Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

Overall, the game is entertaining, but its pales in comparison to the original UA. There are no more little side quests, and individualizations that made the first game so great. Also, the story is pretty short leaving my wife and I to finish it in two evenings. Overall, I wouldnt recommend this.

After playing MUA on both a PC and the Wii, I was looking forward to the next installment. The original had so much going for it: so many places to explore, villain and hero encounters, dialogue, simulator disc bonus missions, items to find along the way, side quests that would affect the end story, 4 costumes for each character (!!!) and so much more. I got MUA2 hoping for some similarities and some new aspects. Alas, when compared with the original, MUA2 comes up far short. Why? Was there such a big rush to get the new product out? It just did not seem as if they put a great deal of effort into MUA2. If MUA could have all that it had, why couldn't MUA2? Check out the close ups of Captain America in MUA. Great graphics (he looks like a person)! Now check out the close ups of Cap in MUA2. He looks pixellated and blocky. I know the Wii does not have graphics as good as other consoles, but if they could do a good job with MUA, then what happened to the quality in MUA2? Another thing lacking in the Wii version was in-game content. For instance, MUA2 for other systems had a Washington, D.C. backdrop, but not so the Wii. I would have loved to play around in the D.C. setting. It just seems as if the developers didn't want to expend as much effort for MUA2. MUA has SO much more to offer. I hope, if there is ever an MUA3, that the developers take the time to do it right. Maybe they could continue the Galactus thread from the end of MUA, get some intergalactic characters involved (Drax, Thanos, the Brood, Gladiator, the Kree, The Living Tribunal (and others of his ilk!) and a host of others as playable or non-playable characters) make it jam-packed like MUA and then I bet many, like myself, will be happy with the game again.

The gameplay elements in the game are solid, quite possibly the best I've experienced in this series (X-Men Legends 1+2, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 1+2). No more wonky motion controls, or accidentally spinning the camera by laying your nunchuck down. Characters can be revived mid-action should they fall, and Ultimates have been replaced with the fun (and not skill point/button hogging) fusion powers. There is a great selection of characters to choose from, both old favorites and new flavors (including some villains). Also, the Civil War Storyline gives the game an edge your typical superhero romp lacks, and that plus the unlockable characters and hard mode gives good replay value.

But if I'm to be fair, it's not all good. The Wii pretty much got the same version as the PS2, and it shows. Now I usually don't care about graphics, but some of the character models are just ugly as hell. More importantly, it's really just a bare bones presentation. Nothing really to collect or find, no alternate costumes, no in depth dialogues with NPCs, no character specific exchanges, and a couple of random glitches. Nothing to crash the game mind you, just things like sound cutting out, or Goblin's glider sticking to his foot as he walks. If you're looking to get immersed in the Marvel universe and these characters, you may end up disappointed. But if you're just looking for a fun beat-em-up with some friends, there's not many games I can recommend higher. Get a group of friends who want to kill things and have fun; I'm sure you will. It's co-op fun at it's best, in spite of its flaws.

I bought this game because I had a lot of fun with Ultimate Alliance 1. At its core this game is solid multiplayer fun but there are some changes from the first that I don't understand:

There are less objects to find in game.
Less bonus missions (simulated missions).
The motion sensitive controls are gone.
Very few costume choices.
Can no longer easily move the camera.

The plot is better and there are still plenty of heroes and villains to fight, but it seems like I might as well just be playing the first game again. I don't think there have been any improvements at all! Also, all the reappearing heroes have the same abilities they did last time! The game is still fun to play with your friends but I expect improvements in sequels and this game is worse than the first.

I hear the 360 and PS3 versions are better.

First off this game has inexcusably bad graphics. Too many people will associate this with a Wii game but you shouldn't. True the Wii is not on the same level as Xbox 360 or PS3. I'm not comparing it to it's so-called counterparts on those systems. I'm comparing it to the badly done PS2 version of the game. The graphics are identical. They just ported this game from the PS2 to the Wii because that was easier than making a game from the ground up.

They also toss in a few Wiimote mini games under the guise of "exclusive content". There's nothing like a 4 player brawler that throws in some out of place Cooking Mama style mini games here and there to really stop the action. A better use of time would have been fine tuning the nunchuk fusion controls. You will be shaking that thing like a maraca at times for nearly a minute before it registers with the game. By then all the enemies you were going to kill are already dead. Nice.

Porting this game over to the Wii was all about one this thing: money. This isn't a game made for the Wii. This isn't their best effort. But I'm supposed to be grateful to have this game in any shape or form I guess? NO THANKS! Your money would be better spent on... "shudder" ...Pokemon Rumble.