Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

[Darth Caedus]

I don't have time to play with any of you guys near finals time, but that would be fun....just mind my swearing, i swear like a sailor when i pay games...

 

[The Josh]

No biggie. We all do it.

 

[Fritz]

Hulk Smashes Activision's Ultimate Alliance
Eight new playable characters coming with new downloadable content.
by Hilary Goldstein

March 23, 2007 - Good news Merry Marvel fans, Activision's Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is getting the Hulk in April...

FULL ARTICLE at IGN

 

[The ill Jedi]

Hulk Smashes Activision's Ultimate Alliance
Eight new playable characters coming with new downloadable content.

Sweet! HULK SMASH!!!

 

[Darth Loki]

I just got this and love it. Can't wait to add some extra content for my next go around.

 

[Fritz]

Ultimate Alliance Gets DLC
Marvel's mutantatstic title gets cool goodies.
by Patrick Kolan, IGN AU

Australia, March 25, 2007 - For lovers of good multiplayer-heavy Marvel games, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is practically an unbeatable hand...

FULL ARTICLE at IGN

 

[bagelsncheesey]

what a great game. i totally look foward to adding hulk into my roster. i think magneeto and venom will kick major arse as well.

 

[GSRJedi]

IGN has a Q&A and some screenshots of the new characters.

IGN article

March 28, 2007 - IGN caught up with Activision to get the lowdown on its upcoming Heroes and Villains add-on packs that complement last fall's release of the action-RPG, Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Today, we reveal the details on how the characters fit into the story, how they play, and how it was quite a challenge to keep a good balance with The Hulk in the game.

For those who missed out on the action, last week Activision announced it will sell three add-on packs, a Heroes pack containing The Hulk, Cyclops, Nightcrawler and Hawkeye, a Villains pack including Venom, Magneto Sabretooth, and Doctor Doom, and a combined pack of both. All three packs will be available on Xbox Live Marketplace, Tuesday, April 10. We spoke with Chris Palmisano, associate producer at Activision (Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, X-Men: The Official Game, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse), about the new add-on packs.

IGN: Thanks for adding new characters to Marvel Ultimate Alliance; it will be interesting to see The Hulk and Venom in action. So, why did you choose these particular characters -- The Hulk, Venom, Cyclops, Magneto, Nightcrawler, Hawkeye, Sabretooth, and Doctor Doom for the add-on pack? Seems like a good number of them were already in the previous X-Men action-RPGs (X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse).

Chris Palmisano: One of the big factors in choosing the new characters was based on feedback from our fan community site Marvelultimatealliance.com. Not to over-simplify it, but we basically surveyed our most vocal and active fans and then tried to narrow it down based on popularity. We also ran the list by Marvel for their feedback, but the VIP's won out for just about all of the eight spots we had for new characters.

IGN: How difficult was it to create a working Hulk? Was it any more difficult than the Thing? Also, does The Hulk have a different character model and/or animations than the Thing? Please explain.

Chris Palmisano: The hardest part about creating a working Hulk was properly balancing the game. As fans probably know, he is one of the most powerful characters in the entire Marvel Universe in terms of brute force. In comparison to the Thing; Hulk is actually a lot taller and has a different posture, so the model is entirely different. In respect to the animation and super powers, Hulk has an element of ferocity to him compared to Thing that we really wanted to bring that out in the combat.

IGN: How much will the add-on packs cost?

Chris Palmisano: The downloadable content will be released in three packs actually. The Hero Pack and Villain Pack will each be 500 Microsoft points ($6.25) and the Combined Hero and Villain Pack will be 800 Microsoft points ($10). Heroes and Villains gamer pic packs will also be available for 80 Microsoft points each ($1).

IGN: Please give us examples of some of the cool, killer moves that the new characters can pull off? For example, what can Hulk, Venom, Hawkeye and Doctor Doom do?

Chris Palmisano: Well from that list of characters there are some really cool buffs and awesome moves. Hulk can almost double in size so normal characters only come up to his waist and Venom grows tendrils and giant claws. Moves-wise they all have cool abilities, though my favorite is Doom's "Doom Warp," which inflicts damage on everything around as it teleports him out of harm's way. Hawkeye also has a really visually exciting attack -- the "Ice Pick" -- where he jumps up in the air and blasts everything below him with his arrows.


IGN: Also, since Cyclops has shown up in both X-men games before Marvel Ultimate Alliance, how will he look and play differently?

Chris Palmisano: Cyclops's powers have all new visual effects and have also been completely overhauled from what fans have seen in previous games. As one of the most classic X-Men, this was a good opportunity to show what next-generation flare can do to his abilities. His attacks look amazing and also do some serious damage. I would recommend the "ricochet blast."

IGN: This is essentially the first game to show increased Achievements beyond 1,000 points on a standard retail Xbox 360 game, giving gamers 10 new Achievements for a total of 60 altogether (normally a standard retail game offers 1,000 achievements total and developers can split those up as they choose). Please tell us what kind of Achievements you worked into the game? What can we look forward to?

Chris Palmisano: The new Achievements really enabled us to highlight the new content and characters. There are eight Achievements awarded for unlocking all the costumes for each new character and there are four achievements for players who play through the new plot points created by the new characters. I would love to talk more about them since they are quite cool, but I don't want to give them away.

IGN: Will we see any more add-ons to this game in the future? If so, what type?

Chris Palmisano: I can't confirm any details at this time.

IGN: Since you can play as Doctor Doom and The Hulk in the game now, does that change the story? For instance, Doctor Doom is a villain in the game, and Bruce Banner appears in a cutscene already. How have you changed, altered, or massaged the story to work in the new characters?

Chris Palmisano: We have recorded all sorts of new dialogue for the game and added to the script. I don't want to give away exactly how it works, but we hope players enjoy the small touches the development team added in to make the story work out.

IGN: What happens, for instance, if I have already started a game of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and I'm, say, 50% done. I then download the new content. Can I use the new characters in my already existing game? Or do I have to start a new one? If not, why not?

Chris Palmisano: In this scenario you will be able to play from your old save with the new characters. You could even host an online game where players who have not downloaded the new characters would be able to play your save and your new characters as well. (The other players have to get a special download for online games only that can be found on marketplace and is free.)

IGN: Will the new characters appear in the standard menu seamlessly? Or will there be an indicator flagging them as newly downloaded?

Chris Palmisano: The menu looks awesome with all the new characters in there. We are really starting to run out of room though.

Really excited to see how this changes stuff. Hopefully Guitar Hero II isn't too addicting and I can pull myself away to get some more time in this.

 

[Seth Gecko]

got this on PC a while ago great fun.

 

[gambit]

A little late to the game but;

I have been playing for last 10 days and I become addicted already. What a great game for a comic fan

My team includes
humon torch (he is so cool to play with and the power effects are cool)
spider man
storm
and iceman (he is pretty strong by the way)

 

[bjread]

Nice....did you get the version with the new characters or download the new characters? It is REALLY fun to play with Hulk & Silver Surfer (you have to beat all the discs to unlock him).

I've beat it on all levels and have all characters with all their costumes. I didn't sell it either because I will play it again and beat it one more time before M: UA 2 comes out.

 

[gambit]

I guess I have the new characters although I still did not unlock silver surfer or hulk

 

[Mithrandier]

Originally played through it on a PS2.
Loved it.

This Christmas got an XBOX 360.
Started playing it again.
But love the character additions of Moon Knight and Colossus.
Still a great game.
Cant wait for M:UA2.

 

[misbitski]

A little late to the game but;

I have been playing for last 10 days and I become addicted already. What a great game for a comic fan

My team includes
humon torch (he is so cool to play with and the power effects are cool)
spider man
storm
and iceman (he is pretty strong by the way)

It's still one of my favorite 360 games. I haven't spring for the add-on packs yet though. Is it worth buying, or is MUA2 coming out soon?

 

[Agent0028]

They're doing a second one? Awesome! I think I've played this one three times now. Last time I did it using only 3 team mates, I think I might do it again with only two. It's one of my favorite games, its one of the ones I pop in to do some training missions when I'm bored or need a break from homework.

 

[gambit]

I didn't know about MUA2 also
good news

by the way, I guess I am the only one playing with PSP here. I must buy a console because it is a difficult to catch the details and even to see some enemies on the screen when it is zoomed out.

 

[piccolodaimaoh]

I love this game, huge fan. I beat it on Nintendo Wii then PS2.
I would have a different team depending on the board. For example, for the Mandarin level I used Iron Man and West Coast Avengers like Spider-Woman and Ms. Marvel.
For Namor's level I used the Fantastic Four, for Arcade's level I used X-Men and for Mephisto's level I used darker characters like Ghost Rider and Blade. I could go on but you catch my drift.
My favorite characters to use were Captain America, Spider-Man and Silver Surfer. Surfer's powers are really helpful, especially in Asgard.

Sorry, went off on a tangent, can't wait for Ultimate Alliance 2.

 

[gambit]

I love this game, huge fan. I beat it on Nintendo Wii then PS2.

How is it to play with Wii?
Is it easy, difficult to control, graphics??

 

[Darth Loki]

How is it to play with Wii?
Is it easy, difficult to control, graphics??

I love the Wii, but I'll always choose a 360 version of a game

 

[piccolodaimaoh]

How is it to play with Wii?
Is it easy, difficult to control, graphics??

The Wii is pretty cool, the graphics are supposed to be better than the PS2 but in my opinion they were pretty much the same. To attack you have to wave the wand but you can use it as a regular controller if you want to. I used Cap the most on the Wii and throwing the shield was the best on the Wii. The wand made it even more fun.
You control the direction a character is walking/running with the analog but with attacks you can use the wand or the buttons.