[Naked Crook]

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 Game Review By Naked Crook The New Order Administrator Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is possibly one of the best fighting games I have ever played. Wait, hold on a second, I actually like a game? Whoa...back it up for one second! Let's try this again... Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is a fantastic game! Yes everyone, this is one review where I will praise, not destroy. Where I will compliment, not tear down. What makes this game so good you ask? Read on, and find out. To help the readers evaluate how I feel about this game during the course of this review, I will use the star system. We will start at 5 stars. After each paragraph, you will see whether the game loses or gains stars based on how much I praise or trash the game. We will start with 5 stars. How I feel about the game is unrelated to the final score it is given at the end of the review. * * * * * Alright, so it has been established that I like this game. What makes it different? Well, there are several reasons why this game earns a place in my heart. First off, its Marvel. I have always been a fan of Marvel. Second, it has RPG elements to it. RPG elements make the game better. You can customize your characters, you can make them yours. Third, its 4 player co-op. Yes, you can team up with 3 buddies locally, or over Xbox Live to enforce the will of the US Government, or smash the will of the US Government (a. hobby of mine these days). Fourth, there is a wide selection of characters. From Wolverine to Iron Fist, Iron man to Captain America, Psylock to Storm, Carnage to Venom, Cable to Songbird, the team combination are absolutely endless! Fifth, the storyline is amazing! Ever since November of 2008, I have been waiting for a game to entertain me with the prospect of rebelling against the US Government and its intrusive, nosy, health-care ruining methods! * * * * * Alright, lets talk Marvel for a second. Most everyone has heard of Marvel, Marvel Comics, or Stan Lee. There have been many marvel to video game adaptations. Some of them have failed, and some of them have been amazing. Ultimate Alliance 2 is defiantly a spectacular adaptation. The story takes place in the Ultimate Universe of marvel Comics, during the Marvel Civil War era. What was the Civil War era? Essentially, the civil war was brought about by the registration of superheroes. This caused a schism in the superhero community, causing a conflict, which turned into a war. Let's talk story. One of the few nitpicks I had with this game was the fact that it took too long to flesh out the civil war aspect of the game. There was no established plot line when you first start the game, so you really have no clear cut direction as to where the story is taking you. However, soon enough the words "Superhero Registration" become popular words, almost as popular as Health Care Reform. So why all of a sudden with the registration? Well, as I said earlier, the game starts with no clear cut direction. However, the game when forming the definitive plot, uses the confusing beginning as a catalyst for the events to come. * * * * The game starts with four super-heroes; Captain America, Wolverine, Iron Man, and Spider-man helping S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury to invade the country of Latveria for...some reason. It soon becomes clear that the Prime Minister of Latveria, Lucia Von Bardas, is supplying super-villains with advanced technology to augment their abilities to do evil! So this makes sense; evil lady helping evil people. Nick Fury soon tells the heroes, and by extension the player, that Lucia Von Bardas is an international terrorist because she is helping super-villians on an international level. Nick Fury then tells the player that he tried to convince President Democrat Wienie to invade the country of Latveria. Democrat Wienie refuses to invade the country of an established terrorist, promptly deciding that peaceful negotiations are the best way to handle this situation (and this is how I know he is a Democrat). So Nick Fury (A good Republican) decides to launch an invasion of Latveria using super-heroes. Nick Fury and friends are eventually successful and they not only collapse the Latverian political system, they leave Latveria itself in a state of absolute ruin. A year later, it is publicly learned that Nick Fury and a group of super-heroes launched an illegal invasion to stop terrorists. This puts the "Super-hero Registration Act" in motion. President Democrat Wienie decides that stripping private citizens of their right to privacy and SOCIALIZING super-heroes is a good idea. Among a few more catalysts, the "Super-hero Registration Act" is officially enacted, and all super-heroes are forced to register their real identities with The Government, losing all right to their privacy. Some heroes resist, Like Captain America, while others cave in, like Iron Man. The US Government aligns itself with STARK Industries and S.H.I.E.L.D. to hunt down the unregistered heroes, who become affectionately known as Capes. * * * * So far, everything makes sense. A Democrat starts a civil war between super powered humans, and its up to good, hardworking patriots to set things straight. Lets analyze the story for a moment. As I see it, despite the slow build up, everything seems to fit. We have a solid foundation, two possible story lines (pro and anti registration), and a real conflict. The story mechanics are solid. Lets talk game play. When you first take control of your heroes, you are given an overhead view of the battlefield. If you are playing solo, you can switch between four different heroes. If playing with 2 or 3 friends, you have an additional AI teammate that can be shared between the 3 humans. If you are playing 4 player, then you each pick your own hero and head out to save the world. Very straight forward. The game uses a RPG level system. The more bad guys you KO, the more experience you get, the higher your level gets. With every level, you get points to augment your superhuman abilities. Additionally, you can collect credits, or secondary points to augment your heroes secondary passive skills. Pretty straight forward, but also very effective, and fun! Additionally, you can also use fusion powers. What is a fusion power? Simply put, it is a co-op super power. Two heroes can combine their powers into one super power to literally clear the screen of every bad guy going. These are fun. With close to 300 unique permutations, the carnage stays fresh. * * * * Character selection is numerous! A few familiar faces appear, and a few new ones appear as well. When forming a team, you can either pick your personal favorites, or you can form an already existing team. For example, you could form the Fantastic Four, The X-Men, or even the Avengers. Existing teams have special bonuses which make your heroes much stronger in combat. This is defiantly an advantage over a custom team, which gets no special buffs. * * * * So, there must be something wrong with this game? There are a few things that got me down. Nothing serious or game breaking, just a few minor issues. For starters, we have lost a huge part of the alternate costumes aspect of the game. In the first Ultimate Alliance, each character had 4 possible costumes, each with its own advantages. In Ultimate Alliance 2, we are cut down to 2 alternate costumes, with no special advantages. Additionally, the alternate costumes kinda suck. It was not often that the alternate costume was appealing in any way. * * * * I will not say much about graphics, but all you need to know is that this game looks nice. Like always, graphics do not make a game, they make it better! I judge game play, not how pretty the thing looks. Additionally, the sound track for the game was quite good. Not often you will hear a tune in the game that is memorable, but the game does have its moments when the background music makes the current situation feel real. Essentially, when it boils down, Ultimate Alliance 2 is a very competent game. It does a lot of things right, and rarely disappoints. This game is a must try for any RPG fan, fighting fan, or Marvel fan. These three elements were blended flawlessly in my opinion. Lets break it down into score categories: Multilayer 5 / 5 Graphics 5 / 5 Story Mode 4 / 5 Functionality 4 / 5 Music 3 / 5 Overall 21 / 25