 Preview By: Siou Choy |
Developer: | Vicarious Visions |
| Publisher: | Activision | |
| Genre: | Action RPG | |
| ESRB: | Rating Pending | |
| # Of Players: | TBA | |
| Online Play: | No | |
| Accessories: | TBA | |
| Estimated Release: | 11/14/2006 |
All you annoying, tunnel-vision afflicted "Marvel zombies" out there can rejoice: Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is on its way to the poorly named Nintendo Wii.
This action RPG is being developed by Vicarious Visions, with the input of popular Marvel editor "C.B. Cebulski" (oh, for the days when you actually knew who the staff were – creators rising in the ranks, rather than faceless corporate drones operating under the delusion that they are somehow "cool" thereby…).
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is slated to feature over 140 ostensibly familiar faces from the far reaches of the Marvel Universe: 20 playable characters start off the game, some portion of that loftier number presumably to be unlocked during (or with successive) gameplay. Among those playable characters will be some predictable choices (Spider-Man, Captain America, Wolverine, the Thing) and a few a bit more towards left field (Thor, Doctor Strange, Ghost Rider, Elektra). Now, if they bring in the pre-"gangsta rap" Luke Cage, Clea, Hellcat or Son of Satan, then we’ll start talking serious…
The plot of the game might seem a bit strange to longtime fans: it revolves around Doctor Doom reviving the Masters of Evil (huh?) in a bid for world domination, and surprise, surprise, it’s up to the heroes of the Marvel Universe to stop him. Battles will take place in at least 17 locations, inclusive of the underwater kingdom of Altantis, the Skrull homeworld (didn’t they destroy that already?), and the Shield Heli-Carrier. In a mild bit of innovation, fights are no longer limited to the ground - this time around, gamers will be able to fight in mid-air or underwater as well.
Players can create teams that will have their own icon, name and even vehicle (woo-hoo, back from the watery depths of the Hudson, it’s the Spidermobile!). Depending on what gamers do, they can earn a reputation for their team (go, Champions!). Of course, creating teams that originally appeared in the comics such as the Fantastic Four or Avengers will give a slight boost to your team’s rep.
For the sake of completeness, I’ll even toss in a weird tidbit of P.R. found around the web: "gamers will not only determine the fate of the Earth but of the Marvel Universe as well. This is done through interaction with characters in the game and how the story unfolds, depending on which objectives have been completed in the game". Whatever.
Like most Wii titles, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance will have slightly modified controls when compared to its other next-gen counterparts. According to associate producer Chris Palmisano (via 1UP.com):
"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," says Palmisano. "Then there are standard combo moves, which you can also do with the Wii controller." Of course, being a RPG the game won't make you move around too much (hardcore out of shape comic and video game nerds would riot!): "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," add Palmisano. The Wii version will also be somewhere between the current and next-gen versions graphically, using the same models as current-gen versions but with real-time shadows and other effects.
Activision expects to ship Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for the launch of the Nintendo Wii, whenever the heck that is.
Posted: 2006-08-02 19:32:41 PST