Marvel Ultimate Alliance

Marvel Comics is in the midst of a popularity explosion on the big screen and they're capitalising on that by releasing a game that allows fans to control all the major superheroes including Spiderman, Captain America, Fantastic Four, Ironman and the X-Men. At its core the game belongs to the "hack and slash" genre.The designers manage to keep the game interesting by incorporating various games within the game and putting in twists and tricks when it comes to killing the boss characters. This helps ensure that the game doesn't descend into a mindless button mashing affair and the huge cast of characters ensures that the replayability of the game is high.

The graphics of the game are good but not extraordinary. The game has many beautifully rendered cut sequences, some of which are a pure joy to behold. The sound quality is good and the voice acting is passable. The game does have a multiplayer mode but this is not one of its main strengths. When you join someone else's game you are forced to use one of their saved games. All characters have to be on the same screen concurrently and so this makes for some awkward camera angles, particularly if characters are on opposite sides of the screen.

Although the game is designed such that it can be enjoyed by fans and non-fans alike, my five star rating is primarily directed af fans of the Marvel franchise who will find the game an absolute pleasure from beginning to end.

This is probably the most enjoyable game I've played in years. I don't have a console so I only play the PC versions of games and don't play a lot of those - but this is the game that convinced me to buy a gamepad controller for my PC.

If you are a fan of the Marvel universe, or want to be, you will be enthralled by this game. Every character you've ever loved will make an appearance. You'll get to forge your own team and see them perform.

The cinematic cutscenes, between acts, are absolutely fantastic. I so wish they would mag a CGI Avengers movie with those models - Captain America has never looked so real.

The story is written by long time Marvel writer/editor CB Ceybulski (spelling?). This man knows the characters and history of Marvel.

You'll get to visit Marvel locations like a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum, Asgard (home of the Norse gods), Hell itself, the moon, a circus, a Chinese palace, and Atlantis.

You'll get to choose from the different costumes the heroes have worn over the years (play Spidey in his black symbiote costume before you see it in Spider-man 3 this summer!)

My only worry is that I'm in Act 4 - so the end can't be that far away. I hope they release an expansion pack!!

My computer is about 3 years old and has had no problem running the game, although you will need about 8GB of hard-drive space to install it.

Wow! This game is really good... Its not the BEST game ive ever played (i actually cant think of it), but its very good, so lets dive in!
PRESENTATION -
~~~~Graphics - Pretty good! Cutscenes arent very good... Some are all right (the full movie ones like the one in the beginning) which brings me into the first little discussion...
~~~~Legit? - Well... the first movie of the whole game (which some of us have probably seen?) the one with the big ship getting attacked by Dr. Doooom? Well, the next few movies after that are pretty bad... I ddnt really like how they got it all polished and tip top and then they let me down with the next few story scenes... it doesnt flow very well... but somewhere in the story they get a few scenes and movies great!
~~~~Characters - Ok, so i was kinda disappointed... I definitely liked Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Iceman, Ms. Marvel, etc., but i kinda wanted more... It said on the Description on the game page that you could interact with more than 140 characters, and i mustve misinterperated that because you only get about... 20-30 characters to play for? And might i say that about half of them i dont even want to play for... but the ones i do like are really great and the powers in general that every single character posesses really got great effect looks!
~~~~Greatness - After that you may be worried, but it gets better! This game altogether is a lot of fun! I could see anyone after 11 years old playing this (not that some older ages should... :D)! But really, this game appeals to anyone very well
CHARACTERS -
~~~~Costumes - Nice stat upgrades, puts depth into your characters, fun diverse costumes, but a few are kinda repetitive
~~~~Upgrades - Kinda weird... i dont see a lot of the difference after you get them
~~~~Bosses - Okay... Here it gets tricky... When i was fighting Dr. Doom (I wont say when to spoil it), i really DIDNT feel like i was fighting him... it just didnt pop out to me that i was fighting a very strong villian... thats what i get for a few of other villians too... *confused face*
MULTIPLAYER -
Definitely not its best feature, its kinda glitchy, some weird camera angles, but it fulfills its duty...
AI -
Kinda strange, enemies in general are kinda weak and then SUDDENLY have a mean streak...
LOCATIONS -
Awesome! Lots of locations and fun areas to maneuver around, but very linear
PUZZLES AND DIFFICULTY -
Hmm... Marveling at puzzles and toughness can be difficult... they really arent that tough when you figure out the solution... and it seems there are puzzles involved with bosses, but always the wrong ones... :\
STORY - 20 hours or so? Lots of other stuff to get too, so i definitely dont mind going the 2nd time!

Great game! Some minor things to distract you when youre being kinda critical in a review, but this game is the one to beat!