Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

My initial reaction to this game has remained consistent throughout my experience with it. Three words, actually: generic multiplayer adventure. Gauntlet Legends, Diablo, whatever your fancy may be. X-Men Legends, maybe, but a bit more generic than that.

For those unaware of said titles, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is a team-based game. You walk through stages in sets of four and beat up hordes of bad guys. Sure there are some destructible environments along the way to get some extra cash, but a fixed, overhead camera angle and a set path in each stage is very reminiscent of old platform gaming. You're flown to each stage, so there is no overworld area connecting one place to another.

Have any spare friends?  Four characters means four players.

The moment you begin, you realize that this is a multiplayer game. While it can be a great single-player experience for those needing to kill a few hours and level up a character, the concept revolves around four characters saving the world with, you guessed it, the option of a four-player mode. The artificial intelligence in the game has been unimpressive, for both friends and foes, leaving a bad taste of oversimplified mechanics when playing the first few stages alone. This may be good for players looking for a breeze, but it's not terribly challenging by any means. There are some interesting side quests that are quite difficult, but we'll get to that later.

Like the AI, the graphics aren't very impressive, either. The camera angle is fixed and can never be zoomed in on characters, so any incredible designs made by the team were either too unpolished to zoom in on or never wanted to be seen. The characters are distanced too far off to see all of the movements involved, but it does the job. Two major problems are still clear, though. By not being able to zoom in, no detail can be seen. By not being able to zoom out, there isn't enough space for multiplayer mode and everyone is cramped in one room. Controls, on the same token, are just as peculiar.

In Diablo, gamers mindlessly click the mouse buttons to attack things and move. In Gauntlet Legends, players either hold down the button or mash the crap out of a button to attack. In Marvel Alliance, we will invent a new term: wrist twister. In order to perform more moves than what the A button provides, a player must twist their wrists around in every possible direction to beat characters up. While this may be fun for some gamers out there, it's very clear Ultimate Alliance is a cash-cow product rather than an innovative Wii game. That is, the development team spent little, if any, time with the Wii controls. Despite all of the interviews claiming the controller would be unique for the system, it feels like a quick port with some slight control changes.

This is exactly what you're not doing in the game.

Even if the game doesn't use the sensor bar, there are still odd flaws in the controls. Swiping the controller left or right performs an attack, but shaking the Wii Remote left and right performs another attack. While this sounds impressive, the game has repeatedly confused my shakes with my swipes.

The Nunchuk isn't problematic, but it does take some time to maneuver properly. If you tilt the Nunchuk left or right, it rotates the camera. Now this is a great idea, but it requires a steady hand. Players looking to rest their hands sideways while playing for a few hours will find the room spinning. As long as you don't get tired holding your hand upright, you're good to go.

The music isn't all that impressive, nor are the voice actors. Perhaps it's the way the game was meant to be, but I couldn't help but roll my eyes with every conversation in the game. New bad guy approaches, the bad guy wants to boast on how Dr. Doom will crush you, the bad guy laughs at you, you challenge the bad guy, the bad guy gives off some unwitty remark, you engage in a really easy battle of four versus one, you move on. Cool for comic book fans needing to reminisce about the comic book series, but very repetitive for people hoping for a little more than bad dialogue and quick match to kill another foe.

Har har har, you will lose, I will win.  I dare you to fight me!

Speaking of bad dialogue, the font selection for this game is terrible. Everything is in small, italicized font that's difficult to read. It feels as if the game was simply ported over from a high-definition system. Without the voice actors, people having less than 20/20 vision may find themselves squinting at the screen trying to figure out your options or which people are saying what. To make things worse, the text your character says without voiceovers is in a bold, italicized bright lime green on a gray background. Not exactly helpful.

On the upside, there are some really cool RPG elements to the game. You can level up each character, unlock new ones, obtain new suits, purchase new magic and upgrades of power, collect items and all the other traditional role-playing expectations. The stages have many breakable items, providing extra coins and life for those in need of some fast upgrades.

For more on multiplayer and long-lasting impressions, check out Stage 2.