Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2

The Cap' is back, and he's angry.

After a superhero reality television show leads to a supervillain killing dozens of children, Congress enacts the Superhero Registration Act which requires all superheroes to make their secret identities known.  Some heroes don't like the new legislation, and what results is a civil war amongst all of the characters in the Marvel Universe...

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Recommended Age Minimum Age Available On... 10 8 Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2 Overall Fun Length Frustration   Violence Sexuality Substances Gambling 7 7 5   5 2 1 0 Mods Religion Anti-Law Community Sports Magic Miscellaneous 0 0 5 1 0 9 1

1.     Gameplay

• Overall Fun - 7

Ultimate Alliance 2 sets the player in the midst of a civil war between all of the Marvel comic book characters.  Congress has been working towards enacting a bill that would require all superheroes to register and make their "secret identities" known.  Iron Man's side believes that this is the right thing to do in order to save the lives of innocent civilians who get caught in the crossfire when superheroes fight supervillains.  Captain America's side believes that the registration violates superheroes' first amendment rights.  The player will have to choose a side with consequences for either choice.

Captain America or Iron Man? Tough decision.

This game was definitely fun.  It’s very simple.  There’s no need to worry about what button throws a grenade.  All the player has to worry about is using the powers his character has and what power is appropriate for a given situation.  Yet despite its simplicity, it’s addictive.  The storyline is compelling and the wide variety of characters will keep the player engaged as he moves forward.

Playing with friends will definitely increase the fun.  Players usually develop a “favorite” character, and when two characters complement each other well it can result in a nearly unstoppable force.  It’s awesome to be able to create parings such as Iron Man and Deadpool.

Actually, it is a tough decision.

Deadpool definitely makes this game even more amusing.  If you don’t know who Deadpool is, he’s extremely funny while somewhat insane.  He’s the only character that ever breaks the fourth wall.  The developers clearly had fun making him and writing his lines.

Despite playing this game three times, I still have fun with it.  It’s easy to master, but still fun to feel foes crumble at my might.  And the storyline is definitely engaging with a nice split where the player must choose a side.

• Length - 7

This game was fairly long and had some surprisingly good replay value.  There is a lot to find and unlock, such as alternate costumes for almost every character, concept art for the game, audio files that give extra information into the backstory, etc.  The game also plays somewhat differently with different characters.  Each character has a relatively unique set of powers that are good for different situations, and the combined “fusion” powers that two characters share are unique as well.

Those that find themselves wanting to find everything will definitely have a lot to do.  The game includes lots of extra bonuses hidden around the levels as well as some very difficult simulations that the player can attempt.

• Frustration Factor - 5

There were a few frustrating things about this game, but most of them were so minor they’re barely worth mentioning.  Some characters were definitely support characters and almost useless on the battlefield.  The human players will end up having to do almost all of the work since computer characters are fairly dumb.  Some bosses had to be defeated in specific ways that the game did not inform the player about.  These were all relatively minor.

Sometimes the camera angle could be frustrating, especially when playing with a friend.  The entire game happens with a single camera angle, so friends who play on the same screen together will have to stay in the same small area.  If they don’t, the camera will prevent them from walking outside of the viewable area, even if there are enemies nearby.  It can get frustrating if the two players are attacking enemies in opposite directions.

There was one thing that really frustrated me, however, and definitely increased this score.  If a player is playing cooperatively with another player, the first player will be the one controlling all of the party.  This is somewhat confusing to explain.  Basically, the player that starts the game will be the one that chooses what upgrades his players get and will get all of the achievements.  Other players who join the host will just be seen as temporary, throwaway players.  When I played this game with my fiancée, it meant that one of us would get all of the achievements and the other would get none, even though we played the entire game together.

This meant that if we both wanted to get the credit for the work we put into this game, we would have to play the game at least twice, once with me as host, and once with her as host.  It was an extra, unnecessary step that could have easily been solved by having the game keep track of each player’s progress regardless of who was hosting the game.

2.     Parental Notices

• Violence - 5

Violence is very mild in this game.  Most of the violence involves the player using various powers to kill opponents.  There is no blood at all, and when human enemies die they simply fall over as if they were knocked out.

This is par for the course in terms of violence. Explosions and robots.

There is one slight exception to this, however.  One of the characters, Venom, has an ability where he pounces on a nearby enemy and acts like he is eating that enemy.  If the enemy is killed as a result of the attack, the body will not reappear later, as if Venom had consumed the entire body.  If the enemy would not be killed by the attack, he simply flies out and falls on the ground.  It’s not graphic at all, but it’s present.

Venom puts most horror movie monsters out of commission, usually by eating them.

• Sexuality - 2

If you’ve ever looked at a comic book you’ll notice two things.  The men are all extremely muscular, sometimes inhumanly so, and the women are all extremely skinny and with huge breasts.  Add these to the fact that almost everyone wears skin-tight clothing and yeah, sexuality is somewhat of an issue with this game.

It's like a one-piece, but for combat. Awww yeeeeeah.

However, if you have no problem having your kids staring at awkwardly large breasts (or comic books), then you’ll have no problem with this game.  Other than the overall look, sexuality is not an issue with this game at all.

• Substances - 1

Substances are so minor in this game it’s almost not a factor.  Health is distributed either via regenerative powers (some characters can heal themselves) or via red orbs that are found by breaking boxes and other objects.

The second-half of the game does center around nanorobots that are injected into the body and allow the subject to be mind-controlled.  However, nanorobot injections aren’t really a substance, so the substance score is zero.

Supervillains under the control of nanorobots. I'm not sure why they have wings.

Green Goblin does throw a sort of poison grenade that can poison enemies (or allies if the player is fighting against Green Goblin).  Since it’s a power that the player can use, it is a small issue.

Happy Halloween! Wait...

• Gambling - 0

Gambling is not an issue in this game.

3.     Other Factors

• Mods - 0

There are no mods available for this game.

• Religion - 0

Religion is not a factor in this game.

• Anti-Law - 5

The storyline revolves around the Marvel civil war.  One side believes that the Superhero Registration Act (SRA) enacted by Congress is correct and that all superheroes must register with the government.  The opposing side believes that the SRA will hurt superheroes and are fighting to repeal the legislation.  The player will have to choose whether to fight the legislation or fight for it.

I blame rock music for this war. And hippies.

It’s a civil war over whether the safety of the general public is more important than the freedom of superheroes.  One side’s going to be fighting against the government, otherwise there would be no civil war.

• Online Community - 1

The game is designed to be played with up to four friends, but it is not required.  Players can find people to play with online, but I never ran into any problems with this system.

• Extreme Sports - 0

Some enemies will climb up or rappel down walls to get to the area where the player is fighting.  However, other than this, extreme sports are not an issue.

• Magic - 9

Most of the characters that the character can use have some sort of supernatural power.  In fact, those characters that use technology to get their powers are the exception, not the rule.  Magical powers, while some of them loosely biologically based, are still extremely prominent in this game.  Players will be using these powers throughout the entire game.  If you have a problem having your kids read comic books, you’ll definitely have a problem with your kids playing this game.

Without magic, this game would be "Marvel: Ultimate Iron Man".

• Miscellaneous - 1
  

Human Disfigurement

Deadpool has an alternate costume that can be a bit scary.

Deadpool forgot his skin when he put on his costume this morning.

Other than this, there is no other adult content.