Marvel Ultimate Alliance Done

Last night I finished Marvel Ultimate Alliance for the Wii. My team of superheroes gave Doom a severe spanking. If I had to grade the game, it would get a solid B+ from me. The wide selection of heroes was great. The usual suspects from the Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Avengers were on duty in addition to lone characters such as Spiderman, Deadpool, and Blade.

I dabbled in a variety of Marvel comic books when I was a kid, so the massive amount of content in this game was a blast (allies, villains, and locations). If you like Marvel comics, get this game. If you like action RPGs, get this game.

I let the game manage gear and skill points for me, so I could jump into the plot and kicking villain ass without the learning curve. Hindsight: should have done it myself instead.

The controls were easy to learn on the Wii. I played X-Men Legends on the GameCube, and I think the Wii's controllers are a big upgrade for the series.

The shortness of the game and the linear plot are my biggest complaints. I completed the adventure in 15 hours, and that was with taking my time and admiring the setting. Replay value is low because of the rigidly linear plot. You have one quest at a time and the paths through the zones are straightforward. Sure, you get side quests, but they're typically things can't help but do as you move along the main quest line. For example, recovering a book or a sword that is conveniently placed near the sub-boss.

Cheat codes are for wusses. Except when they improve game play and make it more fun without neutering the challenge. For example, temporarily turning off aging in the Sims 2 while you get the family going. I wish I would have checked out the cheat codes for Marvel Ultimate Alliance at the beginning of the game instead of at the end of the game. I highly recommend getting
the cheat code for unlocking all the hero costumes (check out GameFAQs). Then you can dress up your heroes in their best duds without blowing your credits on upgrades.

Oh, my team? Captain America, Storm, Thor, and Colossus with Iceman on the bench to sub in when one of my mains took a dive. My son liked Moon Knight and Deadpool, so he'd pick one of them when we played co-op mode.

Time to ship the game back to Gamefly. I wonder what game I'll get next...