Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Fusion

TheMarvell · February 11, 2008, 10:10:06 PM

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/850/850547p1.html

a few days old, but I haven't seen a topic yet, and it seems to be a pretty popular game around here.

also another new Spider-Man game

EDIT: thought I'd update the title. :)

the_ultimate_evil · February 12, 2008, 10:51:10 AM

ohhh gimme gimme gimmme

captainspud · February 12, 2008, 11:08:53 AM

Yay?

I hope they use a fresh engine for this one. The old one's starting to show its years, even through the tweaks.

BentonGrey · February 12, 2008, 05:08:29 PM

Heck, the MUA was one of the best superhero games ever, and if the sequel lives up to its predecessor, I'll DEFINITELY be getting it. I just hope they have a better cast this time, so we don't have to rely on modders to get characters who SHOULD have been included. (Tommy's mods are fantastic, it's just the principle of the thing, he shouldn't have HAD to add in Hawkeye because he already should have been in the game!) Anyway, I can't believe these words are coming from my fingers, but I agree with Spud here.....ughh.....I feel.....dirty....... We do need a bit of a graphical update, and it would be great to move away from the cell-shaded nonsense. MUA was already a step further away than the XML games, but we should really get further away.

TheMarvell · February 12, 2008, 08:25:39 PM

^agreed. Hopefully they'll naturally include characters that were later added in the Gold Edition (360 exclusive?), as well as a few others like the Punisher and Iron Fist. And while I love the X-Men, I feel that MUA had too many of them. Because I already went through XML 1 and 2, I had no desire to play as more X-Men in MUA, and the Gold Edition added mostly more X-Men. Don't get me wrong, I'll still take them as regulars, but I'd rather see more Marvel characters that haven't been in these games than more X-Men characters.

I hope they make a new engine too, but it looks like the game, in addition to next-gen consoles, is being made for PS2 too. In that case, I'm doubting the sequel will have much of an updated engine.

zuludelta · February 12, 2008, 09:23:33 PM

Quote from: TheMarvell on February 12, 2008, 08:25:39 PMI hope they make a new engine too, but it looks like the game, in addition to next-gen consoles, is being made for PS2 too. In that case, I'm doubting the sequel will have much of an updated engine.

The MUA games used the Vicarious Visions/Intrinsic Alchemy Engine, which is highly scalable on multiple platforms, so the graphics can look as good as the GPU will allow it. The bigger limiter on how good MUA 2 will look isn't so much the choice of game engine, but how much time the developers will have to tweak each version to make the most of the particular consoles' GPUs.

GogglesPizanno · February 16, 2008, 04:30:15 PM

As much as I liked MUA, Im hoping the sequel tries to be a bit more creative in the gameplay dept. By the end I was getting bored.

BentonGrey · February 16, 2008, 05:25:04 PM

Quote from: GogglesPizanno on February 16, 2008, 04:30:15 PM
As much as I liked MUA, Im hoping the sequel tries to be a bit more creative in the gameplay dept. By the end I was getting bored.

Well, I think that, given the nature of the beast, they did a really incredible job of varying the gameplay. The boss battles helped a good bit, and all the different little missions. I think what they COULD do is include even more optional things, like retrieving that sword and such.

thalaw2 · February 18, 2008, 07:09:42 PM

I agree with Benton. I really enjoyed MUA...in fact when I get a new computer I will play through it again. I hope that they balance the power system a little more and add the option to play as the villain. I don't like that lesser bosses couldn't be thrown around henchmen.

BentonGrey · February 19, 2008, 09:45:35 AM

What would be great is a sandbox rumble room and more detailed comic missions. In the first one comic missions are just set in the same old levels and they aren't terribly interesting or fun.

daerdevil · February 21, 2008, 09:56:18 AM

Quote from: BentonGrey on February 19, 2008, 09:45:35 AM
What would be great is a sandbox rumble room and more detailed comic missions. In the first one comic missions are just set in the same old levels and they aren't terribly interesting or fun.

Couldn't agree more with the comic missions. It would be so much nicer having comic missions based on actual character origins or a memorable moment, and having a unique map/level to match it. Daredevil fighting a bunch of Doombots in the Shield Helicarrier to finally fight Bullseye was such a let down. Maybe having him fight on a rooftop or something. Or at least a generic NYC map. How about Capt. America fighting some Nazis and trying to save Bucky? Something more akin to the XML Flashbacks.

Overall, I thought MUA was pretty close to perfect, so I don't think there needs to be a whole lot of changes for a sequel. Just some minor tweaks. More varied levels and mission types (although I felt MUA had nice varieties between Acts) would be welcomed. Maybe throw in some interesting entire team fights (ala Secret Wars) or having more mid level boss fights with genuine villains. And of course, as many characters and costumes as one can possibly cram onto the disc is a must (please don't loose the classic costumes in the process). And I never did like the Rumble room features in these games...too limited and just "Unfun". Definitely something that needs adjusting.

Previsionary · February 21, 2008, 10:16:56 AM

All I ask for is more variety. In the transaction from XML2 to MUA, a lot of the side stuff was lost and the game focused so heavily on fighting and lost some of the puzzle elements the earlier games had. Beat-em-ups show signs of repetitiveness a lot more quickly than other game genres. Also, I hope the characters are more balance and versatile than the MUA cast. I never used Ms. Marvel and after awhile, ghost rider, Luke, Blade, etc. just seemed like clones of other characters with a slightly different setup.

TigerStyle · February 21, 2008, 04:41:29 PM

I played MUA on the 360 so my mileage may have varied, but Ghost Rider didn't leave the team after I got him. He was great against bosses with his "debuff" that basically gave him unlimited energy. Ms. Marvel wasn't too good early on but becomes quite strong with prism beam. After I unlocked that power she was a permanent fixture on my team too.

Anyway, I would have to agree with Prev that some characters felt very similar. Blade and Deadpool for example.

Some of those comic missions kind of sucked, too.

One thing that was in XML that I missed in MUA was the AI roles that could be assigned to NPCs. It seems a lot harder to do combos, since ranged characters didn't use their powers as often.

Overall, looking forward to a sequel.

Glitch Girl · March 07, 2008, 07:22:53 AM

Me too, though I hope it goes through a little more playtesting on more than just the fight engine. MUA was fun, but the buggiest game I've played in a long time.

Verfall · March 07, 2008, 09:25:50 AM

Me and Mondy basically discovered that all you really need on your team is Deadpool and Iron Man. Once IM gets the energy reduction boost, and DP gets blade cyclone, everyone else is nothing but boost fodder. Though with the Gold Edition for 360 I found Venom to be equally as powerful as Deadpool, though without the handy health regen. A team of DP, Venom and Iron Man would be unstoppable on any difficulty level.

But yeah, the inability to assign powers for your teammates to use when the help function was used was quite annoying. Having to cycle through teammates to get them to use their boosts instead of having to just hit the left trigger was a bad design flaw. The game basically needed 4 people to get the most fun and efficiency out of it.

NeoDarke · March 28, 2008, 02:58:43 AM

I can't wait until we get new info about the game, and everyone starts kicking around ideas as to what new or "old" (i.e. XML) character should be in the game. Personally, I'd at least have these X-Men characters in it.

Beast: Founding X-Man, also a former member of the Avengers and Defenders.
Colossus: Former X-Man, now a member of the Defenders.
Iceman: Founding X-Man, also a former member of the Champions and Defenders.
Wolverine: X-Men member, also a member of the New Avengers.

Not sure if I'd really want Storm to remain or not... Aside from being married to the Black Panther and a member of the X-Men, I don't think I'd lose any sleep if she was just a NPC in MUA2.

Glitch Girl · March 28, 2008, 07:44:55 AM

Storm has been in every game they've put out in the series so far (Xmen Legends I & II + MUA). I doubt they'd dump her. Besides, for racial and gender variety in the Marvel characters, she's almost a given addition at this point. At any rate, she's a pretty decent character to play (the ability to hit people in the next room without opening the door is a nice trick)

Wolvie's another given. If he's not a playable character, I'd be beyond shocked.

Iceman's been a solid character in XLII and MUA (never played XLI), though I wish they'd bring back the power-related access to bonus areas (like the bridge building ones in XLII for example)

I'd love to see Beast in MUAII - he's been an Avenger and an X-Man, so he's got the credentials and he'd just be such fun to play.

Would be nice to see Colossus as a playable character without a bonus pack. Same with Nightcrawler. In XLII, he was fantastic to play. Don't have a 360 so I don't know how he plays in the bonus pack, but I was so disappointed when he wasn't included in the core game as a playable character (though he did have the coolest cut scene)

cripp12 · March 28, 2008, 11:49:23 AM

I hope they allow for more characters and make it easier to bring in MODs from those creative types. cough, cough tommyboy cough.

zuludelta · March 31, 2008, 05:56:33 PM

I just finished re-playing through the first X-Men Legends game last week (after not having played it for a couple of years) and it just dawned on me how much better the story was in that game compared to Marvel Ultimate Alliance. There just seemed to be more depth to the characters and their interactions with each other and better voice-acting in general (although Cree Summer as Magma was still as grating). Having a POV character (Magma) helped make the whole game more immersive, something that was missing in the sequel and in MUA.

Of course, MUA has better inventory management and a cleaner interface, but there were times when it felt like it was just a series of disconnected brawling stages. I also hated the fact that too many of the boss fights relied on "God of War" style timed-button presses. The battles against Galactus and Ymir are definitely two of the more underwhelming boss battles I've seen in a while.

Glitch Girl · April 01, 2008, 06:26:52 AM

Agreed. I have this uber powerful group, so WHY CAN'T I POUND THE SNOT OUT OF A STUPID KRAKEN OR ARCADE ROBOT???

That and disbaling flying at odd moments was annoying as well. I've got characters that can fly, so why do I have to climb up all these rocky shelves to get the frickin sword when I can just fly up there?

XL:II did have better writing and character interaction than MUA. While the concept of MUA was kinda cool, the writing never really worked and we often just skipped through cutscenes as fast as we could hit the X button rather than listen to the prattle.

TheMarvell · May 27, 2008, 10:00:09 PM

I just started playing this game again, only this time on my 360 with the hero/villain pack. And I gotta say, playing this in HD with the new characters is friggen AWESOME. I mean, I loved the game before, but on the PS2 it felt like loading took FOREVER and there was quite a bit more slowdown. Really though, it's like a brand new game to me, and there are a lot of really fun achievements to get in it too. And best of all: I got it for free :D

I have to comment on the roster though. While I love it, I almost think it's TOO large. I'm finding myself wondering why I'd ever pick some of the characters, and a lot of them are practically clones. Characters like Blade and Elektra are prime examples. Why would anyone pick these two over Spider-Man or Thor? None of the characters suck, per se, but I find a lot of the melee based fighters like them to not be nearly as fun. Then there's characters I've never even heard of, like Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel. Moon Knight looks COOL AS HELL, but who the hell is he?! And I might have heard of Ms Marvel in passing, but not enough to ever want to play as her.

the new characters are sweet, but they added too many X-Men. I have little to no desire to play as Nightcrawler, Cyclops, or Magneto again (but Sabertooth was a welcome newcomer), but I'll admit Cyclops and Magneto's powers in HD look amazing. Hulk is awesome, but I realized he's almost an exact clone of Colossus. Dr. Dooms abilities are a lot like Thor's too. Venom is cool as hell and I love playing as Hawkeye.

but I digress. I forgot how fun this game was.

BlueBard · May 28, 2008, 07:40:53 AM

Quote from: TheMarvell on May 27, 2008, 10:00:09 PM
Then there's characters I've never even heard of, like Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel. Moon Knight looks COOL AS HELL, but who the hell is he?! And I might have heard of Ms Marvel in passing, but not enough to ever want to play as her.

And you have the nerve to call yourself 'The Marvell'? ;)

Seriously, Moon Knight ran with the Avengers for a brief time, as did Ms. Marvel. Moon Knight was always one of the edgier heroes. And Ms. Marvel has also run with the X-Men on more than one occasion.

In Brief:

Moon Knight: Cool weapons, Strength boosts as the moon waxes full, cool costume.

Ms. Marvel: Strength, Invulnerability, Flight, looks really hot in that black outfit.

Previsionary · May 28, 2008, 08:07:33 AM

I find it odd that anyone that knows of rogue from the comics or 90s tas doesn't know about Carol/Warbird/Ms. Marvel. She's also a big part of the avengers.

Anyway, your complaint about similar characters has been around since XML1. Maybe they'll actually address it next game, but I pretty much doubt it since they tend to stick to archetypes. I mean, Sabretooth was just a stronger version of Wolverine in XML2 and I assume he's that way in MUA as well...which is comic accurate. But anyway, I would easily choose Blade over...actually, Black Panther over Spidey 2.5 times out of 5. :P I never really used Ms. Marvel, as I noted earlier, as she's not a well made character in MUA, imo.

ow_tiobe_sb · May 28, 2008, 08:25:49 AM

Quote from: BlueBard on May 28, 2008, 07:40:53 AM
And you have the nerve to call yourself 'The Marvell'? ;)

And all the while I thought his screen name was giving the nod (not a visual one, since the signature banner does not resemble the man) to Andrew Marvell, the 17th-century metaphysical poet. Given that Lucia was wont to refer to her father as "the James Joyce," I merely assumed that our comrade took an equally healthy, schizophrenic approach to the famous author of "To His Coy Mistress." :huh:

May I take the opportunity to complain about how Activision/Marvel has failed to support the PC gamer by offering the additional characters only to XBOX users, thereby forcing clever PC-game modders such as tommyboy to come to the rescue? I have nothing against next-generation consoles; however, I do think that software companies should never provide half-arsed game support that benefits only selected customers. :angry: Perhaps this series will redress this problem with MUA 2 by planning production of game expansions across all platforms in advance. *shrug*

ow_tiobe_sb
Phantom Bunburyist and Fop o' th' Morning

Mystik · May 28, 2008, 09:37:52 AM

you do kno that the only reason there is even a expansion pack is because "XBOX" payed for exclusive chars.

daerdevil · May 28, 2008, 11:08:04 AM

Quote from: TheMarvell on May 27, 2008, 10:00:09 PM
I just started playing this game again, only this time on my 360 with the hero/villain pack. And I gotta say, playing this in HD with the new characters is friggen AWESOME. I mean, I loved the game before, but on the PS2 it felt like loading took FOREVER and there was quite a bit more slowdown. Really though, it's like a brand new game to me, and there are a lot of really fun achievements to get in it too. And best of all: I got it for free :D

Ditto. The PS2 version was great, but WOW, the MUA on the 360 in HD glory, complete w/ the DLC characters is brilliant!

Quote from: TheMarvell on May 27, 2008, 10:00:09 PM
I have to comment on the roster though. While I love it, I almost think it's TOO large. I'm finding myself wondering why I'd ever pick some of the characters, and a lot of them are practically clones. Characters like Blade and Elektra are prime examples. Why would anyone pick these two over Spider-Man or Thor? None of the characters suck, per se, but I find a lot of the melee based fighters like them to not be nearly as fun. Then there's characters I've never even heard of, like Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel. Moon Knight looks COOL AS HELL, but who the hell is he?! And I might have heard of Ms Marvel in passing, but not enough to ever want to play as her.

Funny, I actually played almost the entire PS2 version with Elektra, only using Spidey for his "simulator missions". She actually has some cool moves, but I can see she's probably not most people's first choice. I'd complain about Blade, Dr. Strange, Ms. Marvel, etc, but it is nice to have some variety.

As for the cookie cutter heroes, Colossus=Hulk, Sabertooth=Wolverine, well, it's nice to have the variety. I'd actually would have liked to see the cookie cutters as a 5th alternate suit (like how Cap=Us Agent, and Ghost Rider=Vengeance=Ghost Rider=Ghost Rider(cowboy style). Current team is Doom, Magneto, Thor, and Iron Man (Can we say Tank-Mage!).

Glad someone else is having as much fun with this one as me!

captmorgan72 · May 28, 2008, 04:32:39 PM

I want to see a sandbox rumbleroom too. I always thought it would be the perfect addition to this game.

TheMarvell · May 28, 2008, 06:48:57 PM

wow, I never thought my user name would address such analogies! :P

the real reason behind my user name though, and this might disappoint some, is actually really simple. I'm a big Marvel character fan, first being introduced via the Spider-Man and X-Men TAS cartoons of the 90's when I was younger, and being then introduced to all the other heroes through those shows, as well as action figures. So there you have it. I am in no way an expert, nor ever claimed to be. And as big of a fan of Spidey as I am, I'm sure there's PLENTY of stuff I don't know about him, including certain villains as well as story arcs of comics. I was never a big comic reader. I have a very small collection and even subscribed for a time, but yeah, I'm amateur at best really. I know more than your average, every-day fan, but that's far from know-it-all, lol.

So there you have it. But I like how my user name has sparked other thoughts though, lol

Back to the topic, Spider-Man might not have been the best example for everyone, but my point was that why would you ever choose someone boring like Blade, Elektra, or Dr Strange over other heroes you are probably a much bigger fan of?

Previsionary · May 28, 2008, 07:06:43 PM

It's a variety thing and it's always nice to have a choice especially since certain characters + their costumes are better suited for certain missions than others ESPECIALLY on the harder modes where you're constantly bombarded with big bads. I happened to like doctor strange only because he was more or less unique in the game minus his "teke", but I easily accept that's he's a mashup of scarlet witch, jean, and probably magneto. Besides, if you want to challenge yourself, you're not going to pick the big league characters as that's not always a proper choice to make.

However, I always had a touch choice choosing between Thing and Luke cage (and sometimes Ghostrider). Luke has the endurance of Thing and is a bit weaker, but he he has some useful moves + the chain (which is one of the moves I used a lot on ghost rider). For all the variety of characters the game gave us, the whole cast pretty much shares several powers with another member. Thor doesn't escape it either as he shares moves with Storm and other characters....just at different power levels.

JKCarrier · May 29, 2008, 07:42:26 AM

Quote from: TheMarvell on May 28, 2008, 06:48:57 PM
but my point was that why would you ever choose someone boring like Blade, Elektra, or Dr Strange over other heroes you are probably a much bigger fan of?

Every character is someone's favorite. I love Dr. Strange! And there's another incentive to try out different characters: Taking certain heroes along on certain missions will trigger extra dialogue scenes (for example, having Elektra on your squad when you fight Bullseye).

I want *more* obscure heroes. If they manage to sneak some NextWave members into the next one, I will die of joy.