Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 Fusion Preview (WII)
Slap on that spandex, sharpen those adamantium claws and get ready to save the world as 24 different superheroes.
by Chris Buffa on Monday, August 04, 2008
http://www.gamedaily.com/games/marve...ew/7435/20615/
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance found its popularity as a good old-fashioned beat-em-up with some of the world's most popular superheroes, a great combination that attracted gamers looking for a solid adventure game. Its sequel, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 Fusion retains that enjoyable formula but also includes key additions that should entice gamers of all ages.
Similar to its predecessor, Fusion is a third-person action adventure romp that lets you team up with various superheroes and stomp a mud hole in a bunch of rascally villains. Twenty-four spandex wearing heroes are available, including Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Wolverine and the Invisible Woman, among others. Each possesses signature abilities, so you'll utilize Hulk's brute strength, Captain America's shield and Spider-Man's web-slinging talents to pummel your foes. In addition, you'll fight alongside up to three characters at once and switch between them on the fly.
Although the basic framework remains the same, Fusion separates itself from its prequel with fusion maneuvers. These allow you and another hero to team up and "fuse" abilities to form a powerful attack. An early trailer showcased some of these exciting moves, as Hulk threw Wolverine at enemies while The Thing picked up chunks of concrete for the Human Torch to set on fire.
Each character should be able to join up with another superhero for a move, but at this point, it's too early to tell how many there are. For example, if all The Hulk and Wolverine can do is the aforementioned attack, that'll get boring quick. It's a neat concept, but we're not sure whether combining forces will be enough to separate Fusion from the original or its predecessors, X-Men Legends 1 and 2.
On that note, Activision seems content reusing the same formula that involves wandering through an environment, collecting items and beating up bad guys. While that is the foundation of numerous video games, we'd like to see something new from Ultimate Alliance 2. The same goes for the Wii version. Ultimate Alliance for Wii is awful, thanks to horrible graphics, slow moving combat and too much remote waggling.
Fusion doesn't release until 2009, so there's still a long way to go before Spider-Man and his cohorts punch and kick their way into our living rooms. Our gut reaction says to expect the same cookie cutter adventure game with slightly enhanced character building elements, but depending on how much you enjoyed the last one, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Stay tuned, superhero fans.
