Activision is such a tease. At New York Comic Con, the publisher promised to show us something solid on Vicarious Visions' upcoming action-brawler, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. Instead, it just brought us a trailer; a cool teaser, but a teaser nonetheless.
At Game Developer Conference last week, Activision brought along some folks from Vicarious Visions along with the game. So where does the tease come in? They just let us watch. Fortunately, the demo of the game in action didn't disappoint, every bit as cool as the Comic Con teaser trailer. We just wish we could play it. Now.
Read on for more details.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS) Developer: Vicarious Visions Publisher: Activision To be released: Fall 2009
Inspired by the events of Marvel's "Civil War" story arc, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 will have players (and heroes... possibly villains) choosing sides in a narrative that takes a more mature slant than the previous title. Set to a more contemporary tone, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is as much about the choices you make as it is the heroes you choose to embody. Although we didn't see it play out in the demo, Vicarious Visions tells us that these choice will affect who you can control, who will fight along your side and ultimately, the outcome of the game.
The title still maintains its cooperative roots, this time allowing for up to four players to fight alongside one another either on a single console or online. Vicarious Visions has only revealed a handful of the game's 24 characters, among them favorites like Captain America, Spider-Man, The Hulk, and more. We were also told that you can expect more playable characters available by way of downloadable content, but they weren't ready to talk specifics, including pricing and time frame for availability.
Among the new reveals at GDC were two new characters ripped straight from the pages of the Marvel universe, Iron Fist and Songbird. Iron Fist's specialty is martial arts, with up-close combat his forte, using Chi energy as a weapon. Songbird -- like a handful of the game's characters -- has the ability to glide through the air, using sonic energy to create wings that sprout from her back.
The core gameplay of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 appears to remain the same as its predecessor, with a focus on high intensity action and upgrading heroes abilities as your progress. This time around, however, Vicarious Vision is making it easier than ever to experience each of the characters' special abilities. In the previous title, it was too easy to rely on one character that you'd continually upgrade, leaving other (possibly weaker) characters by the wayside. In Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, it will be possible to swap characters on the fly, encouraging players to experiment with different abilities as they go.
But the key addition to the title is the Power Fusion system (the subtitle Fusion that was originally attached to the title appears to have been scrapped). The focus here is on bad-ass hero team ups, the system allowing each hero to fuse his or her abilities with teammates. The system allows for nearly 300 different tag-team combinations; one example we saw had Thor bouncing lightning off of Captain America's shield, shocking crowds of nearby enemies.
From a visual standpoint, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is vastly improved from its predecessor. While the original title seemed like a shinier version of last-gen titles, this new game was verly clearly designed with next-gen hardware in mind. The lighting is particularly phenomenal, with light posts castings impressive, reali time shadows across pavement and characters. Environmental destruction has been amped up as well; as Vicarious Visions put it, "people liked smashing things" in the first title. They deliver in the sequel, as we saw all manner of things being trashed in the battlefield.
Overall, the game has a far grittier look and feel, mirroring the imagery of more mature modern comic book artists, and fitting with the games more mature themes. The angle of the action has been changed as well, pulled in a bit tighter, with cinematic angles that amplify the intensity of the on-screen action.
To say we're excited to get our hands on Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is an understatement. Next time we see the game, hand us a controller, Vicarious Visions. If you think the fusion of Spider-Man and the Hulk is frightening, just wait until you see two game journalists come together to combine powers. It's a thing of nightmares.
All I know is Captain America is as detached as my fucking grandfather, but Ironman really fucked up to begin with in Civil war. It's gonna be hard to decide which one to side with. I dig it.
Is every character balanced? Is the Hulk going to have to find a key to a door instead of tearing the door apart? The power combination does sound interesting with hundreds of variations.
I'm really looking forward to this game, as I loved the first M:UA game, despite its few flaws, but one thing bothers me to no end. I realize the game is a "reimagining" of the Civil War storyline, which I didn't read at all, but which I did follow and understand more or less. Usually story adaptations don't bother me, but I have major beef with one aspect of this game's retelling... shouldn't the Hulk be off in space during the entirety of this storyline? Wasn't part of the whole problem that Hulk was gone and then he came back and fucked everyone up?
Does anyone else think it'd be mad cool to instead have Hulk be the final boss and have a giant epic battle where everyone is fighting him as he rampages around?
@ B-Radicate
That would be fucking awesome,and make alot more sense in context with the story.I am very excited for this game,but having only 24 heroes initially available playable characters seems a bit on the small side.Hopefully the roster will expand a good bit before the game ships.And the opportunity for dlc on this game seem very profitable,I just hope they dont charge like 5 dollars per character.Also,I want Deadpool to return for this game,and the Punisher deserves to be in there.
I have big hopes for this game. The first one was awesome, but the storyline never really did anything for me. Hopefully the sequel can change that for me.
@T9X I would be VERY surprised if Deadpool wasn't in it, since hes gonna be a big part of the new Wolverine movie.
@ brock They cut Deadpools nuts off in the movie.. very disappointing.
@ everybody who wants punisher I've been carrying the torch for him to be in these games since xmen legends too. I dont care if hes not an xmen. Plus punisher in civil war SAVES spideys butt.. He needs to be in this game
From my perspective this grittier "more modern" thing kind of sucks. My favorite thing about Marvel: Ultimate Alliance was winning the OLD costumes from the 70's and 80's and the way that it went from Atlantis to Asgard to Mephisto's version of Hell. You take that type of stuff away and I'm not even sure I want to play.
Will the New Avengers be there? Will this venom be Eddie Brock or The Scorpion? I wonder if they're even going to attempt putting every single character in the civil war into the game somehow? Hulk should most definitely be doing the planet hulk thing too.
I refuse to even consider Mac Gargan as Venom. If Venom is included in the game it should be Eddie Brock, hell if they're going to alter the Civil War storyline to include the Hulk then why not make Brock a Thunderbolt?
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Contest:
4:30 PM on 04.03.2009
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Does anyone else think it'd be mad cool to instead have Hulk be the final boss and have a giant epic battle where everyone is fighting him as he rampages around?
Maybe it's just me.
That would be fucking awesome,and make alot more sense in context with the story.I am very excited for this game,but having only 24 heroes initially available playable characters seems a bit on the small side.Hopefully the roster will expand a good bit before the game ships.And the opportunity for dlc on this game seem very profitable,I just hope they dont charge like 5 dollars per character.Also,I want Deadpool to return for this game,and the Punisher deserves to be in there.
@T9X I would be VERY surprised if Deadpool wasn't in it, since hes gonna be a big part of the new Wolverine movie.
@ everybody who wants punisher I've been carrying the torch for him to be in these games since xmen legends too. I dont care if hes not an xmen. Plus punisher in civil war SAVES spideys butt.. He needs to be in this game
Will the New Avengers be there? Will this venom be Eddie Brock or The Scorpion? I wonder if they're even going to attempt putting every single character in the civil war into the game somehow? Hulk should most definitely be doing the planet hulk thing too.
I'm hoping for the best.
I refuse to even consider Mac Gargan as Venom. If Venom is included in the game it should be Eddie Brock, hell if they're going to alter the Civil War storyline to include the Hulk then why not make Brock a Thunderbolt?
Also, needs moar Deadpool.