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Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2

EMAIL PRINT ps3

7.3 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 45 critic reviews
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Based on 16 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Vicarious Visions

Genre(s): Action, Role-Playing Game

Players: 4

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: September 15, 2009

Summary

The "greatest Super Hero action/RPG of all time" is back with the world’s largest army of heroes and villains in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2. Incorporating elements of the acclaimed Marvel Civil War storyline, the game allows players to choose their side and team up with revered heroes and villains, including Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hulk, Iron Man, Deadpool, Venom, Green Goblin and Captain America. Players can combine characters’ powers and unleash astonishing new attacks. [Activision]

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GAMES: Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Cheat Code Central

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 doesn't try to reinvent the wheel, it just tightens a few of the lug nuts.

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GamingTrend

Most of the time when I see a developer change between products, it spells inevitable doom or a watered down shadow of the previous title. In this case, I think Vicarious Visions has taken what Raven started and managed to not only match it but improve upon it.

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PGNx Media

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 is certainly the most refined game in its series (including its prequel and the X-Men Legends game before it).

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GameZone

A solid follow-up to the 2006 release, with great new characters and fusion powers. The game looks very nice and plays well.

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Gamer 2.0

In just three years, Vicarious Visions has taken a well adapted formula and created an enjoyable, polished and all-around better sequel. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 will give fans a reason to enjoy playing, and with the dynamic fusion powers, wide cast of characters, and the storyline based around the events of Civil War, there is surely something here to please anyone.

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Worth Playing

If you never played the original and the particulars of this title likely suit your gaming tastes, especially if you have friends who'll play along through the missions, by all means strap on your alter ego and get to saving the world.

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Game Revolution

Same great fun with some good tweaks.

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PSX Extreme

This is a proper sequel that was certainly worth the three year wait. It's not min[d]-blowing, but at the same time it manages to capture everything that a videogame should be: fun. And it captures it well.

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Gamervision

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 may play pretty much the same as Marvel Ultimate Alliance, but it represents huge steps forward in presentation and technical fidelity.

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Play Magazine

With less focus on micromanagement and a solid, cohesive story, there's a lot more action this time around for Marvel's action-RPG franchise.

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Giant Bomb

It's hard not to let the experience of the first MUA color the expectations for MUA2. By those standards, MUA2 isn't as exciting a game, largely due to the choices it makes with the fiction. On its own, though, this is still an enjoyable action RPG romp that makes good use of the Marvel Universe in its own way.

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GameDaily

Even though Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 may seem like more of the same, dig a little deeper and you'll reap its rewards. A great storyline, satisfying beat-em-up action, nifty Fusion attacks and a cornucopia of familiar and new characters make this a very friendly Alliance.

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GamerNode

A solid game. Nothing groundbreaking or extremely impressive, but very fun and entertaining.

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VideoGamer

MUA fans may bemoan the lack of change, and they'd have a point. Bar the Fusion Powers there's little new going on here. But it's still a fun, albeit brainless romp that's sure to please Marvel fanboys.

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Extreme Gamer

Vicarious Visions has made some tweaks to Raven’s little darling and it helps make the game feel more complete, however its nothing staggering enough to win over any new fans.

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ZTGameDomain

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is a solid successor to the original game, but not one that feels like it was three years in the making. Anyone who enjoyed the original will find enough content and fan service to keep them busy for quite some time, but anyone who grew tired of the original will likely call it quits long before the credits roll.

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IGN

In the end, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is fun at times, but it's nothing impressive overall.

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Game Chronicles

For me, the game didn’t really take off until the whole Pro-Reg, Anti-Reg debate kicked in, but even then I kept lapsing into these daydreaming ruts of gaming.

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Game Informer

The core action is top-notch, and the roster rocks, but the Fusion attacks and half-hearted story hurt the experience, turning a once great play into a punchless grind.

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3DJuegos

Marvel Ultimate Alliance is a solid game. We miss some kind of diversity in its proposal and more innovation in its core, but it’s a nice button masher.

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GameSpot

So while Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 may not take the series in a big and bold new direction, or benefit from the kind of refinement you would look for in a sequel, it does deliver the button-mashing, power-flinging, over-the-top action fans of the original would expect.

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Gaming Age

Overall, I did enjoy the game, I'm just a little miffed that it seems to be lacking in overall content.

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Game Over Online

The bottom line here is that this isn’t nearly as good, fun, or as satisfying a game as the original from either an action standpoint, a role-playing standpoint, or just a comic book standpoint.

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Gaming Nexus

Another solid entry into the Marvel Universe, this action-RPG gives us another dose of the tried-and-true four-character slugfest. Nothing overly exciting here, but entertaining all the same.

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Gamers' Temple

Ultimate Alliance 2 is not a bad game. It misses some opportunities to capitalize on its great story and wealth of character interactions; it didn't receive the presentation update that next gen gamers expected; and it doesn't make much effort in pushing the dungeon crawling action RPG genre forward.

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PSFocus

A nice sequel of the previous one, but the game got a few issues. The camera is annoying, it has repetitive gameplay and the audio is a little bit on the basic side. On the other side, has the game nice graphics and a lot of playable characters.

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InsideGamer.nl

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is pretty fun to play, but if you played the first installment, you could get disappointed. The game has a lot of heroes, but since you can switch between them whenever you feel like it, you won’t create a personal connection. The story also comes in short compared to the comics. However, it is still really cool to fight against all the different enemies, especially with a friend on the couch!

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Playstation: The Official Magazine (US)

It just lacks a certain freshness. [Dec 2009, p.78]

Gamer.nl

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 makes you feel almighty when you and your team are together, and the fusion powers make it a blast to experiment with different teams. It's a shame that the lacking RPG-elements and tricky camera bring the experience down. Fans of Marvel and beat 'em up games won't be disappointed though.

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Strategy Informer

Additional gameplay material, such as playing through training simulations, harder difficulties and the ton of unlockables promise lots of replay time for the Marvel fan.

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Vandal Online

It is an enjoyable game and a good option, specially if you are fan of the characters.

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GamePro

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 certainly builds upon the ideas of the original, but the minor changes make the upgrade seem more status quo than truly super-powered. It's still (mostly) fun to blast and claw through large groups of foes, but it's also much harder to overlook recurring issues when so much time has passed.

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Games Radar (in-house)

But it’s short on new ideas, with a fundamental template that hasn’t changed in the last five years. And in this brave, new, post-Arkham Asylum world, we need a little more than that to be really awed.

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Playstation Official Magazine Australia

MUA 2 is a compelling superhero romp, though the button mashing nature of play needs updating. Still, it’s an absolute hoot and beautiful to look at. [Dec 2009, p.78]

XGN

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is a nice superhero game which, despite the flaws in graphics and audio, still get's a good score because of the great gameplay and replay value.

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Digital Chumps

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 does its best to continue the pattern of marginal advancement in Activision’s line of superhero brawler/RPG titles, but as much as it improves in the process, it fails elsewhere.

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Cynamite

Fans will be drooling over the huge hero ensemble, but others may feel disappointed by the missing overview during the bigger fights.

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HellBored

Lifting an inspiring plot from one of the most popular Marvel graphic novels, Ultimate Alliance 2 just about avoids the pitfall of droll, worn gameplay that can plague most super hero games.

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GameShark

So the story is so-so and the RPG section watered down with limited development choices, weak voice acting and script writing.

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1UP

But ultimately, even though a lot of things about MUA2 aggravate me, the moment-to-moment gameplay of superheroes beating the crap out of robots/mutants/soldiers with fists, mystical hammers, repulsor rays, giant tongues, and what-have-you feels solid and enjoyable.

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PSM3 Magazine UK

A passable, if unimaginative brawler with decent co-op. [Dec 2009, p.102]

SpazioGames

Facing hordes of henchmen for hours unable to really give a challenge to those who sit in front of the screen is unlikely to find much support.

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RPGamer

For every step the series has taken forward with this game, a step is taken back. The brevity of the game cuts into the enjoyment one may derive from the improved graphics, interface and plot. The mediocre boss characters and fights almost overshadow the interesting changes made to the hero roster.

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Play UK

A poor sequel to an already-poor game, though with far nicer graphics. [Issue#185, p.82]

Playstation Official Magazine UK

There's nothing substantial here beyond desperate button hammering. [Dec 2009, p.125]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 7.3 (out of 10) based on 16 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Crash X gave it a10:
kind of a marvel buff, and ive been playing these games since X-men Legends 1. this game is quality. the whole system(though you need to get use to it b/c its refined from the last one) is tight and streamlined. they handled the Civil War story very well. not 100% accurate but the liberties they take are more than acceptable. now im not usually a basher, but Krit U's review is simply useless. dont listen to it. sorry bro but the things you complain about are simply untrue.

Carlo C gave it a7:
I thoroughly enjoyed the game but I felt it was short. The first one took me twice the time. I have not played the other side, but the game seems a bit short for me. I was nice that they put the sixaxis to use when you have to button mash for certain tasks since I have a problem with button mashing due to a condition that the meningitis left. Or else, I would not have gone too far from the beginning. Another thing I was somewhat disappointed on was the selection of characters. A few of them seemed so useless like Songbird, and Penance. I liked the roster more on the first one. Fusions were fun. The graphics were good. The audio was somewhat funny when it came to their voice overs. Overall, the game was just OK. I definitely would have wanted a longer campaign.

Rockman X gave it an8:
I been playing this game for a while now and I have to say that the game is very good. It is no Batman Arkham Asylum, but there is a lot of elements that makes this game good. Why I could not rate this game a 10 is because of the game play mechanics. After playing a game like Arkham Asylum, I wish there was more collision in the fighting. I could feel the hits in Arkham, vs in this game you could punch a character and there isn't much reaction. The replay value is very high however which adds to the game. You can probably get close to 30 hours playing everything in this game, and you have to beat the game once to unlock the hardest level. It does seem a bit glitchy as you can easily get caught between items in the levels and I wish that the action moved faster than it does. The fusions are nice, but a lot of it is reused, nevertheless it is enjoyable to use. It is definitely worth playing and even buying.

max g gave it a9:
This game is much better than the reviews it is getting. I played the firs one a ton (and am totally sick of it now) and I have to say that the improvements to this game are many. The story, action, characters, menus, are all very well done. The fusions also add a nice layer to the game. The graphics are much better than the first and the game play feels tighter and more fun than the first. The story is a million times better than the first and the new camera makes co-op a lot better to look at (now you see your character in detail instead of just the top of everyone's head. Do not sleep on this title - a must buy!

Krit U gave it a0:
I love the series and hoping I would love this one. while playing I don't even know where the character I'm controlling is, my enemies are, nor my allies are. The whole thing look confusing. I was gonna give it a chance for at least a few hours before judging it. But after 30 minutes I asked myself, why would I wast my time on this piece of crap? So I stopped.

Andrew P gave it an8:
I think that this game is great. It improves on most of what I found annoying in the first game. I have yet to get bored with it. The cut-scenes are slick and the story is really great (compared to the first game). All of the characters are fun to play, but I'm addicted to Juggernaut and Deadpool :-D. I would recommend this game to anyone that even remotely enjoyed the first one. If anyone is trying to judge this game harshly, yes, it has a few flaws (random video skipping/a bugged mission that finally fixed itself, etc), but it is just soooo much fun!!! I don't know if I'll ever be tired of it. That is, until the third one comes out :-)

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Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2

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