Marvel Ultimate Alliance (PS3)

[ban25]

I've been playing quite a bit of MUA lately on the PS3 and overall, I find myself enjoying it a great deal. The game has a wide variety of characters culled from the Marvel universe and seeing cameos like Corsair, Lilandra, Super Skrull, etc. is a lot of fun. The graphics are hardly a showcase and the assets need work, but the game does have a very clean look in 1080p.

On to the rough edges. The multiplayer is poorly implemented, to put it lightly. Even though you're playing online, the game requires all players to stay on the screen at all times -- ridiculous. No voice chat (even though PSP and X360 have it)?. Gesture-controlled rythm sequences -- horrible. It took me an hour to beat Galactus in a 2-player online game. It's hard enough to beat him in a single player game, with all the gestures you have to perform, but in MP it makes all players do the gestures at the same time! The solution was for the other player to commit suicide and let one player beat him.

Anyone else playing this on the PS3?

 

[Bad_Boy]

IIRC Target had a sale on this ($40 USD), I was thinking about picking this up. Not sure if they still have it on sale. But if they do, do you think its worth the pick up?

 

[ban25]

IIRC Target had a sale on this ($40 USD), I was thinking about picking this up. Not sure if they still have it on sale. But if they do, do you think its worth the pick up?

I believe I saw that sale as well. If you haven't played it on another platform already, it's definitely worth picking up. Now that I've beaten Resistance, this is probably the game I play most on the PS3, and despite the faults, the multiplayer is a hell of a lot of fun (I have almost 20 hours on an MP game right now).

The amount of characters available (including those that must be unlocked) and the sheer number of extras (concept art, "wallpapers"/loading screens, videos, etc. will surely keep you going for a long time. And as I mentioned above, the game has a really clean look at 1080p. In fact, I'd like to get ahold of some of the loading screens to use as desktop wallpaper. I'll have to check the site to see if they are available, or I'll try and get some good captures from my camera.

 

[Bad_Boy]

I believe I saw that sale as well. If you haven't played it on another platform already, it's definitely worth picking up. Now that I've beaten Resistance, this is probably the game I play most on the PS3, and despite the faults, the multiplayer is a hell of a lot of fun (I have almost 20 hours on an MP game right now).

The amount of characters available (including those that must be unlocked) and the sheer number of extras (concept art, "wallpapers"/loading screens, videos, etc. will surely keep you going for a long time. And as I mentioned above, the game has a really clean look at 1080p. In fact, I'd like to get ahold of some of the loading screens to use as desktop wallpaper. I'll have to check the site to see if they are available, or I'll try and get some good captures from my camera.

Thanks. I'll probably go sometime this week to see if they still have it on sale. Is the MP basically online co-op? Or are there other modes?

Also, I'm not a huge marvel/comic fan but I do follow some of the heroes (but mainly the more known heroes; spiderman story, xmen, etc.). As you said theres a huge number of characters, many that I dont know much about. Does the game explain the background story on those more unknown characters? or is it just they team up sometime during the game with little to no explaination? Just wondering cause it could give me a chance to learn more about the marvel universe.

 

[PARANOiA]

I actually won a copy on 360 from Gamespot, although I have it on PC. I'm planning on halting the PC version so I can boost my achievements on 360

Overall it's fun, but it sucks having to play with annoying/disliked heroes until you can unlock your faves (eg Nick Fury vs Ghost Rider? Aargh!)

 

[ban25]

Is the MP basically online co-op? Or are there other modes?

It's co-op, although you can play an "arcade" mode where the best player for each level is rewarded with extra XP, gold, etc. This is how I prefer to play it. You can also save the game on all systems, so you can continue it in single-player if you prefer.

A lot of characters essentially just show up and the story tends to be a bit tongue-in-cheek, but there's a lot of optional backstory there if you want it, including playable "origin" missions for many of the characters (these are unlocked by collecting "simulator discs"). There's quite a bit of CG, though most of it uses in-game assets. Voice acting is decent -- Wolverine, Spiderman, Storm, etc. sound as expected. There are lots of NPCs to talk to in the various towns (hubs) -- the main ones are Nick Fury, Black Widow, etc. Some of the characters I've unlocked so far include Blade and Dr. Strange. I'll definitely have to play through again to unlock more.

 

[Bad_Boy]

Thanks for the info ban25, if I can find it for 40 I'll probably pick it up.

 

[wco81]

Hey when you unlock all the heros, how about posting the game save file on gamefaqs.com or somewhere else so people who just want to rent the game can play with some of those heros online?

If it's not competitive, it shouldn't matter right?

 

[patsu]

You can also check here: http://ps3gamesaves.net/downloads.html
They don't have MUA saves yet though.

 

[ban25]

Hey when you unlock all the heros, how about posting the game save file on gamefaqs.com or somewhere else so people who just want to rent the game can play with some of those heros online?

If it's not competitive, it shouldn't matter right?

That's a good idea. I just beat it last night (21:50 game time) and restarted another online game (haven't played SP yet, I've just been doing co-op). When you finish the game, it shows you all the various future outcomes (like one of those "What If..." comics Marvel used to run) based on what quests and side-quests you completed. I still had quite a few side-quests that I had failed (Jean Grey and Lilandra both died in my game, for instance), so I am hoping to improve on that the next time though. I also unlocked Nick Fury upon completing the game, though that still leaves quite a few left to unlock.

Some of the characters are unlocked by collecting action figures -- I have 3/5 for Black Panther and one for Daredevil. So far I've unlocked Nick Fury, Ghost Rider, Dr. Strange, and Blade.

There are also several alternate costumes for each of the characters (i.e. Storm's '80s outfit with the mohawk). I've unlocked all but the last (4th) outfit for most characters.