Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 (Sony Playstation 3, 2009)

I'll be honest. I didn't expect much from this game when I bought it. I had already read the reviews and noted the overwhelming lack of excitement through others' opinions. However, it is a Marvel game, has my childhood heroes, is multiplayer, an action/adventure and an RPG. Considering the price I paid for it, it was a great deal. Considering I barely paid more than 20 bucks, you can clearly see the issue of standards.

The best thing is has going is the fusion attacks. For the most part, they are all powerful yet, some of them are more creative and useful than others. Another improvement, though a small one, is the camera angles being more than overhead and pans out when your team scatters. It helps a lot when you can see more than 10 feet ahead of you. As for the environments, I could sing praises about the creative use of the Havok engine. Things looks pretty and blew up in awe-inspiring ways. Best of all was the final battle. It was easy but it was EPIC!!! I wish all boss battles were that intense.

Now the bad things. The leveling system has been streamlined to the point of having a lobotomy. In all the previous games, I would tinker with at least one character's stats and powers so I could play the way I liked. In this one, characters only get 4 powers and some abilities are locked out depending on which side of the civil war you pick. It was such a pain to work with that I just set everyone on auto. Speaking of the characters, almost all of them were making very, very bad puns about their powers. It wore thin very, very, very fast. And some, like Deadpool, were annoying from the moment they opened their mouths. I also found myself fighting with the camera as much as I was fighting the bad guys. About half the time, it's impossible to move it which really sucks when enemies are shooting you from off screen and you can't get a clear lock to shoot back at them. Ally AI has much to be desired as sometimes they'd walk into traps over and over again. Some powers had way too long of a start time to be useful. The dodge had this as well which made dodging pretty much pointless. Using the Civil War storyline was a mistake in and of itself. It wasn't popular in the comicbooks so the translation was all but doomed to follow in its footsteps. I give kudos to the staff for trying to sell it but both sides had heroes acting in ways that were way out of character. Worst of all, the downloadable content wasn't available for very long. I would have dished out $10 bucks to play Psylocke, Cable and Black Panther. But, seeing as I bought it this year, I'm out of luck. That really kills the game's replay value.

All-in-all, I'd say it wasn't a bad game... for $21.50.

Ratings at a glance--Graphics-91/Sound-95/C​ontrols-98/Blast Force-92/Overall-94

Yes, it's that good, and even better, the gameplay mechanics have remained mostly the same since the original X-men Legends was released a half-decade ago. New fusions (screen-filling, room-clearing, boss-bashing team super combos), boosts, and playable characters round out the latest Vicarious Visions Alchemy epic. The story deals with relatable concepts such as terrorism, faith, and friendship, with the increasingly popular ability to interact with other characters via a dialogue list that the player can pick from to display a certain attitude towards a situation or mission. The graphics are incomparable to any other action-rpg that came before it; they're just perty! The roster is a tad bit more balanced, so even though there are the different types of heroes (brawlers, elementals, super soldiers, etc.), most of your team members' abilities will have merit when starting your "Legendary" campaign. There are well over a hundred boosts in the form of medallions that you assign to 3 team-wide slots to make your heroes (or in some cases villains :}) a more potent threat in combat. Some boosts, like "Wade's Second Fav" for example will make your team look better on paper, so you would at least TRY to play to a certain characters strengths to level them higher, while others like "Reserves IV," or "Focused IV" will make you virtually unstoppable in the hairiest of boss fights. It may be somewhat commercial, as Deadpool is pushed really hard here, but he's really been the catalyst all along, and his character finally has that extra layer of polish or two. The only disappointment is the Simulator; packing a good challenge, but a paltry list of simulations. The added difficulty setting and exhaustive list of trophies and "Heroic Deeds" more than make up for it, however, ensuring weeks of fisticuffs, lighting attacks, and adamantium feral rages between you and any poor fool that would dare threaten our national and global security. Break the fourth wall-buy it!

When I bought this, I had no intention to play it. The reason, I bought a previous one on eBay. However, I got this specific game for my friend and when I asked to ship it to him, they did. I play it with him every so often. We've "grown-up" now so we are no longer neighbors, but it's nice to turn on the ps3 and connect with him that way. Besides we have been looking for good games to play together and this one made the cut. It's more than just a game to me. We get to make choices together and compete about who's better. It helps us have a good time, despite the distance. A terrific choice hands down.

Thanks
11.business

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is the sequel to the popular video game, Marvel Ultimate Alliance. MUA 2 is an action RPG that lets you assemble a team or superheroes from the largest cast of Marvel heroes in gaming. The game revolves around you creating and customizing a team of four superheroes that counterbalance one another's weaknesses and strengths. The gameplay revolves around this fact too as you have four playable characters on screen at all times.
The game's story is actually very good, and revolves around a superhero civil war which is created by Congress passing a Superhero Registration Act, which forces superheroes to register their secret identities or become fugitives. This makes for an interesting story, however somewhat flaws the main feature of the game. Like I stated earlier, the game revolves around you creating and customizing a team of your favorite superheroes. However, during the civil war, some superheroes are always assigned to a certain side. For example, Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic are always Pro-Registration and Captain America and Luke Cage are always Anti-Registration. This makes for a very interesting plot, but if you just have to have Iron Man an Captain America on the same team, than you are out of luck. One the postive side however, the civil war adds replay value as most will probably want to play through the game twice, once as each side.
In terms of gameplay, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 plays almost identically to its predecesor. You punch, kick, claw, and generally smash your way through long, linear levels with several boss fights along the way. It is still a good formula, just do not expect anything new. In addition to all the action there is an RPG feature which is actually very interesting and left me wishing there had been more of this implemented throughout the game. This feature allows you to talk to other characters in the central hubs and take an aggresive, diplomatic, or defensive approach in your respones. Each different response type awards a unique bonus.
However, the game does have one other main feature. Since you always have four playable characters on-screen, this allows for single system or online co-op. This adds another dimension to the game and replay value. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is a good game. It is nothing great, but it is certainly not bad. If you know the gameplay (four playable characters onscreen at all times, button mashing, action RPG, etc.) and love it, than even for $60 this is a good pick-up. If you only like the gameplay I suggest renting it first or trying to buy new or used for around $40 or less. If you are unfamilar with the gameplay than I suggest renting the game or the first MUA to see if you like it. All-in-all, if you liked the first MUA, than this is a great game to add to your collection. If you did not like the first MUA, than this will not change your opinion.

It can be said still more that the game is a solid experience, for the fans of quadrinhos, super-heroes or action. She possesss some imperfections, but they can be raised, especially in the hour to play to multiplayer.