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Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
File:Boxart us marvel-ultimate-alliance final.jpg
Developer(s)	Raven Software Vicarious Visions Beenox Studios Barking Lizards Technologies
Publisher(s)	Activision
Engine	Vicarious Visions Alchemy
Platform(s)	PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox, Xbox 360, Game Boy Advance, Wii
Release	October 24, 2006 (PC, PS2, PSP, Xbox, Xbox 360, GBA) November 6, 2006 (PS3) Wii: November 14, 2006 December 22, 2006 December 22, 2006
Genre(s)	Action RPG/ Adventure
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is an action role-playing game released by Raven Software and Activision in October 2006 in U.S. Previously referred to as Marvel Legends, this game features more than 20 characters which are available to players and 140 character appearances in total. The name was changed to avoid confusion with the Toy Biz (And later, Hasbro) toylines of the same name.

Story

Template:Spoiler

Dr. Doom has formed a new and improved Masters of Evil who are in pursuit of an "unknown" goal. They launch an attack on a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier. Nick Fury sends out a distress call to all available meta-humans. Captain America, Thor, Spider-Man and Wolverine respond and proceed to eliminate Doom's forces, led by Scorpion, Bullseye, Winter Soldier, Radioactive Man, and Fin Fang Foom.

After saving the helicarrier, Nick is given the authority by S.H.I.E.L.D. to create a special task force of superhumans to counter the Masters of Evil. Since the helicarrier is too badly damaged to serve as an HQ, Tony Stark gives Colonel Fury permission to use Stark Tower. The team's first mission is to sneak onboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Omega Base, a massive, mobile laboratory containing many top secret experiments, and prevent the Masters from smashing it into a dam. While there, the Masters steal the Super Soldier Formula and the Mutant Amplifier, a device that can increase the power of any mutant. The Masters also attempt to set off a Gamma Bomb and steal upgrades for Ultron, but they are foiled by the heroes. After stopping the base from crashing and defeating M.O.D.O.K., the team heads to Atlantis. The Atlanteans have revolted against their king, Namor the Sub-Mariner, and Nick Fury believes the Masters may have something to do with it. When the team arrives in Atlantis, they find that Namor has been captured and is being tortured by his people. Namorita tells the heroes that Attuma and Tiger Shark have staged a coup and taken Namor's throne. The heroes go on to defeat Attuma and restore Namor to his throne. After they defeat Attuma and Tiger Shark, the heroes see Mandarin in the Atlantean Catacombs stealing the Tome of Asarius. The heroes then pursue Mandarin to his palace in The Valley of Spirits in China to discover more of the Masters's plans. Upon defeating Mandarin, the heroes discover that Mandarin split his ties with the Masters long ago. After Mandarin attempted to become the leader of the Masters, Doom expelled him from the group. Mandarin tells the heroes that the Mandarin they saw was most likely Loki, who has recently joined the Masters. Once they acquire this information, the heroes return to Stark Tower. Nick Fury then informs the team that the Masters have kidnapped two X-Men, Nightcrawler and Jean Grey, and Colonel Fury is moving their base to Sanctum Sanctorum.

Nick Fury tells the team that, now that they know Loki is involved with the Masters of Evil, they will need Dr. Strange's expertise in magic, which is why the team's base has been moved to the Sanctum, Dr. Strange's home. Professor X has also joined the team in the Sanctum to help them locate the missing X-Men. The Professor tells the team he has located Nightcrawler in Castle Doom by using Cerebro. Dr. Strange's assistant Wong prepares the Orb of Teleportation to get the heroes to Castle Doom, but Clea, senses an unknown Dark Magic spell in the Sanctorum. When the heroes teleport to Castle Doom, all seems normal until they are attacked by Jean Grey, who is under some kind of mind control. After Jean flees the battle, the team discovers that the Dark Magic spell was crafted by Baron Mordo, another member of the Masters, to disrupt the teleporter to send the heroes to Murderworld by Arcade. The team travels through Murderworld, saving Jean Grey and defeating Arcade, who tells the heroes that Dr. Doom is planning on using the Mutant Amplifier on Nightcrawler to travel to the realm of Mephisto. The heroes follow the Masters to Mephisto's realm to save Nightcrawler and Jean Grey, who is recaptured by Mephisto. The heroes make a difficult choice and must choose to save only one X-Man. After saving either Nightcrawler or Jean Grey, the heroes fight and beat Mephisto, who tells them that Doom traded Nightcrawler to him in exchange for the Twilight Sword. After acquiring this knowledge, the team returns to the Sanctum to have Nick Fury tell them that Asgard, the realm of the Norse Gods, has fallen to the Masters of Evil. After freeing Asgard, the team comes, fights Loki and defeats him. Soon after, they come into contact with Doctor Doom (who has kidnapped Odin and has stolen his powers) and kills the team. But the team is saved by Uatu the Watcher, who could not stand and watch Doom take over the universe.

Uatu tells the heroes that the only way to fight Doom is to steal some of the power from him. To do that they must obtain two items. First, they board a Shi'ar ship in order to ask Empress Lilandra, who is good friends with the X-Men, to borrow a powerful crystal used by the Shi'ar. When they board the ship, they meet Corsair (comics), father of Cyclops, who tells them that Deathbird, Lilandra's sister, has taken over the ship. After defeating her, they save Lilandra, manage to stop the ship from self-destructing, and get what they came for. When they return, Uatu tells the team that they must now steal the Muonic Inducer from Galactus. After stealing the device from the consumer of planets, with help from the Silver Surfer, the heroes learn that the people of earth have begun changing, the land along with them. They also learn that other Super-Heroes (such as Cyclops and Colossus) have tried to stop Doom. Of course they fail, and with his newfound powers Doom converts the superheroes to be servants for him or in the case of the main heroes of the game he creates evil copies of them. When the heroes arrive at Doom's Castle in Latveria, they come into contact with dark versions of Cyclops, Colossus and Psylocke who have all been converted into Doom's servants. In addition the heroes also come into contact with evil dark version copies of Spider-Man, Captain America and Thor. They eventually find Doom, only to have his own dark version copies of the Fantastic Four waiting alongside him. After stealing a bit of power from him, the heroes defeat Doom. Doom tells them that they have accomplished nothing, when his power disappears. Odin calls from the heavens. "Your wretched scheme is undone... and your black soul is MINE!!" Doom is then struck by lightening, and Odin gives him and Loki an eternity of suffering.

After all this, Nick Fury tells the team that they must disband. Wolverine says to him "You're a punk, Fury." and walks off, with Spidey and Thor following behind him. Captain America then says to Fury that if the world ever needs them again, they will provide their assistance. Then, the screen moves over to Galactus, who vows to destroy the heroes and Earth for stealing from him.

After that, Uatu tells the player of how his/her actions in the game (such as not completing missions the right way, or not completing side missions) change the future. For example:

• If the player chooses to save Jean Grey and not Nightcrawler, Mystique will seek out Professor X and kill him as a way of avenging her son's death. Alternately, if the player saves Nightcrawler instead, Jean Grey will return with a vengeance as the Dark Phoenix.

• If the player saves Senator Kelly, he creates a bill providing funding for schools where mutants can be trained in the use of their powers. If not, he will create a bill that forces all mutants be sent to reeducational camps, re-educating them to NOT use their powers.

• If the player successfully finds Valkyrie's sword (Dragonfang), Ragnarok never comes to pass, while Loki is held in prison. If the player doesn't find her sword, Valkyrie falls in battle at Ragnarok and the people of Asgard are forbidden from contacting Earth for a century.

• If the player succeeds on saving Lilandra, the Shi'ar would use their advance technology to wipe out diseases, hunger, and colonize other planets. If the player doesn't succeed, the Shi'ar refuse to help the heroes when an asteriod came to destroy the Western coast of the United States.

If the player does not complete all the missions, including optional ones, then the future will still change somehow, and the world would one day be put in danger again.

Subplot

During the game a subplot takes place where Weasel attempts to find proof that the Black Widow is a double agent, and the player needs to obtain various pieces of information to aid his efforts. Ultimately the players call Nick Fury with information of Black Widow's apparent betrayal, it is revealed that Black Widow is innocent and her suspicious activities were part of an operation to try and retrieve plans that Dr. Doom had stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D. The plan, Operation: All Father was created for if the Asgardians became threats to humans and involved stealing Odin's power with the Twilight Sword, which is exactly what Doom does. After the closing credits, there is also a dialogue between Weasel and Black Widow, with Weasel going into S.H.I.E.L.D. records for her. During this it is revealed that Black Widow is indeed some kind of double agent, and she has set up Weasel for the fall.

Features

The game features over 140 characters from the Marvel Universe. Players are able to create teams, and have online and co-operative play, for up to 4 players. In arcade mode players will have to fight for the most kills in order to get the experience points at the end of the level. There are also special comic book missions, revisiting a moment in a character's past and facing a classic arch rival. Characters may have up to four costumes, which can alter the stats of the character.

Players will fight in mid air, underwater and on the ground, with fully destructible and interactive environments in over 17 locations, traveling around different locales on planet Earth, different dimensions, and even the depths of space by the end of the game. The game has alternative endings, affected by the decisions the player(s) make throughout the game. These endings are based on whether or not the player chooses to complete optional missions.

The game is quite rewarding for fans of Marvel's characters, providing lots of bonuses and nods to knowledgeable fans who know their comic history. Putting together teams of characters who have a shared history together, for example, may give team bonuses (ex. using Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and Ms. Marvel on the same team would yield you the Avengers, giving you a boost in attack damage for all team members). Using particular characters to interact with other NPCs can also yield additional dialogue, and villains will also react accordingly when met with their nemeses (for example, Bullseye will talk directly to Elektra or Daredevil upon seeing those characters in the first chapter). The game also features trivia games, artwork and many more references to the Marvel Universe.

While many characters in the game by default are rendered with the appearance they have in the Ultimate Marvel line of comics, the world of the game is predominantly based upon that of the original Marvel Universe, with many villains, character designs and references to events that exist only in that continuity (for example, Galactus is the original Marvel Universe's version, not Ultimate Marvel's hive-minded robotic version).

Versions

The game is available for the Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Game Boy Advance, Wii and PC. The graphical engine and looks differ between the various platforms. For the PS2, Xbox, and Wii, characters models are similar to X-Men Legends II style. The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions feature more detailed character models and environments. The PC version vary depending on the customization of a user's settings, at maximum settings and shaders with premium hardware, the PC graphics will be similar to or better than the 7th gen. The PC version also features "intuitive mouse controls" and works with a gamepad.

There are exclusive characters on the GBA, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3. The PSP has four exclusive characters, the GBA has two exclusive characters, and the three next-gen systems share two exclusive characters. Moon Knight and Colossus (the next-gen exclusive characters) are now playable on the PC version as well with a game mod. MUA VIP site has officially announced that there will be downloadable characters on the Xbox 360 via the Xbox Live Marketplace at some point in March(No specific date has yet to be announced other than 'March') no other details have been announced and it has not been said whether any other platforms will have access to these characters.

GBA

"Marvel: Ultimate Alliance" is drastically altered for the Game Boy Advance Port. The game is now a side-scrolling fighting game, with minor RPG elements (such as the ability to alter your characters stats). Also the graphics are compressed qualitywise for system and the character selection has been drastically reduced.

Teams consist of three characters and a striker, a non-playable fourth character who can be summoned to perform a devastating attack directed toward on-screen enemies.

Playable characters include:

• Spider-Man (Starter Character)
• Wolverine (Starter Character)
• Iceman (Starter Character)
• Blade
• Captain America
• Deadpool
• Elektra
• Thing (Must be Unlocked)
• Ms. Marvel (Must Be Unlocked)
• Thor

Strikers include:

• Dr. Strange (starter striker)
• Ghost Rider
• Iron Man
• Dark Phoenix
• Namor the Sub-Mariner
• Vision

Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Iceman are the game's starter team with Dr. Strange as your striker. Blade, Deadpool, Captain America, Elektra, and Thor become unlockable after completing the first mission, along with striker Ghost Rider. As the game progresses, characters become unlocked as more missions are completed.

Some additional gameplay modes are also included for additional gameplay: S.H.I.E.L.D. Simulator, Time Challenges, Scavenger Hunts, and a Survival mode.

PSP

The PSP version features simplified graphics, different characters, and extra features:

• Four exclusive playable Marvel characters: Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Hawkeye and Ronin
• One exclusive comic book villain: Swordsman
• 6 special comic book missions
• Microphone support (voice chat), via which players can speak with other players online
• Online-recordable player statistics
• Exclusive prequel missions
• Three exclusive single-player gameplay modes

Wii

The Wii version features:

• Specific motion-sensitive controls for normal moves
• Motion-sensitive controlled Special attacks, unique for each character
• Access to any special move at any time, which is unavailable for any other build.
• There is no online play, but there is a normal multiplayer mode in which up to four players may play at once.

Characters

While Ultimate Alliance follows in the footsteps of Raven Software's X-Men Legends games, it has a broader scope of inclusion, adding playable heroes from Marvel Comics' other popular comics, including Spider-Man, many different members of the Avengers, and the entire Fantastic Four. In addition, each character has four different costumes. Most of these extra costumes are different costumes characters have had in their comics appearances; for example, Spider-Man has his black symbiote costume and his red and gold "Iron Spider" costume, as well as his classic red and blue costume. Some of the costumes are alternate versions of the same character or even entirely separate characters with similar powers or appearance: for example, many characters appear in their Ultimate versions, and both versions of the character Spider-Woman as well as the MC2 character Spider-Girl are available via the costume change feature.

One major thing to note is that the version of Nick Fury used for Alliance is not the same as previously appeared in the X-Men Legends game. However, the General Nick Fury model that was previously used is still available as an alternate costume for Fury.

While all versions of Ultimate Alliance share a common core of initially-available and unlockable characters, many of the different versions have exclusive characters. The PC, PlayStation 2, and Xbox versions have only the basic core, while the PlayStation Portable version adds four characters, the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Wii versions share a pair of exclusive characters, and the Game Boy Advance version has two exclusive characters while lacking some of the unlockable characters.

The Hulk was going to be the final playable character, but as the rights to use the character are held by Sierra Entertainment, this was not possible. However, the player meets Bruce Banner in the Omega Base & sees a defeated Hulk in a cinematic prior to the final mission.

It has been reported that in March, there will be new characters available for download on the next-gen systems. No word yet on exactly which characters it will be.

Template:Spoiler Characters that appear as alternate costumes are listed under the original character.

All playable characters have four different costumes, except Moon Knight, who has three.

In the case of Silver Surfer, all of his alternate costumes look the same.

Characters in bold are not available at the beginning of the game, and become available during gameplay. All characters in italics are costume changes for other characters that are of different personas altogether.

Voice actors

Locations

It's important to note that despite the game's title, the game does not take place in the Ultimate Universe. Also, there is no word that it definitively takes place in the Earth-616 universe or the X-Men Legends universe. Curiously, like the previous X-Men Legends games, the game employs the look of the Ultimate Universe and the plots of the Earth-616 universe.

Reception

Awards

• Received the Video Game of the Year award from Wizard Magazine issue 183.
• Received the IGN Award for Best Story on PlayStation 3 in 2006.
• Gaming Target - 52 Games We'll Still Be Playing From 2006 selection .

Trivia

• The Hulk was going to be the final playable character, but as the rights to use the character are held by Sierra Entertainment, this was not possible. However, the player meets Bruce Banner in the Omega Base & sees a defeated Hulk in a cinematic prior to the final mission.
• In Dum Dum Dugan's message to Nick Fury, he tells him that Bruce Banner is working on the super soldier project, when he is actually working on the Gamma Bomb project. This refers to Banner's origins in both the Marvel & Ultimate Marvel universes.

References

1. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance official site
2. Credits section in the game manuals for the PS3, PSP and Wii versions.

See also

• X-Men Legends
• X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse

External links

• The Superheroes of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
• Marvel Ultimate Alliance's official site
• MarvelDatabase:Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
• Gamespot trailer for the game
• IGN: PS3
• 1up look into M:UA
• Gamespy information on M:UA
• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance at MobyGames
• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance SUPERGUIDE CONTENTS

• 2006 video games
• Captain America video games
• Video games based on Marvel Comics
• Cooperative video games
• Fantastic Four video games
• Game Boy Advance games
• Iron Man video games
• PlayStation 2 games
• PlayStation 3 games
• PlayStation Portable games
• Spider-Man video games
• Wii games
• Windows games
• Xbox games
• Xbox 360 games
• X-Men games
• Superhero video games