First (Leaked) Details on Marvel Universe Online

[Geo32101]

Basic design elements were still being fought over just a few months ago.
By Patrick Klepek, 11/14/2007

Since we first broke that Microsoft, Marvel and Cryptic Studios' Marvel Universe Online was facing death, 1UP has received received a number of troubling game details that suggest why Marvel Universe Online has been, as one source put it, "in the ****ter for a LOOOONG time." The folks at Next-Gen corroborated our original story this morning, citing an additional source relaying the MMO's demise should be announced within weeks, unless something "drastic" occurs between now and then.

No one likes to see a game cancelled. Running off the success of Cryptic's City of Heroes (and Villains), Marvel Universe Online had loads of potential that may now never be fulfilled. Multiple sources have come forward to 1UP to confirm the basic details our original report -- the game is half a step from :-\ complete cancellation -- and one source very close to 1UP actually saw the game in action earlier this year.

Considering the project hasn't been publicly shown in any form since the teaser trailer at Microsoft's X06 event, the following constitutes some of the first-ever details revealed about the game. Our source viewed Marvel Universe Online while visiting Microsoft roughly six months ago and didn't come away with a positive first impression. "It reminded me a lot of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. Running at 5 fps," they said. "[The game] kept crashing and apparently hammered the h*ll out of both the console's hard drive and Live infrastructure."

To Cryptic's credit, performance issues are one of the last areas of development and single-digit frames-per-second could be an exaggeration. Most frame rate issues are ironed out in the last few months of polishing, anyway. However, the troubles don't end there.

As of just a few months ago, the design team had yet to decide on the game's combat system. Part of the team wanted a deep "Virtua Fighter-esque" system, an idea that's yet to be tried in an online game, while another faction championed one-button instant combos. In the past, combat in MMOs has largely been handled behind-the-scenes through stats, dice rolls and player-assigned assigned skill trees.

In City of Heroes, users were able to craft their favorite comic superheroes through the dynamic create-a-character system. Expectedly, our source tell us, you wouldn't have that option in Marvel Universe Online, and "there was bickering back and forth about how much the "real" Marvel heroes would play a part (you can't be Spider-Man, but you can be member #478 of his best friends club and follow him around all day), and scaling it for that many players at once was causing the Live team headaches."

Perhaps the most troubling sign for the project, however, is our source relaying that the keyboard attachment, pitched earlier this year to gamers as a way of chatting faster via Xbox Live, was "pretty much exclusively designed" for Marvel Universe Online. Of course, Microsoft seemed to realize the MMO was some time off and decided to recoup their losses and released it conjunction with added MSN support on XBL.

Link- http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3164400


Hopefully the game wont be canceled. :-\


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[Timstuff]

I wouldn't have been able to play it anyway so I don't really care.

 

[i-n-z-a-n-e]

I hope it's not cancelled i'm looking foward to playing it.

 

[Gregor]

A game like that seems like it has potential, but as another article pointed out, it has serious flaws even in concept. For example: what's the use of playing a Marvel game if you can't be at least some of the Marvel characters?

If you are forced to make your own heroes, but you can follow around and interact with the famous Marvel heroes as NPCs, is it really that much different than City of Heroes?

If the game did come out, would it be much different than playing Ultimate Alliance's multiplayer mode? Sure, there'd be more details to equipment and abilities, but it would basically be the same.

Though I think it could be possible to make such a game, I don't see it being a big improvement over City of Heroes. Instead, I would prefer to see Marvel expand the X-Men Legends/Ultimate Alliance line. If they produced another game in that vein (perhaps Avengers-themed, delving into the more minor characters of that team) with the right on-line support (i.e. new/updated characters, missions, areas, equipment, etc.) they could keep the good thing they have going as well as break new ground, rather than try to copy the success of other MMORPGs.

 

[GL1]

Who says you can't be Marvel heroes?

And generalizing one superhero game as being the same as another, especially based on a single feature, is as silly as generalizing two fantasy MMOs as the same thing because they both have crafting.

And they're different developers, so cancelling MUO has absolutely no bearing on or help for MUA.

And as far as similarities to other games, UA's multiplayer mode is not only non-existant on non-combat action, but it traps four, and only four, teammates together. Fun? yes. Unimprovable? Hardly. And in regards to City of Heroes, I've played it and there's plenty room for improvement. Think Everquest compared with World of Warcraft. If you can't see it that's fine, but it's certainly there.

I'd prefer, for the record, a ground breaking MMO that broke the standard MMO structures over MUA2...

But that likely won't happen... I wonder if publishers would even be bold enough to invest in a game that doesn't have the standard MMO classes, teamwork and level grinding...

 

[RED_Rider]

I'm pretty sure that the project is dead. Plus, there is no way on earth that Sony would allow Marvel to let MS make a Marvel MMO since it would become a PC / 360 exclusive and Sony won't allow it.
If the Marvel Universe ever becomes a reality, it will most likely be a multiplatform for PS3, 360 and PC.

 

[WhatsHisFace]

I'm pretty sure that the project is dead. Plus, there is no way on earth that Sony would allow Marvel to let MS make a Marvel MMO since it would become a PC / 360 exclusive and Sony won't allow it.
If the Marvel Universe ever becomes a reality, it will most likely be a multiplatform for PS3, 360 and PC.

Sony owns Marvel now? That's news to me.

 

[Purple Prancer]

Current development stage confirmed:

 

[WhatsHisFace]

I actually had a very hearty laugh at that post. Good thing all my roomates are gone... done with their damn finals while I'm still trapped here.

 

[RED_Rider]

Sony owns Marvel now? That's news to me.

I didn't mean that. Marvel is an independent company but monsters like Sony and MS will never allow a huge force like Marvel to go to either side exclusively. Even though Sony Online might be working on DC Universe game, I'm pretty sure MS won't allow that either. Not that DC or Marvel are dependent but because both PS3 and 360 want to have as many super heroes as they can have.
Plus, Marvel needs to have a steady relationship with Sony since they have movie rights to more than a few of their biggest heroes.

 

[WhatsHisFace]

I didn't mean that. Marvel is an independent company but monsters like Sony and MS will never allow a huge force like Marvel to go to either side exclusively. Even though Sony Online might be working on DC Universe game, I'm pretty sure MS won't allow that either. Not that DC or Marvel are dependent but because both PS3 and 360 want to have as many super heroes as they can have.
Plus, Marvel needs to have a steady relationship with Sony since they have movie rights to more than a few of their biggest heroes.

Once a deal is made, that's it. They are exclusive games, published by the console manufacturers. No amount of money could call for multiplat release.

 

[Apollo]

maybe they are waiting to release it on....... Xbox 3??