Having played all the RPG games created by Marvel and Activision, the team has come a long way since X-Men Legends. In this game, Activision tries their hardest to perfect their engine and make a game that everyone will love. With the events of the first game, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, MUA2 comes in after the (comic) event of Marvel Comics Secret War. This game is all about the Civil War which pits Marvel's finest, and worse, Superheroes against one another to a battle of "join us or be placed in prison or the morgue." With this threat, Captain America has decided to make a team of Anti-Regrestration Heroes against Iron Man and thus the Civil War is born.
In 2004 I played X-Men Legends which was published by Activision and developed by Raven Software. That game had many technical issues and glitches were only on a "good day", however if you could get past that and enjoy the story, the game was good. A sequel to X-Men Legends lead to new possibilities, especially better graphics and also the problem with the talk mechanic that was used durning gameplay. While the X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse was supposed to have a rumored sequel, the game didn't receive as much positive credit like the first. Now with Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 having been released almost five years after X-Men Legends 2, the game has had few changes. With Activision having more than one developer make the game this has given the game a "thumbs up" in some of the graphics and movements. While some of the power moves used in this game were used in either Marvel Ultimate Alliance or the X-Men Legends franchise, the story of the civil war is better than anything else. With the quake of the Civil War, heroes are fighting heroes and villains are mind controlled by Iron Man to fight the heroes. So with Iron Man trying to register ALL heroes to the SRA (Superhuman Registration Act) Cap decides to go rogue and create a team against the SRA.
While I am disappointed that MUA2 doesn't follow the cliffhanger of the first game, the name should be "Marvel Ultimate Alliance: Civil War" instead of MUA2. However, while that was a let down the Civil War story is a good pick to turn into a respected game sequel. The problem with MUA2's story is that it doesn't seem to have been heart pounding action like the comic book. Instead the game likes to slow things down and brings the story to a slower pace for those who have never read the comic book. While the game stays true to the conflict that occurred in the Civil War the game almost makes a mockery of what the comic book stood for. MUA2 tries to take itself seriously, but then the developers add Deadpool in the game. As most know, Deadpool knows he is a comic/game character and will react with the player. This is called breaking the fourth wall, as stated in comics. Playing as this character is fun and how he reacts to other heroes around him is a real thrill, however at times it seems MUA2 uses this way to often to spoil future events in the game.
While the game does have it's bad points, MUA2 does play a tad bit better than the first game. Like in the previous game, you'll assemble a team of four heroes from a roster that eventually concludes to 24 characters, DLC will have 5 other characters for a total of 29, you will be battling wave after wave of robots, militia, and also boss battles in each level. It has a small change in characters from MUA with the exception of having a team bonus if matching up certain characters to the Avengers, X-Men and the Fantastic Four. Other teams like the Marvel Knights and Secret Warriors can be formed also.
Since MUA2 is based off of Civil War you will only fight villains for a couple of levels before choosing Pro-Registration (Iron Man's Team) or Anti-Registration (Captain America's Team). Once that occurs you will have a slight chance to fight against villains, however they will only be mind controlled thanks to Iron Man's team. You will still travel to iconic comic book realms like Wakanda and the Negative Zone, but most of your time will be spent in old villains bases turned refuge for hiding heroes. The game depends on which side you pick so you might be trying to defend your base or trying to destroy it.
Experience is earned by fighting, smashing boxes and completing levels your hard earned work can be used to upgrade your hero's abilities to make them stronger in boss battles that are really difficult. When not equipping other heroes in your four man, or woman, roster the others will still earn experience while not even in battle. A new feature that was not in the previous game. Other new features are, the ability to change characters on the fly without having to look for an annoying checkpoint and also the ability to revive a character if fallen. This allows time to be saved and more time to punch and kick your way to the end of a level. Just like MUA, MUA2 allows you to have up to four friends to play offline with you on your game, you can also team up with three strangers online to have fun fighting with one another about which side to pick and what choices to make.
Other changes have been made to the game like the ability to not find health or energy pick-ups and also the ability to earn special power badges while fighting in a level. A new addition to MUA2 is the ability to fuse ones attack with another characters. This basically allows you to have a different way to fuse 240 character attacks with someone else to create massive damage. There are three basic fuses that will depend on the characters chosen - targeted, clearing, and guided. Each will depend on your character and also if you have someone else in your four character roster.
MUA2 still uses the three-quarters perspective, but with a new look at the camera angle. Unlike MUA the camera couldn't be moved much and was a real pain to work with. MUA2 allows you to get a little closer to the action and see the details and/or map layout much better. Sadly the camera still has the problems with getting stuck behind a wall or tree while playing in game. The heroes are really chatty in the game, giving the player option to talk with other characters in - aggression, diplomatic, or defensive talk with a character. This shapes how you will look at the game and how each character will react to you. While the heroes do talk while defeating a villain, they use to many one liners to frequently which takes away a zeal to the game.
MUA2 runs better than the first and has a great story line to be played by any comic book fan. While it does have it's ups and downs, if you can get pass all of the long cutscenes you will enjoy this game a whole bunch. MUA2 still upholds the RPG gameplay and has done a great job at incorporating Stan Lee into this game also. With the Civil War on the loose, all I have to say is "Who's Side Are You On?"