PSP - Marvel Ultimate Alliance Recommended

Format
PSP
Publisher
Activision
Developer
Vicarious Visions
Country of origin
US
Genre
RPG

MARVEL Ultimate Alliance

By David Rasmussen
29th Jul 07

When we first delved into MARVEL Ultimate Alliance it was February, and the first MARVEL games of 2007 were fresh on the shelves.

Ghost Rider the Game turned out to be as bad as I thought it would be, and it got a 2 out of 5.
Spider-Man 3 disappointed, not showing the caliber of gameplay that made Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 both highly recommended games, sinking down to a 3 out of 5 for both it’s PS2 and Wii versions (too many subtle glitches, not enough content to keep you playing for hours on end).
And don’t even get me started on MARVEL Trading Card Game for the PSP, or the many releases of the game based on the not-so-exciting movie event of the Summer (Fantastic Four : Rise of the Silver Surfer).

So, then, with that all said how about we revisit a game that reminds you MARVEL can do good games… when they’re not out doing (bleep) with MARVEL Ultimate Alliance for the PSP.

If you start with good stock when you translate from the PS2 to the PSP you are bound to end up with good stock. The GTA games, The Warriors, and now this proves that to be true.
MARVEL Ultimate Alliance is in the venue of X-Men Legends… in fact, MARVEL Ultimate Alliance for the most part is the same as X-Men Legends (only with a shallow wading pool of character stat modification that pales in comparison to the depth offered up in X-Men Legends II for the PSP).
Otherwise for the most part it’s the same concept (only done better than the shallow X-Men Legends knockoff that was Justice League Unlimited the game). You’ll find the same overhead beat-em-up action here, as well as the same wide smathering of characters you can play as (now more varied as the PSP version offers an additional 4 characters as I‘ll bring up shortly), and the same action that is fun to play and easy to get a grasp on. It’s all X-Men Legends type action with a wider array of the MARVEL Universe set into it for addictively solid gaming that‘ll keep it as part of your traveling gameset for sometime to come.

This game has it all, thus making it possible to totally skip out on the lesser MARVEL games if you are looking for a certain fix.
Want some Ghost Rider? He’s here. Fantastic Four? Got that too. X-Men? While we don’t have a full cast of X-Men we do have Wolverine in here which is usually everyone’s favorite anyway. Avengers, Blade, Deadpool, and four new characters specific to the game. Black Widow, Ronin, Captain Marvel and Hawkeye. You start out with Captain Marvel and Ronin (play as her long enough and you’ll unlock a totally revealing outfit for her to wear, and you’ll see the worth of playing her for a long time as her backflip kick special move alone has enough power to make quick work of most mid-boss to boss characters if Ronin is properly leveled up and nurtured character ability wise), and once you beat the game you can unlock Black Widow, Nick Fury and Hawkeye (though if you are in a hurry you can get Hawkeye right off the bat by signing onto the online MARVEL Ultimate Alliance community).

And yes, all the bells and whistles are here as well including the wide variance of costumes (4 per character), unlockable “Danger Room” style solo missions (now including a special set of “Survival” missions specifically made for the PSP version), comic covers and artwork, as well as hidden “action figures” that unlock Daredevil and Black Panther as playablke characters (which is the same as in the PS2 version to be certain because I finally found out what collecting 5 Daredevil figures entails… you get Daredevil).

Yes, once again MARVEL Ultimate Alliance is NOT the same as X-Men Legends where it counts, mainly in the customization function of character stats. That means once again you might as well leave it all for the computer (except the first time around when you have to unlock character‘s Ultimate power once they reach Level 10 by reshuffling their power points). I was hoping the PSP version would fix that glaring error from the PS2 version, but sadly I was mistaken. If they took the time to add characters and content they could have at least fixed that while they were at it.

Yes, you once again have the ability to create your own team. Only unlike the PS2 version once you play the game again you’ll find this team ability transfers over into the new game (which means you don’t have to go through all the trouble of rebuilding your team stats like you would in the PS2 version). Too bad there’s a level cap of 30 on your team stats. Once you hit 30 you won’t grow anymore, which means you won’t be able to completely fill out all the meters on your team stats (bummer). One good thing is that this game features a larger “bench” for your team, allowing you to have 10 people in your team instead of the 8 from the PS2 version. And yes, like the PS2 version all unlocked characters are quickly available in your new game once you play the game again.

Also NOW that I beat Doom I can tell you that all your actions in the game has consequences (as a special ending that specifically tells you about what you did, or didn’t do, and the results of said actions or inactions had on the future) and thus can provide several endings as you play over and over again and change “history” each time.

Oh, yes. Choice is again subjective but I still have Blade, Deadpool, Ghost Rider and Ms. Marvel on my team. I also have Ronin, Black Widow, Nick Fury, Captain America, Elektra and Daredevil.
As for voice acting? Since it is for the most part the same game as the PS2 version that means it sports the same voice acting (and the same fine cut scenes). Yes, once again that means Phil LaMarr (Samurai Jack) is the big talent of the game as the Black Panther. Which I suppose makes sense since he is also the hardest character to unlock, taking the most effort just to find the 5 statues that make him available.

Otherwise liking or hating this game depends on your feelings for X-Men Legends. If you loved X-Men Legends you’ll love MARVEL Ultimate Alliance (which I heard is even fun on the PSP and Nintendo DS though I have yet to review the Nintendo DS version… yet), but if you hated X-Men Legends then… well… you’ll not become a fan of MARVEL Ultimate Alliance (which is just the same game mechanics similar to X-Men Legends but with less detail of stat adjustments).

Story? Oh, yes once again this is the C.B. Cebulski version which means once again he‘s shilling himself in this game. Otherwise the story is the same as the PS2 version : Doom is putting the smackdown on S.H.I.E.L.D.s’ helicarrier with his brand spankin’ new Masters of Evil, and your team is called in to save the day. However you end up losing the Helicarrier, and it looks like the Masters of Evil have big plans for the world that you have to step up to bat for and stop. From Stark Towers to Dr. Strange’s Sanctum Santorum, Asgard to the moon you’ll be facing the Masters at all corners of the world and beyond, struggling to stop Doom’s ultimate plan to date.

Ultimately, at the end of the day, as if to make up for forcing us to bear a tasteless movie tie in game like X-Men the Official Game, Marvel Trading Card Game, Ghost Rider the Game, and even an average 3 out of 5 like Spider-Man 3 we got this far superior MARVEL game to chew on before the next movie to game disaster (now after Fantastic Four we have… oh, Spider-Man Friend or Foe which might actually be good since it‘s a reimagining of the Spider-Man movie games, and then there‘s Iron Man the Game).
So if you had to play something this year to remind you of Mighty MARVEL’s movies this year -- most of which is average or below average, then this should keep you occupied until the next playable MARVEL game comes… eh? Spider-Man Friend or Foe… whatever. Ogh… (holds game tight)… I better pick up the Nintendo DS version soon because I once again so going to need something to play during the long dry spell before the next playable MARVEL game… or to remember what Captain America was like before MARVEL did the whole Death of Superman thing with him killing him off… only to probably bring him back so many months from now. Double bleah.

Otherwise MARVEL Ultimate Alliance for the PSP gets 4 Captain America’s Mighty Shields out of 5.

-- David Rasmussen 29th Jul 07

PSP Marvel Ultimate Alliance Images