Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2

Most of the time when I see a developer change between products, it spells inevitable doom or a watered down shadow of the previous title. In this case, I think Vicarious Visions has taken what Raven started and managed to not only match it but improve upon it.

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 is certainly the most refined game in its series (including its prequel and the X-Men Legends game before it).

A solid follow-up to the 2006 release, with great new characters and fusion powers. The game looks very nice and plays well.

Ultimate Alliance 2 does have some good improvements from the first game, but its pending technical problems hinder the game’s true potential.

In just three years, Vicarious Visions has taken a well adapted formula and created an enjoyable, polished and all-around better sequel. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 will give fans a reason to enjoy playing, and with the dynamic fusion powers, wide cast of characters, and the storyline based around the events of Civil War, there is surely something here to please anyone.

If you never played the original and the particulars of this title likely suit your gaming tastes, especially if you have friends who'll play along through the missions, by all means strap on your alter ego and get to saving the world.

This is a proper sequel that was certainly worth the three year wait. It's not min[d]-blowing, but at the same time it manages to capture everything that a videogame should be: fun. And it captures it well.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 may play pretty much the same as Marvel Ultimate Alliance, but it represents huge steps forward in presentation and technical fidelity.

Same great fun with some good tweaks.

Even though Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 may seem like more of the same, dig a little deeper and you'll reap its rewards. A great storyline, satisfying beat-em-up action, nifty Fusion attacks and a cornucopia of familiar and new characters make this a very friendly Alliance.

It's hard not to let the experience of the first MUA color the expectations for MUA2. By those standards, MUA2 isn't as exciting a game, largely due to the choices it makes with the fiction. On its own, though, this is still an enjoyable action RPG romp that makes good use of the Marvel Universe in its own way.

With less focus on micromanagement and a solid, cohesive story, there's a lot more action this time around for Marvel's action-RPG franchise.

MUA fans may bemoan the lack of change, and they'd have a point. Bar the Fusion Powers there's little new going on here. But it's still a fun, albeit brainless romp that's sure to please Marvel fanboys.

A solid game. Nothing groundbreaking or extremely impressive, but very fun and entertaining.

Vicarious Visions has made some tweaks to Raven’s little darling and it helps make the game feel more complete, however its nothing staggering enough to win over any new fans.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is a solid successor to the original game, but not one that feels like it was three years in the making. Anyone who enjoyed the original will find enough content and fan service to keep them busy for quite some time, but anyone who grew tired of the original will likely call it quits long before the credits roll.

In the end, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is fun at times, but it's nothing impressive overall.

For me, the game didn’t really take off until the whole Pro-Reg, Anti-Reg debate kicked in, but even then I kept lapsing into these daydreaming ruts of gaming.

So while Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 may not take the series in a big and bold new direction, or benefit from the kind of refinement you would look for in a sequel, it does deliver the button-mashing, power-flinging, over-the-top action fans of the original would expect.

The core action is top-notch, and the roster rocks, but the Fusion attacks and half-hearted story hurt the experience, turning a once great play into a punchless grind.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance is a solid game. We miss some kind of diversity in its proposal and more innovation in its core, but it’s a nice button masher.

Overall, I did enjoy the game, I'm just a little miffed that it seems to be lacking in overall content.

The bottom line here is that this isn’t nearly as good, fun, or as satisfying a game as the original from either an action standpoint, a role-playing standpoint, or just a comic book standpoint.