Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

[vivisectvi]

Source: http://www.joystiq.com/2009/04/03/gdc09-marvel-ultimate-alliance-2-impressions/

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 [HD] Game Trailer

The first game featured 22 different Marvel characters, which you assemble into teams of four, and MUA2 adds two more to that roster for a total of 24. They haven't revealed everyone that's in the game yet, but Iron Fist and Luke Cage will definitely be playable. You can pick out many more from the previously released trailer for the game, and we're hoping that Deadpool will be returning for this one.

Graphically, the game is much improved over the original, and the camera angle has been adjusted down so you can see further in front of you. You can also switch team members now without having to jump out to the character screen. Vicarious Visions promises that the game holds more than 10 hours of gameplay, with an opportunity for replay provided by several story branching points.

As previously mentioned, the game follows the Marvel Civil War storyline that pits Iron Man against Captain America and features different endings for both heroes. The "branch point" for both of those heroes occurs a third of the way into the game, where you'll be prompted to choose a side in the conflict.

The big new addition to the game are the fusion moves, and there are 276 total combinations in the game. They will also be including DLC characters at some point in the future, and they'll drop in and be able to fuse with the existing characters. Some of the ones we saw included Thor bouncing lightning off of Captain America's shield and hitting multiple enemies at once and Wolverine bouncing Iron Man's repulsor chest-ray with his claws. You can also acquire boosts in the game that will give you special abilities: Thor spins off a tornado, the Human Torch sets fire to it, and you've got a twister that would make Bill Paxton wet his pants.

You'll also be able to upgrade your characters' core powers, abilities, and boosts in the game as you accrue experience points, and the developers promise that the upgrade screen will be easily accessible in game: it won't require a trip to the character menu, and when you access it during multiplayer, AI will take over your character while you upgrade their powers. You can use these to shape your team's abilities by, say, giving everyone electrical hits, and upping their electrical resistance. Bam, you've got an electric version of the Avengers, and so on.

We were shown the opening level in Latveria, which has been seeing a lot of strange activity since (spoiler alert!) Doom's apparent death at the end of Marvel Ultimate Alliance. We didn't see Doom himself, but we imagine he'll be in there. We also saw a boss encounter with Electro, who is a staple of the Marvel video games. He's armed with plenty of puns like "I don't mean to shock you..." and so on.

We weren't shown multiplayer, but the game will feature four-player local and online co-op. If you don't have a full team, you'll play with AI bots in the other slots. There are over 300 conversations in the game, with character responses appearing based on who you like to play as. Is the Hulk your favorite character? Your conversation responses will be ... Hulkish. Like Spidey? You'll get a lot of jokes and puns.

There's more to come on this game, which is out sometime this fall, and we're looking forward to more character reveals. But hey, we already got Luke Cage and Iron Fist! We're happy.

 

[Rendclaw]

That's awesome.. I want to get the first one.

 

[Obi Chris Kenobi]

Another one to add to the pre-order list.

 

[luke-o]

I hope this comes out (and doesn't suck) for the Wii.

 

[ViciousFish]

Buy a good system Luke and stop hoping stuff doesn't suck on the Wii.

 

[luke-o]

Never!

I did own a 360 which I gave away for good reasons. I don't want to have to buy another one just to play a couple of games.

 

[vivisectvi]

I have a Wii, but the PS3 is probably the best "current gen" console investment I made in the recent past.

 

[ViciousFish]

I have all 3 and to be honest I'd never even think of playing a cross console game on Wii. In my experiences the only good Wii games are the games made exclusively for Wii.

 

[griffinmills]

Buy a good system Luke and stop hoping stuff doesn't suck on the Wii.

Tiger Direct has refurb 360 systems for $169.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=4199871&sku=M17-9200&SRCCODE=WEM1894BY&cm_mmc=Email-_-Main-_-WEM1894-_-email

I read a preview of MUA2 in a (then already pretty old Game Informer) around 6 months ago, it looked so good I ran out to buy it... ha! Ended up grabbing a copy of MUA1 for $15 used and loved it. I can't believe MUA2 isn't out yet and that is just looks better and better.

 

[Dobbs3K]

Yeah...we have both a Wii and PS3, and while the Wii is fun, I still can't shake my head at how technology crippled the Wii is compared to the other current generation systems (other than the nifty controllers).

 

[Mattdotcom]

Graphics, shmaffics. As soon I read the words "over ten hours of gameplay" I knew I wouldn't be plunking down any money for this. That sounds like it translates to five hours of gameplay for the Cap side and five for Iron Man's story. Which doesn't translate into $60.

 

[Anakin Flair]

I loved the first one, and I can't wait to get this one. Especially since my copy of UA no longer works for some reason.

 

[FLAM]

I just finished the first one a few weeks ago. Fun game. I'll probably get this. I love Marvel.

 

[Black Lushus]

While the first one is a fine game, it got repetitive at times.

 

[daileyxplanet]

I wish DC would follow suit...

 

[Zeddemore]

The first one had issues, but damn... it was fun to play as Daredevil. Hopefully the sequel has a code to unlock Stick.

 

[vivisectvi]

I wish DC would follow suit...

Yeah they should've made a sequel to Justice League Heroes by now.. expanding on it and making it better. My guess is is that they're focusing a lot on the DC Universe MMO that's coming out sometime down the road.

 

[Rendclaw]

Buy a good system Luke and stop hoping stuff doesn't suck on the Wii.

Tiger Direct has refurb 360 systems for $169.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=4199871&sku=M17-9200&SRCCODE=WEM1894BY&cm_mmc=Email-_-Main-_-WEM1894-_-email

I read a preview of MUA2 in a (then already pretty old Game Informer) around 6 months ago, it looked so good I ran out to buy it... ha! Ended up grabbing a copy of MUA1 for $15 used and loved it. I can't believe MUA2 isn't out yet and that is just looks better and better.

I don't trust anything Tiger Direct sells ever since I spent a bunch of money on computer parts, and less than half of them worked.....

 

[luke-o]

The first one had issues, but damn... it was fun to play as Daredevil. Hopefully the sequel has a code to unlock Stick.

I'm so glad that he's not an unlockable character this time round. Daredevil has always been my favourite.

 

[griffinmills]

The first one had issues, but damn... it was fun to play as Daredevil. Hopefully the sequel has a code to unlock Stick.

I'm so glad that he's not an unlockable character this time round. Daredevil has always been my favourite.

Man, that made me so confused until I realized you were saying you were glad he didn't need to be unlocked to be played!

 

[luke-o]

Juggernaut and Deadpool confirmed as playable characters:

http://marvel.com/news/vgstories.8069.Marvel_Ultimate_Alliance_2~colon~_Deadpool_Trailer

http://marvel.com/news/vgstories.8067.Juggernaut_Smashes_his_Way_into_MUA2

Glad Deadpool is back, he was one of the best characters in the 1st game.

 

[Baby Shoes]

Juggernaut looks awesome but that article says he is GameStop pre-order exclusive. Will they release him on Live at a later date or something?

 

[vivisectvi]

Did anyone pick this up?

 

[Broward83]

See my post in the random thoughts section..its spoiler'd since I had been playing it before release and didn't want to ruin anyone's experience.

 

[Angle-plex]

Yeah, this isn't worth a buy. Repetitive, many things are worse than the original. Finished level 2 with a buddy then we had both had enough.

 

[AntiLeaf33]

Yeah, this isn't worth a buy. Repetitive, many things are worse than the original. Finished level 2 with a buddy then we had both had enough.

I heard that they dumbed down a lot of the elements from the first game. I'm also not crazy about the Civil War arc getting spliced in as it limits why you can have on your team.

Guess I'll wait awhile and see what over the overall consensus is.

 

[Broward83]

It only really limits you like, three people..maybe four at the most. Everyone else you get thru game play anyway.

Spoiler

and in the end, you get everyone back anyway when you join forces to fight "The Fold"

 

[AndrewTS]

I decided to pass when I saw they were doing the console exclusive characters crap, and most assuredly there will be DLC stuff.

Maybe when they release a version of the game with everyone instead of nickle and diming you for more characters later.

 

[Rendclaw]

Which in these days of DLC making them quite a bit of money, that might never happen.

 

[Scroby]

I don't mind paying a few extra bucks for DLC extras (characters, maps, gametypes) but I'm getting really tired of the console exclusive stuff. I mean at first, I really didn't mind it. It sucked that the 360 got something the PS3 didn't get or vica versa but it seemed kind of balanced so it really didn't bother me but now it doesn't seem so balanced anymore. PS3 gets playable Joker stuff in Batman Dark Asylum while currently the 360 version gets crap or there's the PS3 version of Smackdown vs Raw 2010 with Stone Cold as a DLC exclusive which is only a Gamestop pre-order exclusive. Which means if I want to play as Stone Cold I have to not only pre-order my game from Gamestop which is in another city for me, I'd have to get a PS3 before the fucking game came out.

DLC is really starting to bug me with the exclusive bullshit.