Product Description

The Largest Army of Super Heroes is Back! The highly anticipated sequel to 2006’s Marvel:Ultimate Alliance—heralded as the best Marvel Super Hero game of all time, and selling more than 4 million units worldwide—is finally here with Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2. Inspired by the acclaimed Marvel Civil War storyline, this action-RPG delivers once again on a colossal cast of characters, thrilling gameplay and impassioned alliances. This next-gen gaming experience leaves the fate of the Marvel Universe—and humankind—in your hands. Lines are drawn. Sides are chosen. And the ultimate question remains: Whose side are you on? Product Summary: The Marvel Universe is being torn apart. The Superhuman Registration Act becomes law and Super Heroes must register as weapons of mass destruction, becoming licensed government agents. As Civil War is stirred, Iron Man leads the Pro-Registration side while Captain America spearheads the stand on Anti-Registration. The enemies you battle and the missions you accomplish depend on which side you choose.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #289 in Video Games
• Brand: Activision/Blizzard
• Model: 83459
• Published on: 2009-09
• Released on: 2009-09-15
• ESRB Rating: Teen
• Platform: Xbox 360
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .58" h x 5.41" w x 7.55" l, .33 pounds

Features

• Demolish and interact with everything in your path. Pummel your enemies by launching crushed cars, lampposts, machinery and anything else you can pick up in your way.
• Create and customize your ultimate team. Assemble your dream team from the Marvel Universe and select from over 24 playable characters, each with specialized powers.
• Cooperate with your ultimate alliance. Take full advantage of the Marvel Universe by playing Cooperative Mode with up to four friends, both online and offline.
• Pick a side in the ultimate ideological rift that could yield irreparable consequences for the Super Hero community! Support the pro-registration side and defend national security, or choose to be anti-registration and fight for personal liberties.
• Combine Super Hero powers for devastating results. Team up with Human Torch and Thor to create a spectacular fiery tornado. Over 250 unique fusions arm you with an unimaginable arsenal for unprecedented battles.

Amazon.com Product Description

The largest army of super heroes in gaming is back. The highly anticipated sequel to 2006's Marvel:Ultimate Alliance, heralded as the best Marvel super hero game of all time, and selling more than 4 million units worldwide, is finally here with Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2. Inspired by the acclaimed Marvel civil war storyline, this action-RPG delivers once again on a colossal cast of characters, thrilling gameplay and impassioned alliances. This next-gen gaming experience leaves the fate of the Marvel universe and humankind, in your hands. Lines are drawn. Sides are chosen. And the ultimate question remains: Whose side are you on? Choose a side in the Marvel civil war. View larger. Create your ultimate team. View larger. Combine abilities into Fusion powers. View larger. Story The Marvel universe is being torn apart. You and your team of Marvel super heroes help Nick Fury launch a secret pre-emptive strike against Latveria and Lucia Von Bardas only to have to thwart her retalitaory attack on New York City. Coupled with other super hero incidents, public sentiment turns against super heroes. The Superhuman Registration Act becomes law and super heroes must register as weapons of mass destruction, and become licensed government agents with the United States government. Lines are drawn as Iron Man leads the pro-registration faction, while Captain America spearheads the stand on anti-registration. You must pick a side and fight to determine the fate of the universe and humankind. So, whose side are you on. Playable Characters Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 will feature a wide array of playable heroes and villains, some of which are available from the beginning of the game, while others will need to be unlocked. Although the final list was not available at publishing time, some of the faces from the Marvel universe that players can count on seeing include: Daredevil, Green Goblin, Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man, Luke Cage, Mr. Fantastic, Deadpool, Juggernaut, Thing, Spider-Man, Storm, Songbird, Thor, Iron Fist, Wolverine, Venom and Gambit. Gameplay As with the original Marvel Ultimate Alliance, the new version of the game is an action RPG in which players create their own fighting team made up of four super heroes/villains. The makeup of teams can be changed as the player chooses, and characters can be leveled up as they gain experience and the game progresses. In addition, the separate powers of super heroes can be combined, or "fused," resulting in unique abilities that are devastating in combat. The game contains over 250 of these fused powers that only await the right combination in battle to be released. Key Game Features Create and Customize Your Ultimate Team - Assemble your dream team from the Marvel universe and select from over 24 playable heroes and villains, each with specialized powers. Cooperate with Your Ultimate Alliance - Take full advantage of the Marvel universe by playing Cooperative Mode with up to four friends, both online and offline. Choose a Side in Marvel’s Civil War - Pick a side in the ultimate ideological rift that could yield irreparable consequences for the super hero community. You can choose to support the pro-registration side and defend national security, or throw your support behind the anti-registration cause and fight for personal liberties. Fight Fear with Fusion - Combine super hero powers for devastating results. Team up with Human Torch and Thor to create a spectacular fiery tornado. Over 250 unique fusions arm you with an unimaginable arsenal for unprecended battles. Wield Next-Gen Superpower in Fully Destructible Environments - Demolish and interact with everything in your path. Pummel your enemies by launching crushed cars, lamp posts, machinery and anything else that you can pick up in your way. Online Support - Enjoy multiplayer, voice and voice messaging support via Xbox LIVE.

Customer Reviews

No brainer for comic fans but still feels the same


I really wanted to love this game. After playing Batman, I really really wanted to love this game. But...after putting about 6 hrs worth of work, I like it. MUA II is pretty much the same game we have played since X Men Legends for PS2. That's not to say that it's a bad thing but after 6 years and four games, the formula hasn't changed all that much. So this time around for all of you Marvel-heads that have kept up, teh Civil War story line gets played out in this game and so far with very little deviation it plays pretty closely to the storyline and that is a big plus for this game so no worries there.

What I would really advise (and the game does this as well) is once you reach the point where you have to choose sides, save your game because for those of you who choose to go back and play as the opposing side of your choice would probably not want to go back and grind out from the beginning to reach that point.

For many of you that already know about the split and other minutiae of the game I won't bore you with what you all already know. But, how does it play? Well, if you played the other 3 then it's pretty much the same fare. Choose your teams and go for broke. Most of you already know about the cusomizations that you can do for your characters but what about the Fusions? it's really the only new thing that Activision added in this year and some are pretty cool and some are forgettable. So far, I have seen 3 different types of fusions and they work as follows:

Guided - means you guide your Fusion to the target(s)
Clear - A wide angle fusion which clears out an area of baddies
Targeted - a fusion that hits a target that you specify.

What I did notice is that while some are indeed unique, there are some that are the same no matter which combos you use. Example: Gambit fused with either Juggernaut, Luke Cage or the Thing give the same fusions. Beyond that however, at least you don't have to learn an impossible button combo to execute. Just make sure you are using the right ones for the job especially boss fights.

The boss fights are a bit more fun this time around as in some cases you have to really use your head instead of jumping straight in pounding away and getting beaten in the process. I would say out of the four bosses I have encounted (I chose Anti Reg BTW) von Bardas and Bishop's fights were satisfying.

One more upside is that the graphics have improved quite a bit BUT...camera angles still suck and it's quite easy to lose sight of where you are in a mob. This is something I was hoping addressed from the last version. One small item I did note was how they used the fonts from the comic which really added to the attactiveness to playing a game based on a comic story.

Another downside is that the voice acting is not great at all altho the lip synching has been fixed and some of the CGI cutscenes could have used a little more life to it. Not to mention there is one somewhat corny cameo by Stan Lee I think we could have done without. I am really waiting for the day they could take the CGI work from those scenes and use it IN the game...heh!
Also you would think that now games are doing full on voicework (like Mass Effect) with a lot of RPGs now, having simple boxes to pick from and no dialogue to accompany it is so last gen.

As far as sound effects, the game sounds really good and on a good surround system it's incredible especially when you have characters like Juggernaut stomping around on screen.

Also this time around, the alternate costumes are mostly gone and you only get (so far as I have seen) one for each character and they don't augment their ability like they did in the last game. I think this was a bad move and I hope Microsoft and Activision don't try to nickel and dime fans by making it a paid ietm via DLC.

There is a lot of replayability to be had because of course you have 2 sides to play and also a lot of unlockable content so fans of this game will have many hours of play before they find everything and then of course multiplayer is included (something I plan on trying over the weekend) and is pretty much lag free and also allows players to jump in and out of games with ease.

Lastly, the big question: Is it better than Batman? No for 2 reasons.
For one, most of us know the story of the Civil War whereas the Batman story was an original creation.
Secondly, MUA II is a mostly been there and done that whereas Batman altho taking cues from Bioshock is a somewhat fresh concept on how the Batman game should be made, so IMO, it's kind of hard to take a game with 4 iterations to date and rank it over a game that finally got the overhaul and new feel that it needed.

In the end, this is a no brainer for comic fans, Marvel fans specifically, but you may find yourselves really wanting more out of this and praying that if there is a Secret Invasion or Dark Reign game in the next few years, Activision simply won't rehash this game.

Hulk MASH buttons
Pros:
- button mashing as well as well thoughout button combo mashing is just as effective (easy to pick up and put down)
- you feel compelled to play it twice to experience the entire storyline from both sides as well as unlock all the alternate costumes
- 23 playerable characters + more I'm sure on the way through downloable content
- if you're a fan of the Civil War Marvel storyline, you'll love this
- great fun with 4 players
- graphically a great improvement from it's previous incarnation

Cons:
- sometimes the camera angle will be against you
- you must play it through twice to unlock every alternate costume (once anti-reg, and one pro-reg)
- there's only 23 playable characters, downloable content will probably cost some extra $
- If you're not a fan of the Marvel Universe, you may not enjoy this as much as the next button mashing game
- no bad in single player more, but unless you can team up with friends in multiplayer, it loses it's replayability after you beat the 1st time through
- If you're looking for an entirely new experience from it's previous incarnations or similar games, don't expect too much other than better graphics and a more well developed storyline.

Over all I enjoyed it a log, I was glued to my seat for about a week playing it. Going back to find hidden bonuses and power ups in the simulator mode which allows you to redo missions much like the xmen's danger room. The cast of characters certainly makes it a lot more fun, and team bonuses depending on which character combinations you pick reward you for having say all women on your team or all xmen etc.

It looks like the left plenty of room for downloadable content in the future, be that more playable characters, more alternate costumes, and/or additional mission packs. I'd recommend you play this with friends. Multiplayer games are always more rewarding when played together. If you're not a big Marvel comic book fan you may not get as much entertainment value out of this, but if you are and a True Believer, you'll certainly appreciate the all the game has to offer and maybe more.

Pales In Comparison To The Original
Less characters, missing characters, not enough pro/anti registration chapters, and both paths are the same except for the boss battles and who you can use on your team. Since all of the characters are good guy/hero types, you never really beat any of the opposition boss forces, they take off when they're near defeat. Well, except for Goliath and Hank Pym, who do fall down and go boom. However, none of their background battle seems anywhere near as real or intense as Galactus upon the Skrull homeworld in the orignal, and it's certainly not as long nor as fun as the movie with the Surfer vs. his old boss.
As for characters, Nick Fury the nanite is more like a Borg, and Penance is a very odd choice indeed, Deadpool is sick enough on his own. The one plus is the addition of Iron Fist, who ISN'T in the PS2 version (see below).
There is very little replay value, and on a side note, the PS2 version really got short-changed this time, once again unlike the first, and far better, Marvel UA. Characters are missing, there are no team bonuses...what up's with that, Activision? If you want to make a cheapo version, it should say all that on the box.