Marvel Ultimate Alliance opens with an assault on the SHIELD helicarrier by the Brotherhood of Evil led by Dr Doom. The hero’s must thwart the assault before the helicarrier is destroyed. Just a walk in the park for the worlds greatest hero’s.The game gives you four heroes at a time that you can direct as you move through the helicarrier. Each hero has their own combat style and advantages to bring to the fight. Though there are four of them you only get to directly control one at a time, the others will follow along behind you and can be given basic instructions like being aggressive or defensive in their basic actions.
The characters advance in power as they progress through the game. As they advance they gain access to new abilities and powers that will help you defeat your enemies. The character screen will show you what your abilities are. Also, as you play you will find bonus items that will give you additional attack power or better armor, etc.
You will eventually come to a save point. When you reach one you will have the chance to change the mix of heroes that you have with you. The first time you access the hero pool you will discover heroes like Captain Marvel, Storm, Iron Man, Luke Cage and more. Some of them I haven’t seen in comics for a while, though I haven’t been an avid comic reader for a few years.
Throughout the game you will begin to uncover the storyline and possible conspiracy, and as the story unfolds you will begin to wonder if you are fighting on the right side. Or perhaps the problem is that there are no actual good sides, just different sides.
Gameplay is easy, though it can be difficult at times to target the enemy when there are a number of targets as well as all the heroes all bunched together. The small screen of the PSP is the primary cause of that. The graphics are good considering what it's being played on. Most of the game is fairly dark, which makes it a challenge to see if there is any significant light in the room yr playing in.
Overall Marvel Ultimate Alliance is a lot of fun and for a PSP game I highly recommend it. There is quite a bit of reading involved, not only as the game progresses but also to help uncover the story line, so the game may not be good for younger kids. But otherwise I'd suggest it for anyone who is a comic fan.
I've been gaming since the days of the original TSR D&D and have grown up playing just about every PnP RPG created. Eventually with the age of computers, I started getting into RTS and military strategy games. And then came the MMORPG Asherons Call which changed my computer gaming forever. These days when i'm not gaming I'm working with the Los Padre's Council BSA and my son's Cub Pack - when not conquering the virtual world.
