Gamers Point of View on Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

I will begin by saying I am a gamer, lover of comics, graphic novels, and the movies made after them. I played most the big games this summer. Batman, Wolverine, MUA2, InFamous, Prototype, Wolfenstein... almost it all. This review will be as unbiassed as you will probable come across. Shall we begin?

I have been playing MUA2 since last Friday (yes I know, five days before it's release) and have had mixed feelings ever since it entered my 360. We will begin with what I believe to be the highest and lowest point in the game for me... the fusion attacks. These greatly powerful attacks are a mixture of two heros powers that are achieved through simply beating the snot out of bad guys to fill a meter (much like Xtreme attacks from MUA1). You will be able to store one attack and then have another ready to go. Attacks will very depending on the two heros you use for them. There are ones that clear out a large group of baddies, ones you aim at a single target for massive damage, and others used to sweep areas and take down spread out enemies in groups. These attacks are great looking. Ice Man with Iron Man is one of my favorites, anything with Storm as well. They don't take a long time to earn, and in my opinion are more effective then the Extreme attacks. The thing I do not like about these attacks is the lack of variety and repetition. You are told that every pair will have a unique attack. Man do they! Let me give you an example. Say you have Storm and Spiderman. You control a tornado from Storm, sweeping the screen, picking up enemies and enviroment pieces (GORGEOUS... till you get to much and ruin the frame rate) as Spidey shoots web balls into the tornado and then CRASH bolt of lightening. AWESOME! Then you switch out Spidey for Gambit. You control a tornado from Storm, sweeping the screen, picking up enemies and enviroment pieces (GORGEOUS... till you get to much and ruin the frame rate) as Gambit shoots cards into the tornado then CRASH bolt of lightening. AWESOME! See what I mean? Try it with Storm and Deadpool... tornado, gernades, lightning. Or Iron Man with Spidey vs Dare Devil with Spidey. It gets old... quick. I wish they would have put some more variety into what they tried to market as the games main selling point.

Next I'll hit on the heros. There is variety folks, yes you will still be missing some but there is enough to go around. Some heros still feel unbalanced. Wolverine is still the best at what he does, and you will still laugh at anyone that uses Susan Storm as their main character. I thought they would have fixed this after the first game. You also will not have the ability to really customize your hero like before. No longer in place is the common RPG tree growth. You will not level up a power till you can unlock another and choose which your hero uses. Instead you unlock moves as you level up automatically. There are no more coins to spend... just PIPs and ability points. The PIPs are used to level up your moves and ability points go towards 'Greater chance of dodge' and 'stamina drain down 5%' and the like. You will also pick up and unlock badges that effect your whole team. Things such as 'fusion attack power increased' and 'melee damage increased'.

Gone from the game are blue and red orbs, stamina replenshes itself quickly and you now pick up and use health packs at will. They are used to heal and bring back to life heros who have fallen. It's true, no more waiting till your time is up and then having to find a SHIELD access point to bring back your team. You can bring them back as soon as they are gone. On top of this, since there are no more access points, you may now switch team members whenever you want. Some people will love this. I do not. It kills some of the strategy for me, so what if someone dies? I have never been with out atleast one health pack on me. This one is up to the player.

This game is GORGEOUS! Especially compared to it's much older sibling. The environments look great. Flaming cars, beat up windows and especially the characters. It is nice to have good voice acting, and the ability to make decisions on certain coversation replies (aggressive, diplomatic, or defensive) is also nice although it does not seem to effect the story greatly. The boss fights are fun and usually involve you to do more then just mash the attack buttons. The new menus are great, including sub menus which allow you to upgrade your character, abilities, and badges with out the screen ever changing from the scene of the action. The story is there, and engaging, and I actually care about it unlike the first MUA game. I watch all the cutscenes and listen to all the conversations. There is also plenty for you to find and plenty of gametime even if you don't look for everything. You will want to play again to be on the other side of the war (something I have yet to do). This is also a fun group game just as the first was. Even my wife enjoys playing.

Overall this game is fun and engaging. It is just not what I was hyped up for. They stripped a lot of the strategy and RPG elements that set MUA and the X-Men Legend games apart from other beat-um-ups. I feel like that is all I am playing now, a beat-um-up.

Pick it up... even if just for a rental. Enjoy the story, enjoy it with friends if possible. Take the chance to be a hero for a few days.

Overall, I am still mixed. I feel Batman is the super hero game for the summer. MUA2 and Wolverine are so close... MUA2 may win just because the multiplayer and game length.