Even an open-minded player with a variety of experiences will not find his way into Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 unless he is particularly fond of the famous comic book publisher. The rather repetitive gameplay, the scenario that does not fly high and the dated technical aspect indeed require a certain dose of indulgence, of which only the fans are capable. On the other hand, the latter will necessarily appreciate being able to form the team of their dreams and to combine the powers of the different heroes selected. The presence of iconic places and many villains will also charm them. And they will appreciate the adventure even more if they find another adept to play in cooperation. In summary: the game ensures fan-service level, but it never goes beyond!
THE TEST
Released respectively in 2006 and 2009, the first two parts of the Marvel Ultimate Alliance series are finally entitled to a suite. This time it is a Nintendo exclusive, developed by Team Ninja for the Switch. The principle is always that of an ultimate crossover, which seeks to bring together the greatest superheroes and villains of the Marvel team. From this point of view, it is unquestionably successful. But for the rest, there is not really enough to shout to the genius.
Cross-over forces (moreover in a universe of superheroes), do not look for a great consistency or even depth in the game scenario. The adventure revolves around a hunt for stones of the Infinite, coveted by a little everyone for their immense cosmic power. The player must recover them one by one, and fight many opponents in passing. Whether on the side of heroes or villains, no one really dies during these clashes, and the stakes seem ultimately poor. But let’s pass on the relative inanity of the scenario, because Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is primarily an action game.
The fights use a system of fast attacks and powerful attacks, which allow to accumulate points of energy needed to trigger special moves, called techniques. So much for the base. But the simultaneous control of four heroes opens the way for combinations of attacks. These synergies can be triggered when two heroes are close enough, the game automatically proposing the right combination according to the attributes of each character (melee, ray, grenade, fire ….).
History to push the show even further, an annex gauge allows to launch extreme attacks, which correspond to the most powerful blow of each hero. And here again the cooperation is in order, since one can realize simultaneously several extreme attacks in order to obtain, according to the number of characters involved, an “extreme Alliance”, an “Extreme Super-Alliance” and even, take care , an “Ultimate Extreme Alliance”. All that does not seem very foolish, but in reality it is important to trigger these attacks at the right time. Some enemies are equipped with an endurance gauge, which must be emptied to unbalance them and make them a little more vulnerable for a few moments. And that’s not all.
As if he was trying to refute his nagging side, the game also uses a system of characteristics for each hero (strength, durability, control, resistance, vitality and energy), technical points to improve special moves, tree to unlock general improvements, and even ” ISO-8 “crystals to equip to get some bonuses. Not enough to compete with a real action-RPG, but it is still necessary to look into these aspects when you want to tackle the adventure in difficult mode. To equip to get some bonuses. Not enough to compete with a real action-RPG, but it is still necessary to look into these aspects when you want to tackle the adventure in difficult mode. To equip to get some bonuses. Not enough to compete with a real action-RPG, but it is still necessary to look into these aspects when you want to tackle the adventure in difficult mode.
THEY CAME, THEY ARE ALL HERE
The main advantage of the game is of course its casting foolproof, since over the fighting, the player has continued to expand the circle of available heroes. We start smoothly with the Guardians of the galaxy, who are quickly joined by … Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, Wolverine, Captain Marvel, Daredevil, Wasp, Hawkeye , Dead pool, Ghost Rider, Strange Doctor, Storm, Black Panther and many more! On the side of the enemies, Marvel fans are also spoiled as they can count on the presence of Sandman, Green Goblin, Venom, Electro, Mysterio, Doctor Octopus, Kingpin, Ultron, Loki, Red Skull and even Thanos. The fan-service also concerns the levels that we walk, since we find the tower of the Avengers, the Manor X, Attilan, Wakanda or Asgard. Even if the developers have kept some characters under the elbow for future paid downloadable content, the proposal remains very honest.
The most pleasant thing is to be able to compose his team of four characters absolutely as we understand it. Small “union bonuses” (for example a few points of strength or energy in addition) are still granted to more or less homogeneous formations. Naturally, the Avengers or the X-men will be grouped together, but other teams that are a little less expected are also viable. Thus, the combinations of “femme fatales”, of “Rigolos of service” or “Weavers canvas” also work very well. In order to overcome the profusion of possible combinations, the game sometimes allows display and talk about characters other than those chosen for certain cinematic sequences. We will not hold it against him. On the other hand, it will be a little grayer mine before the overall appearance of the game.
MARVELOUS BUT NOT MERVEILLEUX
Apart from some relatively nice and impressive boss fights, the corridors levels (sometimes literally), the small puzzles ultra-basic and untimely, and the graphics of another time (barely made up by a touch of cel-shading and special effects often explosive) take us back almost ten years. The worst is the camera which, literally and figuratively, goes in all directions. First of all, it is possible to choose in the options between a “simple camera” and a “heroic camera”, closer to the action.
This is clearly an admission of helplessness on the part of the developers, who have failed to find a good compromise. Then the camera keeps changing styles over the levels, without warning. Some passages are in top view, others in profile, sometimes we can freely control it, and other times an angle is imposed on us. All this evokes confusion more than healthy variety. Especially that it happens from time to time that the camera goes to put in an inappropriate corner or prevents us from seeing a precise place (if one of your heroes fell in the combat in this blind spot, good luck to revive it …).
Good point on the other hand for the possibility of playing in coop, whether online, locally with multiple consoles, or on a single switch with several controllers. The game is also much more fun for many, whether to survey the single player campaign or browse the “flaws of the infinite”, which are bonus missions with special rules (replay boss combat with more powerful synergistic attacks and decreased classic attacks, survive waves of enemies, etc.). In the end, all this will not be enough to excite a classic player, but fans of Marvel will get their money’s worth. You can read more reviews and see game tips and news at Club Penguin Hero.
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