Marvel Ultimate Alliance
Written by WNx Lucalain
Platform: Wii (Also available on PS3, PS2, Xbox 360, Xbox, PSP, PC, GBA)
Genre: Action RPG
Release date: November 14, 2006 (NA), December 20, 2006 (AUS), December 22, 2006 (EU)
ESRB rating: T
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Vicarious Visions
Official site URL: http://mua1.marvelultimatealliance.com/
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was not the best launch title for the Wii. That’s a fact of life you will discover for yourself once you play Marvel Ultimate Alliance. This game was not only good, it was great.
The Wii version, due to the less graphically powerful hardware it is on and the special control method it uses, is, of course, different from that on the Xbox 360 and PS3. So let’s start with what makes or breaks the Wii version in comparison to the other ones:
-First, you can use unlock codes without unwittingly damaging the game permanently. Indeed, using any cheat at all on the Xbox 360 version of MUA locks what some would argue was the 360’s defining features, the achievements. Input a code and bye bye, no more achievements. Granted, the Wii doesn’t have these things, so you wouldn’t get them anyway. But if you’re interested in achievements, you may find yourself gimped against your will, because you wanted to unlock something faster.
-Furthermore, while all versions of the game have their share of bugs, the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions have a few major ones that the Wii doesn’t. For instance, unlocked characters randomly become locked again while playing, and there isn’t much you can do except hope the bug goes away. The HD console versions do have their advantages, though, with much better visuals and the Xbox 360’s two download-able character packs, to say nothing of the absence of online multiplayer on Wii.
Now for the part that actually matters. First, let us say that the game works very well. You go from mission to mission, all based on locations from the Marvel Comics universes and all very distinct from each other, out of several hubs you can explore to find unlock-able and other Marvel heroes to talk to and get back-story from, including both back-story for the character itself from the comics and for the game’s own narrative. Missions consist mostly of your team of four heroes fighting through henchmen, all specific to a given environment, to complete various objectives. The story itself flows well and will take you from one end of the Marvel universe to the other and into other dimensions. All that while meeting heroes and villains from the entire history of the comics. The whole thing is engaging and you’ll want to know how (or if) the heroes save the day once again.
The graphics are nothing special in comparison to other early Wii games, with textures that clearly define what you’re looking at, with animations that were recycled for multiple characters. You can see this clearly at times when your heroes are all standing together during a villain’s monologue and they all start the same neck-cracking and dukes-putting-up animation at the same time. Yet still, everything works, here and there some frame-rate issues when the screen is full of enemies and everyone is using superpowers.
This game has a lot of content and lots of replay value, besides being long. Our first play-through, with trying to unlock every locked character, took a good 40 hours, with subsequent ones taking 20. The thing here is that there are lots of characters and lots of goodies to unlock. You’ll usually make a team of 4 characters and stick with them in a given play-through, and that leaves over 20 other characters that you won’t use. So what do you do with this unused potential? Multiple play-trough's, of course. You’ll want to try out every character by the time you’re done with the game and that means lots of replay value. It also helps that each character can be built several different ways and that you can give special bonuses and a name to your team of heroes, among other things. It's worth noting that, because of the Wii-mote’s capabilities, each character has different controls, further differentiating them for more exploratory fun.
These controls aren’t quite what you’d see in games like Wii Sports, though. In Ultimate Alliance, motion controls are more or less an alternative to button presses. Instead of cycling through your powers and pressing an attack button as on other platforms (which you can do on the Wii as well), you can simply hold the B trigger and perform a gesture that actives an associated power. This is an advantage, as it lets you use your powers much more easily, quickly, and intuitively. Motion controls also let you use special attacks like the trip and knockback at will instead of forcing you to press button combos, although a booming voice screams things like “Amazing!” and “Fantastic!” every time you use motion controls for those special punches and kicks, a little oversight on the part of the developers that you won’t notice anymore after a little while. These controls work well, and the game is forgiving enough that you won’t suffer from making the motion wrong. One problem however is that, if you happen to lean on your elbows while playing, moves that require you to thrust the controller forward are nearly impossible to pull off. For these, either sit straight (it’s good for your back!) or use the A button.
As we said earlier, there’s that annoying voice that screams when you use a special move. “Annoying” makes it special for this game, as otherwise the voice acting, along with the music in general, are very well done. Certain tracks give an appropriately heroic atmosphere to the game. Better yet, the voice acting of certain characters alone will make you want to read the comics they’re based on. We ourselves lament the discontinuation of the Doctor Strange comics.
All in all, Marvel Ultimate Alliance is a solid game with more variety and replay value than most games of its time on Wii. It is a very solid title that, although not perfect, will keep you entertained for weeks and more. It might well develop an interest for superhero comics in players who may have never read one in the first place.
11-04-2009, 11:41 PM
11-06-2009, 01:01 PM
11-06-2009, 01:51 PM
11-06-2009, 05:16 PM
11-08-2009, 06:02 AM
11-09-2009, 06:14 PM
11-10-2009, 01:11 AM
11-22-2009, 11:34 AM
