Warp Zone: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

Normally, I don’t care for button-mashing, beat ‘em up games.  Normally, I could care less about comic book heroes or villains.  Normally.  Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 has enough decent game play to satisfy a gamer like me, and more than enough features to satisfy hardcore comic book fans.  If you fall into both of those categories, you need to add this to your collection.

The story follows the events of the comic series Secret War and Civil War.  Basically, the Marvel heroes are caught up in a secret plot to overthrow another country’s government, leading to an attack on the US.  The government responds by making all superheroes register with the government.  Some heroes are pro-registration, and some are against it.  As you progress in the game, you must choose a side.  This two-pronged story arc, along with tons of hidden collectables, gives MUA2 great replay value.

The basic game play is simple.  Choose four characters, beat up everyone on screen.  As you progress, your characters earn experience points that can be spent on beefing them up.  When using the same hero, you’ll find that certain combos work well and it can become repetitive.   At any time you can use the large roster to switch out heroes.   Also to improve upon the classic beat ‘em up style, MUA2 offers up a fusion attack.  These fusion attacks are a devastating two player attack that pretty much clears the screen of enemies.  Experimenting with different combinations of heroes yields pretty awesome results.  When selecting your four heroes for battle, being comic book savvy will yield an extra bonus, like choosing all X-men or the Fantastic Four.

The graphics are good. Not award winning, but not bad.  The outdoor environments look much better than the indoor ones.  There are some frame-rate issues when the screen is full of enemies.  Also players playing on casual difficulty will miss out on the whole XP part of the game.   None of the bad parts are deal-breakers, but simply worth noting.

Overall I must say I was pleasantly surprised by Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.  What on the surface appears to be just another button-mashing beat’em up is, in fact a solid action game with RPG elements and a great story.  I’m not going to rush out to buy it, but it certainly didn’t feel like a waste of time.   With all of the unlockables and a story with diverging tales, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is a solid title, and a worthy addition to the Marvel universe.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is available on PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, and PSP.  It is rated T for Teen by the ESRB for mild language and violence.

About the author: Kevin “Mello Joe” Mercer is a former radio personality and a lifelong gamer. You can find him on Xbox Live and Playstation Network, Gamertag: Mellojoe. View the world as he sees it at www.youtube.com/user/mellojoe. www.myspace.com/charlesk