Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 is a 2009 action role-playing video game featuring characters from Marvel Comics. It is the sequel to 2006’s Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, and the second installment in the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance series. The game was jointly developed by Vicarious Visions (PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360), n-Space (Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Wii) and Savage Entertainment (PlayStation Portable) and published by Activision in September 2009. Unlike the first game, which featured an original plot, Ultimate Alliance 2’s storyline is mostly based on the Secret War and Civil War story arcs from the Marvel comics.

Description

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 borrows much of its gameplay from its predecessor. The game allows players to select a team of four given characters from a larger pool of heroes and villains; team members are interchangeable and may be swapped during gameplay. General gameplay mechanics are similar to those of the X-Men Legends series. The game is played from an isometric dungeon crawl perspective, supporting up to four players simultaneously. The Vicarious Visions version on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC consoles of the game also features online play via the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, and Windows Live/Steam respectively.

The power system also has been improved, allowing two characters to combine powers, yielding a new attack, known as a “fusion”. Each playable character in the game has a unique fusion with every other playable character in the game. An example is Captain America using his shield to reflect Storm’s lightning bolts. Players have the ability to level up characters and earn new abilities and powers. The Vicarious Visions version on PS3, 360, PS4, Xbox One and PC consoles features an updated character progression system, with each character having four core powers that evolve as the character levels up similar to original X-Men Legends.

The n-Space version on Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable consoles of the game resembles the character progression system found in the original Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and original X-Men Legends, except the power set numbers are different, whereas the Nintendo DS version’s power set number is limited to 4 powers limited like in the original X-Men Legends. While the Vicarious Visions version have an alternate costume that requires to be unlocked through defeating multiple enemies in specific conditions, n-space version does not feature an alternate costume selection.

The game begins with a military operation in Latveria, home of the supervillain Doctor Doom. “The story starts with Secret War. We’re using Nick Fury’s invasion of Latveria as a jumping off point. The rest of the story is derived from the consequences of those actions”, stated Dan Tanguay, creative director for Vicarious Visions. The game then follows the Civil War story arc: a fight between heroes and villains causes an explosion in Stamford, Connecticut, killing 612 civilians (including a number of school children).

The government labels the incident “super powered negligence”, and the public demand a Superhuman Registration Act. The government passes the act, and all meta-humans are forced to adhere to or disobey the law. In the game, players are able to choose between the Pro-Registration side, headed by Iron Man and Mister Fantastic, or the Anti-Registration side, headed by Captain America and Luke Cage. These characters and several other characters are ‘locked’ into a specific side during the game’s second act but can be used on either side during repeat playthroughs.

Two different endings are available, determined by the side chosen at the beginning of the game. Tanguay stated that the story follows into the aftermath of the Civil War. The game includes some format-specific characters, with additional characters released as downloadable content. In addition, each character on the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions has one alternate costume that can be unlocked during the course of the game.

Stan Lee, co-creator of Marvel Comics and creator of many of the characters, also lends his likeness and voice to New York Senator Lieber; this marks the first time Stan has made a physical cameo in a video game. Several playable characters also appear as bosses throughout the game, such as battling Iron Man if the player chooses the Anti-Registration path, or facing Captain America on the Pro-Registration path. Other playable characters are unlocked by defeating them, such as Deadpool, Green Goblin and Venom.