Comic books and videogames have always had a certain hand in hand relationship with one another. Fans of one are usually fans of the other. So it should come as no surprise when a videogame is created using the most famous comic book license out there, Marvel. There have been plenty of Marvel games made in the past but this one is the first to put all of the Marvel characters together in one setting, an action/RPG setting to be exact. Taking it’s path from games like X-Men Legends and Hunter: The Reckoning, developer Raven Software and Activision have created Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for the Xbox 360. Considering Raven Software is responsible for the Legends games it should be a given that Ultimate Alliance will be one action packed fun game. They took the old formula and added some new features making Marvel: Ultimate Alliance one of the most enjoyable experiences I have had on the 360 to date.
The story begins with Doctor Doom causing havoc on the helicarrier (a transport ship for SHIELD) and will take gamers through 20+ levels taking place everywhere from space to earth, and the heavens in between. SHIELD is basically the united nations of the Marvel universe, headed up by comic book favorite Nick Fury. Following the attack on the helicarrier Doctor Doom proceeds to use his band of bad guys (Loki, Rhino, etc.) to put a plan into motion that will mean the destruction of the universe as we know it and basically leave Doom in control for all eternity. Obviously the only people that can stop this from happening are the superheroes that make up the Marvel comics, and this is where you come in. You will take control of 25 playable characters (not all are available from the very beginning) and level these characters up using points, XP, costumes, and other upgrades giving you the ability to finish off even the most powerful enemies. The basic characters are all here: Wolverine, Spider-Man, Silver-Surfer, Thor, Captain America, etc. but Raven Software decided to give us some more unique characters including Mrs. Marvel, Dr. Strange, Spider-Woman, and my personal favorite Deadpool. Like I said the complete list of playables counts to 25, which is actually too many as I completed the game without touching more than a few of these heroes. This will obviously add to the replay-ability because playing through the game again with a different team of four will make for a completely new experience.
Each character does not only look and sound different but they each have a different array of moves and special attacks. For example Wolverine can only double jump, while Spider-Man can swing from his web, and Iron Man can fly using his boots. Each hero in Ultimate Alliance also has a choice of four different costumes, each of which can be upgraded and made to be extra powerful. These costumes are so different that just after making the hard decision of which four characters to use, choosing which costume to wear can take some time. Throughout the game you will gain XP and pick up “coins” that can be used to upgrade your hero’s attributes, attacks, and uniforms. This is the feature that takes Ultimate Alliance, as well as previous games like it, above and beyond the classic “hit-em-up” style of game. The good guys are not the only Marvel comic characters in the game though, there are roughly 150 Marvel characters (good and bad) that you will interact with throughout your journey. This is a massive number of characters and really gives the gamer that feel that they are actually taking part in the Marvel universe. The amount of time Raven Software took to make this game feel genuine and stay true to the Marvel comics is really astonishing and it shows in the company’s final product. The level design is unique and repetitive at the same time; let me explain. Each level has a different look to it, be it the snow level or the fire level, none of them are the same in terms of aesthetics. With a game like this it is hard to make the levels non-repetitive and this factor plagues Marvel: Ultimate Alliance just as much as the previous games of the genre.
