Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 is a 2009 action role-playing video game developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Activision. A sequel to 2006’s Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, the story follows the superhero community becomes divided after the government passes the Superhero Registration Act which forces all super-powered individuals to act under official regulation after a series of devastating attacks on the United States.

Campaign: The campaign picks up after the events of the first game but adopts the Civil War and Secret Wars storyline of the comics. Heroes become divided after an incident involving the deaths of countless civilians results in the government passes an act which forces all superpowered individuals to register. I read the Civil War comics and thought it was a cool adaptation of it though I haven’t read the Secret Wars yet. Players can either follow Captain America and those who oppose the Act or Iron Man and those who support it. This gives players atleast two good playthroughs (one from either side) while giving them the ability to approach situations in different ways. However, the choices don’t feel impactful, not changing the story nor gameplay. If you pick being aggressive in a situation, it still has the same effect as being diplomatic. And honestly, the game doesn’t feel like a sequel. It feels like a reboot or stand alone as none of the events of the first game are continued or referenced.

Unlike its predecessor, this game does a better job of diving into the relationships between the characters. These relationships are what drive the story and ultimately allow players intimacy with the conversations and choices. The characters are way more fleshed out this time around and for the casual player who doesn’t follow the comics, will be able to learn more about the characters. I will say that the roster isn’t as impressive as the first game and does fail to expand into more obscure characters such Moon Knight, Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch, or Armor. It’s nice that roster involves villains but just having the Green Goblin and Venom is a waste. Yeah, if you were lucky enough to get the DLC (which isn’t available anymore) you can get Magneto, Carnage and Juggernaunt but if we’re talking the Secret Wars storyline more of the roster should’ve been villains. I still say that the story would’ve benefited had the story been set up in two ways: the first with the story addressing already established teams and the second addressing the customizable teams.

With the civil war waging between heroes, the story would’ve benefited had it changed depending on the characters you pick. If you pick all X-Men characters, the story should play it more from their perspective. If you pick Avengers, it should play it more from their perspective. Not that it changes the story completely but that it should change some of the interactions and missions. Basically, there are too many options when it comes to the characters. There’s no moment where the story feels unique to them outside of the core characters. There’s no moment where if you pick the X-Men characters, there are scenes of them having conversations about this. Or the Fantastic Four characters, Defenders, or Avengers. Still, the campaign does feature a deeper story than the previous game. (4 out of 5)

Design: The graphics are a bit of a hit and miss at times. During the actual gameplay, the graphics are better than the first game. The environments have much more detail and feel more polished. The character designs themselves are to be commended as the characters have great detail and the attention to the costumes are awesome. The outfits themselves are actually tactical with padding and armor and I’m just a sucker for tactical superhero outfits as they make more sense to wear.

The cinematic cutscenes look a hell of a lot better as well helping to flesh out the outfit designs (which I give a big thumbs up to). But despite the praise, there are some pitfalls. There are two points of contention I have. The first is during conversation pieces, the characters lack any depth of expression and just stare. There’s no good animation (or any animation at all) of how the characters feel. Then the second is when there are cutscenes within the in-game graphics they look subpar. This could’ve been helped had it been switch for a cinematic sequence.

The game does have a decent sound design and the music is as good as the first. I did notice that in the menu, the music sounds militaristic, something that emphasizes the actually war. The voice performances are pretty good though it’ll be hard to find any that stand out. For the most part, they do fit the characters. (3 out of 5)

Gameplay: The gameplay mechanics run much smoother than the previous installment though the game does have its share of buggy goodness. The upgrade system is actually better and feels more impactful, and the special abilities feels much more unique. The combat flows much smoother, and of course, the new fusion attacks are freaking awesome. It’s great seeing these team attacks that we’ve seen in the comics. I will admit that they can be repetitive. Give two characters that have blast attacks, and they’ll do the beam attack. Get two brute characters together and they’re rushing everyone. There’s a noticeable difference in the gameplay. There’s a simplicity there that wasn’t present in the first game. The best example of this is the lack of customization. In the previous game, the costumes had added strengths and effects. Not only does the game lack options in terms of outfits but the few they have don’t change the stats of the characters.

But what the game sticks the landing on is the multiplayer. The multiplayer is actually really good and if you love it in the first game, you’ll love it here. The best thing about it is that it supports both local and online play. With the world of gaming relying more and more on online connectivity it’s great that friends can play locally on the same system. Characters can be changed out at any time and it does take away from more strategic gameplay (though many players will appreciate it).

The game does have its share of replayability. If you went through the first several times, you’ll get the same fun here. There’s the ability to increase the difficulty, playing through both sides of the war, and there is plenty of unlockable content such as characters, costumes, and boosts for your characters. Then of course, there’s the DLC. And like the first game, it’s a bit of a disappointment as it only contains extra characters but not extra gameplay. And what’s so retarded is that Marvel and Vicarious Visions have not released more characters nor more gameplay. And plus, there’s a serious lack of simulation discs which grinding those were where a lot of the gameplay comes from. (3 out of 5)

The Verdict: In the end, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 is a good game, but it could’ve been great. For the most part, it manages to strengthen many faults of its predecessor such as gameplay, graphics, narrative, and writing. But the diminished roster of characters, lack of outfits and simulation discs, and meaningless branching playthrough hold this game back from being legendary. Still, this sequel is a good game and fun to play. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 gets 3 out of 5.