who is guarded by Scorpion and Lizard), and Balder (who is guarded by Enchantress and Executioner). Then they fight the Wrecking Crew to open Bifrost Bridge in order for reinforcements to arrive. Looking for Odin in Niffleheim following a fight with Kurse and Ulik, they find his shattered Twilight Sword and learn from Ymir that Doctor Doom and Loki have taken Odin to Raven's Spire. After Loki is seemingly defeated at Raven's Spire, the team frees the Destroyer Armor to use against Doctor Doom. Loki, disguised as Fury, reveals himself and his plot to have the heroes free the armor for nefarious purposes. As heroes defeat Loki and the armor, Doctor Doom appears and reveals that he has stolen Odin's power. He uses it to attempt to eliminate the heroes, but Uatu the Watcher saves them and transports them to the Inhumans' base on the moon.
Uatu reveals the only way to defeat Doom is to acquire a piece of the M'Kraan Crystal and steal the Muonic Inducer from Galactus (who is currently attacking the Skrull homeworld). The team is sent to the Shi'ar Empire where they fight Deathbird and the Imperial Guard in order to restore Lilandra Neramani to the throne and gain a portion of the M'Kraan Crystal. After retrieving the crystal, the heroes travel to the Skrull homeworld and with the help of the Silver Surfer, the heroes disable Galactus and steal the Muonic Inducer. Meanwhile, Doctor Doom conquers Earth, corrupting and creating clones of many of the heroes. In a final effort, the team travels to Latveria to confront Dr. Doom. The heroes use the M'Kraan Crystal and Muonic Inducer to weaken Doom. As the heroes weaken Doom, he is blasted by a bolt of lightning sent by a rejuvenated Odin, leaving nothing but his mask behind. As the heroes meet on the repaired Helicarrier, Nick Fury informs the heroes that the team must disband and asks if S.H.I.E.L.D. can count on them when another threat happens. Captain America assures Nick that the world can count on them. Meanwhile, Galactus vows revenge on the heroes who stole from him and plans to destroy Earth.
=== Characters ===
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance features over 140 characters, and in addition the heroes battle evil versions of both themselves and other heroes throughout the game. Some heroes also appear as a villain under mind control, such as Jean Grey. In game each character has a set of four alternate costumes however three of these costumes must be unlocked. However, some of the characters costumes are also other superheroes in the Marvel Universe. This includes Iron Man as War Machine, Thor as Beta Ray Bill, Spider-Woman as Spider-Girl and Julia Carpenter from the Secret Wars, Ghost Rider as Phantom Rider and Ms. Marvel as Sharon Ventura. Also, there are various upgrades that can be attached to characters for boosts in power, speed, defense, etc.
^a Also appeared on Game Boy Advance version.^b As a Special Striker for the Game Boy Advance version.^c Exclusive to the 7th generation console (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii) versions.^d Exclusive to the Game Boy Advance version.^e Exclusive to the PSP version.^f Exclusive to the Xbox 360 Latest Editions. Originally as a downloadable content, separated from the full game, later as part of the Gold Edition's game disc and Games on Demand Edition's digital game bundle.^g Exclusive to the Remastered Editions.

Tags: good versus evil, psychedelic

Review:
Good game featuring many marvel characters..
Basically a semi sequel to the x-men legend games, this game has a massive team of heroes working together to stop Dr. Doom's evil plans.
The heroes have their varying strengths and weaknesses as was the case in the legends games.
Though I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed in the fact that strength was ignored in that you could not really lift anything big.
Still, you had your far away type attackers, your attackers best suited for close combat and those who were rather good at both.
You can mix up your teams and if you happen to put a particular team together you can get a boost to a stat (putting all the members of the fantastic four together for example).
Of course, you have your favorites that you use best, for me it was Spider-man and Deadpool, and you have your characters you wish were here but are not...Cyclops and the Hulk.
There are plenty of villains to fight as well as you have Dr. Doom, Arcade, Ultron, and many others.
The game is not perfect, as some of the levels are very repetitive and playing this just makes me want to play a more conventional role playing game with the super heroes...still it is fun and fast paced.
And from the ending I would wager there will be a sequel..
A definite step up.
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.
One Hell Of A Game.
Don't Lie & Say When You Were A Kid You Never Wanted To Be A Super Hero.
With This Game You Can Make That Dream Come True.
The Whole Marvel Universe Is In Your Grasp.
You Can Play As Wolverine, Spiderman, Moon Knight, Ghost Rider, The Thing, Elektra, Iron Man, Daredevil, Black Panther, The Invisible Woman, The Silver Surfer, Mr. Fantastic, Luke Cage, Doctor Strange, Ronin, Deadpool, Human Torch, Black Panther, Colossus, Hulk, Storm, Cyclops, Hawkeye, Blade, Ms Marvel, Jean Grey e.t.c. The Plot Is That Dr. Doom has assembled a new version of the Masters of Evil in his pursuit of becoming a god.
After an attack upon S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier U.N.N. Alpha, Nick Fury is given the OK to start a task force consisting of Marvel's superheroes to combat the Masters of Evil and uncover Dr. Doom's plot.
There Are Also Sub-Plots But If You Don't Mind I'll Not Say Anything.
This Game Is Also Fun To Play As Well As The Comic Book Missions.
Also Some Of The Characters I Listed Are Only Available On X-Box 360 So Thats Just My Heads Up Before You Buy It.
"Logan Buddy Its Me Deadpool I Shot You" - Hulk V.S Wolverine.
Awesome Game To Play Over..
Marvel Ultimate Alliance is a great super hero video game.
The fact that there are so many different Marvel Characters to choose from makes this a great game.
Whether it be Iron Man, Captain America, Wolverine, Storm, Thing, Deadpool, Spiderman, Thor, or many others there are so many awesome characters to choose from.
Colossus is also a great character but you can only use him in the X Box 360 version.
The controls are pretty simple in this game and it is pretty easy to figure out where to go by using the map.
THe game is very similar to the game "X Men Legends" but much improved.
Graphics are awesome as well.
Basic plot is that all of the marvel heroes formed an alliance to go against Dr. Doom.
One thing that I will complain about though is that many classic Marvel Villains including Dr. Octopus, Venom, Magneto, and Juggernaut you do not fight in this game.
But other than that this game is perfect..
This is what Marvel Nemesis should have been.
The game play is exactly like X-men Legends.
So if you've played those games it shouldn't take long to adjust to this one.What more can I say?
Its Marvel.
Fans have waited so long for this.
Miss Marvel, Silver Surfer, Blade, Daredevil, Elektra, Spiderman, Nick Fury, Captin America, Thor, the Fantastic 4, Deadpool, Ghostrider,Ironman all put into 1 game.Shame more couldn't be done with the X-men.
The X-men in this are Storm, Wolverine and Iceman.
Not a bad selection but anyway the X-men already have more games than the other characters combined.The downside which is not the fault of the makers of this game: There is no Punisher or Incredible Hulk.
Other game companies owned the rights to those characters.
Bruce Banner does appear in the game briefly though.There are some characters I've never heard of like Luke Cage, instead of him may be they should have put another character off Blade like Whistler.
By the way although some characters aren't playable, they still appear throughout the game like Jean Grey, Nightcrawler...Gameplay is really simple.
Its also helpful that up to 3 people can help you, that comes in handy for some levels where there are a lot of enemies..
Whoa!
X-Men Legends got more characters and a better storyline!.
Well then, kiddies, heres my review of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.Well, I own both X-Men Legends one and two.
Both are great games.But then I got M:UA for Christmas.
Booooyy was i stoked.I had once played some of Marvel Nemesis: I would not recommend anyone to play it unless there's no walls around with drying paint, which would be more fun.Well, I began playing Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, and I thought "Gee, what other game does this remind me of?"Didn't take me long to connect the dots.The first thing I noticed was Captain America...(AN- I HATE CAPTAIN America XD) But then, I noticed Spider-Man. I noticed that instead of flying like some people do or just doing nothing, he was able to web-swing.
My instant reaction was "Frickin' sweet!" That was a definite improvement from the X-Men Legend games, where either your character could fly, double jump, or do absolute squat.
Or in the second one's case, teleport.As I played through the game, i noticed how awesome the storyline was.
Kudos to the writers!
It took me by surprise a few times, especially when Doom got Odin's power.
And then they told me I was going to have to fight him.
I agreed with Deadpool..."I want my lawyer, i want my mommy!
...i want my lawyers mommy." And then, upon beating the game, another surprise was in store for me- according to all the things I had done and hadn't done, the story and outcome of the world changed!
And of course, being the good little girl I am, i had done everything possible that was good.sometimes there were improvements needed though.
Like when you have to save Lilandra.
You get two minutes to destroy Deathbird's machines, AND save Lilandra.
When I first saw this I thought "All right, easy enough..." ha-ha.
I was wrong.
I tried to save Lilandra first.
But then i noticed that no matter how many powers I used, the stupid things were bloody impossible to free her!
and even more helpful, I tried to call my teammates for help, but apparently Deadpool Spider-man and Iron man like to run off in the other direction when I call for help.So, I decided to just blow up Deathbird's machines and perhaps that would save Lilandra?
yeah right.
no such luck.
Right after destroying her machines with five seconds left to spare, it shows me a cut scene of Lilandra dying.Were you in my house at the time, you would have heard me going "WHAT THE HECK?!?!?!?!
ITS IMPOSSIBLE TO SAVE HER!!!!!DANG YOU MARVEL1!!!!!" Right.
See I don't like to lose, and losing to Lilandra made me upset, but the fact that it was impossible to do even with the power of the Human Torch's continuous flame made me uber angry.PS- I played the game again and after losing five times to the level, i finally freed Lilandra and defeated Deathbird.
it just took a WHOLE lot of strategizing.All in all, a pretty great game!
two thumbs up!
PS- sorry to all you readers who were forced to witness my insane ramblings...Spider-Dude11 signing out!.
Marvel Ultimate Suckfest.
I hate this game!
I have just completed it and will NEVER play it again!
I have been robbed of several hours of my life.
Its the most all over the place, repetitive trash I have ever had the misfortune of playing.
Now I played it on the PS3 version and this sadly sucked big time.
First thing I want to address - is the PS3s horrible sucky six axis control system in this game - both PS3 and game are as guilty as one another here - this system in so many key spots of the game makes it a complete nightmare - because the controls don't work - there is a less than 50% chance of it responding or responding in time - and the number of times i messed it up and it did it anyway????
Instead of giving the option to press a,b,x,y, up, down etc as you would get on xbox version - no - your stuck with this.
PS3 tried to emulate the Wii and messed it up - and Ultimate Alliance using it every damn opportunity and if u fail its game over and u have to go back do it again!
The Galactus level this is incredibly annoying!The characters - they are awful - they throw a load in, and you think cool - but no - there are so many because they are mainly rubbish and you have to work through them to find ones that actually stand up in a fight!
The rest are pointless and less known, some you have to earn - which is OK - and some fan favourites ie spiderman are awful!
Ironman can barely do anything - get the AI to land him on the level and not on a hole would be nice!
Hulk isn't even in it, nor is Punisher!
Half the potential cast is made up of X-men - but i played X-men Legends already!The graphics are bad - the cutscenes are awesome - but the game - the camera jumps about, they are so distant and when you zoom in - its pointless as can't see anything around you.
Half the time you lose sight of the character you are, you can get stuck on invisible walls, or boxed in by your team mates and be stuck!
The audio is annoying, same several tracks over and over!
The Voice acting is rubbish - spiderman sounding like a weeny 12 yr old, the Thor guy sounding annoying!
agh!!!The story is OK - with Dr Doom taking over the world, but it goes off very random to try to explore everywhere in Marvel universe - but so many characters, costumes, points etc - you can never get enough expensive points to get everyone you need!
Some levels you can't go back to!
The bosses are OK - they were more fun - especially where you had to use environment against them ie the Krakken - but sadly it happens all at once and you can't get a good look about to discover what you need when your being thumped whilst still laying on floor!
The boss fights are too few and far between - you think with the number of heroes in this against their sheer army of enemeies - they could appear more often!There is no replay value - it was a cheap cash in, I will avoid the sequel!
Shame as X-men Legends was good fun!
Shame this went so badly wrong!
This game sucks