Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2

Cheat Code Central

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

Planet Xbox 360

With upgraded graphics, improved story features, new gameplay additions, and a full roster of fantastic characters it’s nearly impossible not to recommend this game as a full-fledged purchase.

GamingTrend

One could sum up my issues with Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 by the liberties that were taken with both the story and the characters. It's the only thing in my mind that keeps the game from being truly great, because the gameplay mechanics and leveling system are really top-notch.

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).

GameFocus

While Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is not as good as the first Marvel Ultimate Alliance in many ways it is still a game that action gamers, RPG fans and those comic book fans will love if they can look past its flaws. I have to admit I did expect more from this game, but it was a riot to play through from start to finish. This is a must buy.

MEGamers

Ultimate Alliance 2 does have some good improvements from the first game, but its pending technical problems hinder the game’s true potential.

GameZone

While the combat is a bit too much on the button mashing side, the RPG elements are solidly implemented and the different stories make for a branching experience that hardcore Marvel fans should check out.

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.

Kombo

No great leaps have been made, and its visuals may be sub-par, but Marvel's second outing has pulled all the stops to make us appreciate an enjoyable comic romp with a friend in its well-versed world.

GamingXP

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 contains a better story and is more graphically more stunning than the first part of the series. I had a lot of fun with this game due to the high number of heroes.

Gamervision

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is a lot like Marvel Ultimate Alliance; it just looks, plays, and sounds a lot better.

Game Revolution

Same great fun with some good tweaks.

GamesNation

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 combines both action and RPG elements together pushed by the wind of innovation and the ever so strong appeal of the Marvel universe. Complex but easy to play, it guarantees hours and hours on end of real fun.

Impulsegamer

In conclusion, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is a hideously addictively entertaining yet mindless game that revolves endless battles with enemies.

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.

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.

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.

GamerNode

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

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.

Da Gameboyz

Overall, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 is an upgrade over its processor and fans of the original will absolutely want to pick this one up.

Official Xbox Magazine

Lots of wise gameplay enhancements. [Dec 2009, p.65]

Official Xbox Magazine UK

Another great slice of comic book action.

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.

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.

Console Monster

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 definitely feels like the ultimate fan service to the Marvel fans.

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. It was really hard to focus on the story or any driving force behind all the mindless button mashing.

IGN

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

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.

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.

Meristation

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 is a great action game, fun to play and quite long. But it feels almost the same as the previous entry; Vicarious Visions didn't feel confident enough to create something new, and they repeated almost every aspect from Raven Software's game.

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.

Gamer Limit

Although it falls short of its predecessors, Marvel Ultimate Alliance II provides a solid experience that is more accesible to the casual gamer.

Games Master UK

A brilliant plot line is a mixed blessing in this better-than-average action RPG. [Dec 2009, p.71]

Gamers' Temple

Ultimate Alliance 2 is a step sideways for the series, but the game is still a button-mashing treat for superhero fans.

Armchair Empire

In what has been a really good year for comic book and superhero games, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is another highlight.

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.

Multiplayer.it

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 improves over the formula, but just a little bit from its predecessor. It's a good game for Marvel fans and players willing to play it with friends online or side by side on a sofa. As a single player experience, its gameplay may be a bit too samey in the long run.

MS Xbox World

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is fun to play and has some commendable features, however it feels like it's not quite hit the mark when compared to the first game.

Gaming Age

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

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!

WonderwallWeb

A decent co-op game which despite its flaws provides quite a few hours of fun.

MondoXbox

Even if Marvel super heroes are very popular, this game revealed to be a very niche one, mainly due to the inexplicable lack of any Italian translation even in the game menus, making it unapproachable by people without a good English understanding.

GameTrailers

Despite successfully improving on some of its predecessor's mechanics, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is ultimately bogged down by untimely bugs. If you can work through these issues, there's a decent action RPG hiding behind the mask. It might just be too much to ask of the average player.

Worth Playing

UA2's inspired story, backed with plenty of thumb-blistering destruction, can be fun, but by staying firmly within the lines, it ultimately keeps itself from mastering anything new.

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.

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.

TeamXbox

If you’ve played any of the myriad action/RPG/brawlers starring superheroes culled from the Marvel universe, such as the X-Men Legends games or the original Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, then you’ve played Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2.

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.

Telegraph

Its core template may be showing its age a little, but the overall package offers enough new content gameplay tweaks to keep the faithful happy.

My Gamer

As fun as it was to team up Marvel greats and take down evil, the game feels like it wasn't quite up to snuff with its predecessors.

Level7.nu

Team up with three AI characters or friends and fight your way through hordes of enemies while you level up your characters. The foundation is good enough to be entertaining even though it’s ugly, uninspiring and limited. Though the game contains a lot of faults and feels like it has been rushed together, I still return to it when I want to play something easy accessible with a couple of friends.

Vandal Online

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

Everyeye.it

A classic hack 'n' slash, with an RPG twist. Good for Marvel fans.

Strategy Informer

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 is a fun game that doesn’t push the boundaries, but does what it’s supposed to just fine.

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.

9Lives

This is clearly a game for the comic fans and the beat-em-up lovers. If you appreciate both, then this game might be up your alley. Extensive list of characters, different storylines and co-op make this a game with high replay value. The average beat-em-up lover however, will probably think the amount of characters and the hectic, monotonous (and easy)fights are a bit much.

Video Game Talk

While I enjoyed playing this game, it simply flew by (I completed my first run in just over seven hours,) and the teases of characters who make appearances but aren't playable were disappointing.

Cynamite

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

LEVEL (Czech Republic)

Intense action will address the superheroes fanboys only – other gamers will be soon bored by its repetitive course (and music). [Nov 2009]

X360 Magazine UK

A huge amount of fun. [Issue#52, p.91]

Xbox World 360 Magazine UK

A slow burner which eventually grows into entertaining smaxploitation. [Christmas 2009, p.88]

Eurogamer Portugal

Far from being a landmark in the genre, it is still a proposal to take in mind to the fans of Wolverine, Captain America, among others.

GameShark

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

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.

GamingExcellence

It’s just that the game fails to deliver anything overly meaningful especially considering that the groundwork for this title was already laid thanks to Raven Software’s excellent work in the past.

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.

Xbox360Achievements

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is passable at best. In answer to my original question of whether Vicarious Visions could handle the big stage? Well, I wouldn't say I booed them off, but I was definitely checking my watch for when the main act would be on.

Gameplanet

If you enjoyed previous Marvel games, you'll find more of the same here. Graphics are improved, there's a great roster of superheroes to play with and their powers can combine to produce new 'Fusion' attacks. But crashing bugs, simple repetitive gameplay and a lack of polish are its kryptonite, preventing this from being a super game.

GameCritics

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 basically accomplishes what it sets out to do, but doesn't move the series forward in any significant way, even feeling like a minor step back in certain aspects.

Eurogamer Spain

It's a nice game, but shows quite a few mistakes in some key areas.

Gameplayer Sweden

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is a otherwise solid action rpg that sadly suffers from lack of variation and originality.

BigPond GameArena

The game doesn't have the depth to keep the average gamer interested, especially not for a second round - even with the branching storyline.

Play.tm

A marked improvement over the first game, this sequel is really only worth seeking out if your Spider sense is tingling for more Marvel action. Otherwise, you may want to use your common sense and avoid.

Eurogamer

The new elements fail to meet expectations, but the bash-and-grind basics haven't changed at all.

Teletext GameCentral

Activision somehow finds a way to dumb down what was already an absurdly shallow action role-player.