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How do you take a great franchise, that was arguably one of the best superhero games, and trash everything that it has done.  I mean we are talking a game that was included in a console bundle, ranked rather highly by fans and even laid the foundation for a sequel.  Well, all you have to do is look at the goodwill that was created by Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and then turns the series in all different directions, including putting a different developer on the series that has never made its mark with a game of this type.  Yes, after spending a whole weekend with Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, I see how Activision has found a way to kill another great, budding franchise, by changing the entire formula of the game.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, was a highly anticipated game in my 2009 release schedule.  I loved the first game, and even into 2009, I was still going back to it from time to time to play more of the game.  It had a great collection of heroes and villains, a solid story and most importantly, fun game mechanics that had you grinding through it to unlock all the extras that were available.  A sequel was long anticipated, and when it was announced, cheers were to be had in the gaming community.  Vicarious Visions was brought in to deliver the goods, and they started with grabbing on to one of the best comic stories in the Marvel Universe, Civil War.  However, it is this storyline that forms the foundation of this terrible sequel.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 starts us off a year before the events of the Marvel Civil War, with a group of heroes invading Latvaria, the former home of Doctor Doom.  His protégé, Barda von Doom has taken control of the country, and on face value, has repaired strained relations with the rest of the world.  Even the United States, long hampered with destructive plans by Doom, has re-established ties with Latveria and has started funding financial aid to the developing nation.  However, Latveria has not stopped working with criminals, and has continued creating horrors that continue to plague the Central European nation, if not the world.  Yes, we as players are thrust into the Marvel Secret War, where Nick Fury has tricked our heroes to invade a country and destroy its leadership, all in the name of world safety.  It is a good foundation, and at first glance, it seems like a return to the formula that made the first Marvel Ultimate Alliance so great.  But it shortly goes downhill from that point.

First off are the atrocious looking graphics, which look like they have taken several steps back from the first title.  Instead of creating highly polished cut scenes, Vicarious Visions went with in-game engine cut scenes that look horrible, and lose a lot of the details that we had in the first title.  From a far, the graphics look good, but when you zoom in to super close up looks at the characters, they look horrible.  I mean we are talking last gen looking graphics.  The characters look soulless and you start to dread each cut scene, because it will show you how bad the game looks.  The environments are nice, but never reach the heights of the crazy places that you found in the first game.  Again, this is tied into the fact that the story is focused into points here in the real world.  Nothing really stands out when it comes to places like Mephisto’s lair, or even the Atlantean’ world of Namor, instead placating us with underground train bunkers or underground laboratories.

More importantly is the fact that the Marvel Civil War story ends up being poorly implemented by the developer.  Yes, they include a lot of the points that are used in the Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, including the disaster at Stamford, CT.  We see the destruction that is caused in the fight between Nitro and the New Warriors.  But when you actually come down and actually have to make the choice of Pro-Registration or Anti-Registration, you end up effectively kill off half of the characters that you can use for a good chunk of the story.  Yes, the end of the game takes a twist off of the Civil War story and has everyone coming together for the good of the world, but it loses the impact of the Civil War story.

Even the character selection in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is rather average at best when it comes down to it.  Some of the characters are there from the first, but it is a lackluster bunch of heroes.  Many of the heroes I never wanted to use in the first game come back for the sequel, but a lot of the fun characters are missing in action.  There are also some strange inclusions, like the Hulk, who was not even on the planet at the time of the Civil War, but he is here in all of his raging green glory.  Yes, Iron Fist shows up, and is a lot of fun at times to play, but there were some strange choices when it came to assembling the roster.  That is a problem with any ensemble Marvel game, as there are always choices that are left out and will kill fans of a particular hero or villain, but it really stands out here.  Songbird?  Really?  You could not think of a better character than Songbird Vicarious Visions?  We will just leave it at that.

Multiplayer was the one area that needed a lot of work with the first title, and you figure with a sequel, you have all the complaints of the first title, and you have to believe that a developer would find a way to improve.  Unfortunately, they did fix things a bit, but without a full realization of what could have been done with the title.  Yes, it is far easier to get a co-op game together in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, but only the lead player can actually save game progress, or even get achievements.  So if I play through a chunk of the game with a friend, but he is the one hosting the game, I lose all that progress when I go back to play again in single player.  The same goes for achievements or trophies.  If you are in a co-op game and unlock a ton of achievements, they are only unlocked for the host of the game and no one else.  I thought this was a bug, but it appears this is a huge bone of contention on the Internet.

My biggest anger with Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, if all the rest of this review does not kill your want for this title, the main hook is probably the worst point of the game, and that is the Fusion system.  Vicarious Visions decided that they needed a new hook for the sequel, and instead of amping up the items that made the first title great, they decided to create a new game mechanic called Fusion.  During the course of the Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, you earn points beating up enemies which go into a Fusion meter.  When the Fusion meter fills up, you can link up two of your characters to create a Fusion power.  For example, Captain America can link up with Iron Man to Fusion together, which will have Iron Man shoot repulsor beams at Captain America’s shield which spreads the attack like an area effect.  However, the fusions are never really necessary to beat anyone, and normally, I found that Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 would purposely make swamping enemy rooms just for the point of using Fusions.  I found myself just muscling my way out of these rooms, and saving the Fusions for big bad guys, like Titanium Man or Bishop, post-registration act, to make quick work of them.  I have heard of people just completely skipping the Fusions, and beyond trying for some specific Achievement based goals, I could totally see myself skipping them.  They add nothing to the game, to the point that they just become detraction.

The list of faults in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, continue to go on and on.  A lack of costumes to unlock, a still furious save system, and a lackluster focus on design that makes you just want to stop playing the game.  Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 was a long awaited sequel, but at the end of the day, I would advise all to stay away, and wait for a third game in the series, if it ever comes.  That day may never come after the disaster that is Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.  Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 gets 1.5 out of 5 Aeropausonauts.
Check out Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 and other Xbox 360 reviews at Test Freaks.