> Marvel Ultimate Alliance Wii Reviews <

[Shifty]

http://www.gwn.com/reviews/gamereview.php/id/1077/p/1/

The key difference on the Wii version, the difference that’s probably of most interest to potential players, is the control scheme. Having spent five hours with the game, I have to say that it’s mostly very good. The Wiimote and Nunchuck are used in pretty much every way imaginable, from a simple shaking of the Wiimote for basic attacks, to the Tilting of the Nunchuck for camera rotation, all the way to holding the B trigger on the Wiimote and Lifting, Lowering, Shaking, Swiping or Thrusting it to perform special attacks. Those seem to be the official terms for all the movements, so get used to them. The smartest thing the designers did was provide two ways of performing most actions. For example, basic attacks can be performed with the aforementioned Wiimote Shaking, or by pressing the A button. This is the default control scheme, no need to switch them in the menu or anything.

I say it’s the smartest thing because that particular move, the shake attack, is the least reliable of any of them. Sometimes it works perfectly, but a good chunk of the time it thought I was Swiping or Raising/Lowering. Similarly, the Thrust recognition was pretty spotty. Even worse, sometimes the game failed to recognize my shaking or thrusting movements entirely, especially during heated battles. The final straw, however, was when the constant shaking and thrusting caused my wrist to start aching by about the three hour mark. My solution: use the A button for attack, and hold the A button instead of thrusting. This was much more reliable and less painful.

Thankfully, all the other gestures worked perfectly. Shaking the Nunchuck to block or grapple people/objects was perfectly intuitive, as was tilting it to rotate the camera. Best of all was the special attacks. Rather than having to open a menu to alter the currently selected special attacks, all of them are available at all times. This makes it easier to mix things up movewise, and avoid being killed while you’re distracted picking moves. That about covers the Wii-specific aspects of the game. I found load times to be very short, and saving a game is practically instantaneous, probably because the Wii uses onboard flash memory rather than external cards.

In the past, I have only been able to stomach Action RPGs by playing through with a friend. That I can actually enjoy Ultimate Alliance solo is a testament to its quality.

Early adopters rejoice; there is at least one Wii launch title besides Zelda that is well worth the purchase.

Review by David Pettitt.

Highs
Intuitive and (mostly) solid motion-sensing controls; loads of super unlockable content; having Colossus pick up enemies and use them as a weapon.

Lows
Imprecise thrust and shake wiimote controls; poorly placed save spots.

Final Verdict
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is packed to the brim with heroic good times. It manages to be the least tedious of any Action RPG I’ve ever played, and the Wii edition makes good use of the new console’s unique strengths.

88%

Nov 19, 2006

Just a portion.

Will rent this, maybe Boxing Day purchase.

 

[Shifty]

another one

http://www.pgnx.net/reviews.php?page=full&id=12659

"Like the PS3 version of the game, the Wii version lets you use gestures on the Wii remote to execute moves. The system feels more natural on the Wii. You can shake the Wii remote, make upward or downward movements, or even thrusts to attack, uppercut, and charge attacks. Pressing the B button in combination with one of these gestures lets you pull off your superhero moves. Moving the nunchuk left, right, up or down lets you pickup and throw items, dodge, and control the camera as well as using the analog stick to move your character. You can do most of this by just pressing the face buttons. For instance, the attacks and special attacks can be pulled off with the A button. Nonetheless we found ourselves using the gestures most of the time on Wii, compared with using the face buttons on the PS3."

"Marvel: Ultimate Alliance successfully integrates Marvel’s cast of characters with Vicarious Visions’ established gameplay engine. The game includes tons of gameplay, a plethora of Marvel characters, a great presentation, and successfully balances the action and RPG elements, while letting players choose just how much they want to micromanage. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance has something for everyone: Marvel fans, those looking for an easygoing blast-a-thon, and even more RPG-centric action RPG fans. The game works very well on the Wii and provides a good display of the system’s controls."

8.5
Graphics

9.5
Sound

9.0
Control

9.5
Fun Factor

9.1
Overall

Editor's Choice

 

[jaydawg]

Wow. Thats better scores than the 360 version got.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

I got this today, haven't really played it much, what I have played of it, the controls are kinda difficult to work and they are spot on about them being pretty faulty.

 

[iambilly81]

ill be gettin this one for christmas

 

[Kritish]

According to G4 it wasn't worth the cash.

 

[Storm22]

Getting this for the 360, can't wait. Graphics for the game are better on the 360 too.

 

[Damiean Dark]

cant you choose your control method with WII games? i would like to play beat um ups with the wii/gamecube controllers.

 

[thedarks0ldier]

LOL, Wiiview... ok i'll stop with the puns, I am sure they got old about 8 months ago... sorry...

 

[Banshee]

I havn't been able to touch this game since the second week i had it. Bored with it. X-men legends was better, and the wii control scheme sucks ass.

 

[GoldenAgeHero]

I havn't been able to touch this game since the second week i had it. Bored with it. X-men legends was better, and the wii control scheme sucks ass.

agreed.


this is better on 360.

 

[jaydawg]

You say everythings better on the 360. Do you even have a wii?

 

[Johnichi Chiba]

I'm really considering getting this but only because I want a game with an arcade-y feel to it, and ultimate alliance just seems like a fun button-masher although I'm not too sure about using the wiimote for this.

 

[Proteus-X312]

I havn't been able to touch this game since the second week i had it. Bored with it. X-men legends was better, and the wii control scheme sucks ass.

I have no problems with the controls.If anything it could've been as long as the first X-Men Legends.I'm lovin' this game.Has any one noticed that Wolverine is dangerously overpowered in this game.I'm not whining but I once took out the entire Wrecking Crew with Wolverine.