Ultimate Alliance Review Written by Jules Grimm Published by CroTech
If you’re a Marvel fan, then your first reaction to this game was to wonder whether they were going to include your favourite character. The second thing was to wonder whether the game would be done to the high standards that Marvel fans expect from games, especially after the success of the X-men Legends games. There have been two camps of thinking, one that this game would be the best thing ever brought to the Xbox 360 and the other that this might be the most over hyped piece of rubbish brought to the Xbox 360. So far I think the first camp has won. Since Activision and Raven Software were the companies responsible for the X-men Legends games it was always more likely to build on their success.
Before this game I hadn’t really bought into the Xbox 360 culture, I liked it just fine, but I wasn’t a huge fan. This game changed my thoughts on the whole console "war" and put me firmly in the Xbox 360 camp. I love RPG’s on the PC and this successfully helped me make the jump RPG’s on the Xbox 360. This combines Action and RPG elements in ways that help to show off the best of both genres. There are so many aspects to it that you never feel like anything in particular is underdeveloped. There’s enough storyline to enjoy, without becoming a mass of cut scenes and talking. There’s also enough action to keep you engaged, without letting the game become a smash and grab game.
The Bad Asses
The presentation of the game is very straight forward, which prevents you getting lost when you’re just getting into the game. The menus and character sheets are well set out with the relevant information very clearly displayed. This is a major bonus for those people who are playing on smaller screens and can help those people who have slight sight impairments. The in game menu system is extensive and allow you to access pretty much anything you need to at any point. The extent of the character customisation menus is broader than you typically find, which allows you to control the way in which the characters develop far more than normal. The overall look of the game is very polished and the menus and navigation do nothing to alter that perception.
The battles tend to get fun.
I found the graphics of the game to be good quality, without it overriding other aspects of the game. I must have watched the opening scene at least twenty or more times to date and it still makes me laugh. It could just be that I’m easily entertained, but I like to think it’s because the creators brought characters to life that are genuinely entertaining and appealing. The in game graphics are good, although they can be a little murky and indistinct at certain points, but this then highlights the bright colours of many of the costumes. The cut scenes are well put together although you can sometimes feel like there are too many. Within the game there are a lot of tributes to games that have gone before. The most prominent is the tribute to Pitfall that’s a game within a game when you’re in Murderworld. Little features like this add a lot of depth to the game and spark recognition from gamers that might otherwise feel a little left out.
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