12-27-2006, 07:15 AM
Admittedly, I am a huge X-Men Legends 1/2 fanboy, so my opinion is almost assuredly skewed, but M:UA is friggin' sweet. The core gameplay is still the same, but they have added a whole host of new options that keep things fresh. Blocking is now actually useful in certain situations (namely boss fights), some enemies carry around shields that make them impervious to attack from the front (but you can grapple them and rip away the shields), some enemies also carry around weapons that you can take from them and use, the grappling mechanics in general have been upgraded so that you can now do attacks from the grapple instead of just throws, instead of X-Treme Tokens you now have 'Momentum' which you need to pull off your hero's "ultimate" skill which you gain by completing combos and killing bad guys, and potions have been done away with - enemies now drop red or blue orbs which cannot be stored (but any excess orbs are converted to xp instead). Probably my favorite change is that if you replay the S.H.I.E.L.D. Simulator (equivalent to the XML Danger Room) missions the enemies still drop money/orbs even after you have beaten it already, which makes replaying them useful for more than just xp.
Of course there are also tons of heros to utilize. Colossus, Storm, Wolverine, Iceman, Deadpool and Iron Man return from XML2. Iron Man isn't ridiculously overpowered anymore though (in fact, he seems to be one of the weaker characters). I still remember my Iron Man/Deadpool/Bishop/Nightcrawler party in all of its nano-second screen clearing glory with fond memories. Battles seem to take longer in M:UA than in the XML games, although with a few exceptions they still manage to not be tedious (if you plan on doing the Thing Simulator mission, be prepared for a snoozer of a solo fight with Rhino).
I must respect any game that allows me to have a super hero team of Thor, Spider-Man, Moon Knight (who is in possession of two of the more overpowered skills in the game) and Wolverine. Also, your team itself has levels now. About 1/3rd of the way through Act I you get to create a super hero team and as long as you have 3 of those characters in your party at the time you also gain 'Reputation' (the team equivalent of xp) from completing quests, defeating bosses (both of the major and mini variety), etc. Team levels let you increase the amount of xp your team gains, add extra slots for more characters (up to 6 additional), augment your team's damage, etc. It's a very cool system and really rewards you for sticking with the same heros throughout the game.
I also really like how the developers really made an effort this time around to throw in variation to the gameplay. The bosses in general require much more strategy to defeat and some even have timing-based minigames, the environments are much more varied and include swimming (complete with z-axis), puzzle solving, altered perspective battles and running from certain world-eaters.
Overall I am really enjoying this game and would strongly recommend that you pick it up if you liked the two XML games.
Of course there are also tons of heros to utilize. Colossus, Storm, Wolverine, Iceman, Deadpool and Iron Man return from XML2. Iron Man isn't ridiculously overpowered anymore though (in fact, he seems to be one of the weaker characters). I still remember my Iron Man/Deadpool/Bishop/Nightcrawler party in all of its nano-second screen clearing glory with fond memories. Battles seem to take longer in M:UA than in the XML games, although with a few exceptions they still manage to not be tedious (if you plan on doing the Thing Simulator mission, be prepared for a snoozer of a solo fight with Rhino).
I must respect any game that allows me to have a super hero team of Thor, Spider-Man, Moon Knight (who is in possession of two of the more overpowered skills in the game) and Wolverine. Also, your team itself has levels now. About 1/3rd of the way through Act I you get to create a super hero team and as long as you have 3 of those characters in your party at the time you also gain 'Reputation' (the team equivalent of xp) from completing quests, defeating bosses (both of the major and mini variety), etc. Team levels let you increase the amount of xp your team gains, add extra slots for more characters (up to 6 additional), augment your team's damage, etc. It's a very cool system and really rewards you for sticking with the same heros throughout the game.
I also really like how the developers really made an effort this time around to throw in variation to the gameplay. The bosses in general require much more strategy to defeat and some even have timing-based minigames, the environments are much more varied and include swimming (complete with z-axis), puzzle solving, altered perspective battles and running from certain world-eaters.
Overall I am really enjoying this game and would strongly recommend that you pick it up if you liked the two XML games.
--Mith
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Jack London
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Jack London