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New Marvel: UA content still MIA
After waiting around all day staring at the Xbox Live Marketplace (what a living), the new content for Marvel: Ultimate Alliance still hasn't arrived. Naturally, we're a little confused, as a trailer was released on Marketplace just to let us know that the content would arrive April 10th (i.e. yesterday). The trailer has now been pulled, and the official Marvel: Ultimate Alliance website says nothing of the content beyond the original announcement that was made last month. Of course, it's possible the content failed the certification process, in which case fans could be waiting a while to get their hands on the new heroes and villains. Was anyone out there looking forward to this new DLC? Update: The sheer magnitude of all the super villainy contained in this post created a time vacuum, thus shoving the post backwards in time an entire day. The evil has since been rectified and the post returned to its proper time.
Interview indulges Marvel: Ultimate Hype
We're regular readers of Superhero Hype!, a fact rendered unsurprising given our unhealthy obsession with gravity-defying men and women in brightly colored garb. The site recently posted a drab interview with Matthew Paul, producer of the upcoming altruistic all-stars adventure, Marvel: Ulltimate Alliance. Little did we know that the article would contain such a high volume of fluff, reading it would be akin to getting smothered by a pillow in your sleep. Locking an Activision PR person in a room and having them read a press release aloud would likely have resulted in a more intriguing investigation into the game's features. Features like unbelievable, hyper-real graphics!When queried about the game's graphics on next-generation systems, Mr. Paul points out the "life-like" textures on Captain America and The Thing, commenting that there are times when "you feel more like you're watching a blockbuster Super Hero movie as opposed to a video game because it looks so real." Right. Ignoring the fact that the official PS3 screenshot above flamboyantly contradicts such a claim (and such acclaim), it's unbelievable that the interview doesn't change course when it suddenly finds itself covering the "real" nature of comic book characters and movies. It looks so real it's like watching a movie? That must be the one directed by Hyper Boll -- we've seen it far too many times already.
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance to feature unexciting controls
Though the many Marvel characters duking it out in Ultimate Alliance frequently find themselves doing somersaults, hurling punches and generally super-spazzing out, it's not an accurate expectation for the players of the game to perform similar feats. Speaking at the recently concluded Comic-Con, Activision's Chris Palmisano commented that the Wii version of the game would not have major changes implemented to its control system."The basic game controls like the camera and the movement and stuff like that -- you can do that on the Wii with left side in most cases. Then there are standard combo moves, which you can also do with the Wii controller." After this rather vague statement (do combo moves with the controller, you say?!), Palmisano goes on to curtail the level of input you might have expected from a Wii game. "I don't know how many games you're going to see where people are jumping around -- our game is an RPG so it's really hard to require that much physical energy to play a game for 30 hours." Though we have yet to think of any Wii game that actively requires you to jump around, we suspect the lack of physical energy required to play Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is tied into a lack of mental energy when attempting to explain why your game will have a bog-standard control scheme. This is an issue that will come up again and again: a multi-platform game that fails to take advantage of the Wii's controller risks not only being surpassed by graphically superior versions (why buy the Wii version?), but the rest of the games in the Wii lineup (why buy this game that doesn't use my system fully?). Of course, shoehorning a game into an inappropriate controller scheme is just as undesirable, as is certainly the case with an action RPG largely built upon repetition. We'd rather just press the A-button, thanks.
New Marvel Ultimate Alliance media
WorthPlaying has posted ten new screens from Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and there's an updated trailer and Nightcrawler vid over at GameTrailers. Due in October, Marvel's latest action-RPG includes a healthy sampling of playable characters, although I've yet to see Iron Man on any confirmed roster list. Hulk isn't mentioned either, but at least we know Bruce Banner will be one of the dozens of NPCs featured in the game, along with The Inhumans, Black Widow, Dr. Doom, and that big purple world devourer putting the squeeze on Spidey. Where's Silver Surfer when you need him?
Ultimate Alliance, not so ultimate screens
It's nice that Activision is even bothering with Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, but come on. Look at it. Sure, if it's anything like X-Men Legends it will be a blast, but these screens are far from impressive. It wouldn't matter if the 360 version had the same price as the Xbox version, but do you really want to pay sixty bucks for this?[Via OpenXBOX360]
Ultimate Alliance new screens
WorthPlaying has uploaded 35 new screens from Activision's Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, the action-RPG that will let you form your own superhero team using Stan Lee and Company's greatest creations. Nice shot, Cap!See also: Marvel heroes unite for Ultimate Alliance
Marvel heroes unite for Ultimate Alliance
With the success of the X-Men Legends series, it was only a matter of time before Activision applied the popular hack and slash-RPG formula to the rest of the Marvel universe. We'll see the result at the end of the year when they release Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. Like the Legends games, Alliance takes place in Marvel's Ultimate universe, and when it's clobberin' time, you and three of your fanboy buddies can engage in a little competitive co-op play. Experience points won't be shared, but will be granted on a per kill basis, and can be used to unlock new costumes, as well as upgrade powers. With Justice League Heroes due out around the same time, you can renew those Marvel vs. DC debates at your local comic shop.
X-Men: Legends lets you join the team
The X-Men deserve the best writers, artists, movies, cartoons and games. They've enjoyed the best of all these, save one. The games one. Sure, there have been some decent fighters with our favorite mutants, but for the most part the gaming potential of the team has never been realized. Hopefully, that's about to change. The reviews are coming in for X-Men: Legends and they look promising. Tom's Hardware is certifiably nuts about it, and give us this classic line: "After entering all of that data into the gaming calculator, this is what it spit back out: X + Men(Legends) = (Bu)Y + iT. That's not just my opinion... it was a scientific calculator. You can't argue with science." If the teamplay dynamic is captured as well as the review says it is, then I may not be reading X-Men for the next couple of months. I mean, why read it when you can be it?
X-Men Legends... legendary or lackluster?
The X-Men remains one of the most promising franchises for videogame adaptation. With a seemingly unlimited universe of unique characters blessed with equally unique mutant powers, all tied together in a soap opera-like drama, it's a developers dream. However, it's no secret that the majority of X-Men games are-simply put-terrible. So when Raven Software announced it was developing an RPG based on the X-Men we pretty much threw hope out the door. But as more and more details emerged, we became pleasantly surprised with the ways in which the title was shaping up. Now, X-Men Legends is at our doorsteps, and X-fans may finally get what they've been dreaming of for so long. Head over to IGN to peep the first official review.
X-Men Legends gets busted wide open
Recently, IGN got to spend some quality time with Raven Software's upcoming action RPG, X-Men Legends. Now we're all well aware of the X-Men's sordid past when it comes to videogame appearances, and at first glance, Legends may appear a bit suspect, but as Hilary Goldstein of IGN assures us, "[this is] an X-Men game to get excited about." In all, there are 15 playable X-Men, of which you (and up to three others) choose a team of four to battle it out in real-time across "immense" levels. Not to mention, Men of Action (a small team of comic book writers) is in charge of the story, so expect them to do the characters justice (even though the game takes place in its own X-Men 'universe')-there's also some classic elements thrown in for all you X-history buffs, including costumes, comics, and even playable levels. All in all, Legends is shaping up to be another promising edition in the action RPG genre, with plenty of autheticity to satify the loyal fans.
X-Men: Legends gets some IGN loving
X-Men: Legends is a comic book game with good buzz. A rare beast, we know. Comic games can generate excitement, but hands-on previews are rare; probably because the developer doesn't have much faith in the game. But when the next installment in the X-Men series was shown at the San Diego Comic Convention this year, there were crowds of people waiting for a moment at the controls. The game is coming along nicely, according to this preview on IGN. It mixes fighting action with RPG, and its focus on team gameplay is a necessary touch in an X-Men game. The look of the title is cartoonish, but not overkill. The X-Men deserve an excellent title. Hopefully, this is the one we've been waiting for.
