What separates this title from the other games in the series (X-Men Legends, X-Men Legends II: Rise Of Apocalypse, and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is its in-depth, morally-based story. Otherwise, the only real difference is some tweaking (not always for the best) and a bit of gloss.
Let's start with the story. It begins in Latveria, where S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury enlists the help of a team of superheroes (that's you) to take down the elected prime minister of Latveria, Lucia von Bardas. Apparently, she has been misappropriating the international aid money that America has sent them, using the money to build a technologically advanced army, and eventually destroy America. Still, if it sounds like you're participating in international terrorism, it's because you are. After successfully completing the mission, Fury lets you know, in an off-the-cuff sort of way that your actions weren't actually sanctioned by the government, but that it's okay because it was the right thing to do. Oh, okay, thanks. That makes me feel better.
When the world finds out about this, they get kind of huffy that superheroes feel like they can just do whatever they want, regardless of any kind of sanctions or laws. Later, when over 600 people are killed during a super-powered altercation on live TV, a law is put through called the Superhuman Registration Act, which forces all meta-humans in America to register with the government, and become their police/military bitches. Naturally there's an outcry against this amongst the super-powered community, which causes a division between those who are Pro- and Anti-Registration. At this point, you are given a choice. Both sides do a good job of rallying you to their side, but ultimately you need to chose whether you will go along with the government, or become a rebel, living illegally as an unregistered superhuman.
I took a ridiculously long time to chose. I weighed the pros and cons of joining each side. Even now, after finishing the game, I'm still having reservations about my decision. Ultimately, I made the choice to register, out of an understanding about the concerns that the people must have about the presence of meta-humans. I wasn't comfortable with becoming a pawn and losing my autonomy, but I thought that joining up with the rebels would be more destructive to human/superhuman relations. As it turns out, the game doesn't have any gray area, and your choice assumes a full accordance with the side you've chosen.
For instance, after going Pro-Reg, my side immediately figured that because I was chosing to become part of the system, that I would be fine with the government using mind-control technology to force super-villains to fight on our side. When that happened, I was like "Whoa, that's not what I signed up for" but my only dialogue options at that point were to joke about whether or not their leashes were tight enough.
It ends up not mattering anyway, because once the technology being used to control them develops a mind of its own, all Registrations allegiances are dropped in the face of a new, more dangerous villain. While nice to have everyone back on the same side, it felt like an enormous narrative cop-out to have Captain America and Iron Man (the leaders of the two factions) saying things like "how could we have been so caught up in our own petty differences" after spending so much time trying to get me to invest in their ideology. The last two acts have nothing to do with the Registration, and loses all of its moral depth.
Story aside, the game is otherwise quite similar to the other titles in the series. The gameplay is nearly identical, except for the inclusion of "Fusion" powers, which allow you to combine the powers of two heroes. This combined power has the same effect as the previous titles' 4th unlocked power, in that it either does a ton of damage to one baddie, or clears the room of a swarm.
The camera is still brutal. It's limited, slow to react, leaving you frequently unable to see what you're doing. There were many times when I was trying to get away from a boss, only to have them run up behind me because the camera decided it didn't want to turn.
The characters on your team have a bit of in-game dialogue, which is just as lame as we've come to expect. Stupid puns and self-refential jokes make up most of the in-game sounds. There is a bit of a variety, however, depending on which team you chose. As soon as I became Pro-Reg, my characters started encouraging everyone I was beating up to sign up as well.
Quite often, there are also conversation scenes, where you have to chose how to react to what you've heard. You have the option of responding Diplomatically, Defensively, Aggressively, etc. This has no real impact on the game, except for, after 30 or so answers of one type, you get a rewards.
In MUA2, you can now swap in the middle of combat. I only swapped twice in the whole game, because I like making a team and sticking with it (Gambit (my primary), Wolverine, Spider-man, and Deadpool (Human Torch before Deadpool was unlcoked). Unlike previous titles, which have had puzzles that require solutions from certain character types, this game only had one, which was a vent that was spewing some kind of liquid. A couple of Iceman freezebolts later, and I was on my way, with my regular team.
The RPG aspects of the game are incredibly simplified, to the point where I was upgrading Gambit without really knowing what it was doing. Enhancing his attacks was easy enough, but some of the more vaguely titled upgrades, like "Staff Charge," weren't all that clear.
The game suffers from one big technical issue, having to do with saving. Even though you can save whenever you want, most information gets lost unless you move onto a new map. For instance, there is a "Training" area, which allows you to build up your abilities, and earn some extra rewards. After finishing one, I saved the game and quit, feeling quite satisfied with the shiny gold medal I earned. When I turned it back on, I had not only lost my medal, but the game also forgot about all of the items that I had picked up on that map already. You also have to sit through the intro to the map again, and there's no way to skip it.
Speaking of unskippable scenes, MUA2's cut-scenes were nowhere near what the rest of the series has offered. For the most part, the cutscenes are variations on gameplay, with only a few CG cinematics. After the badassery that was the climax of Age Of Apocalypse, I was pretty disappointed.
There is some redeemable enjoyment to be had for those of the nerd persuasion (and really, who else is playing?). Whether it's Stan Lee's cameo, the in-jokes (Spider-man asking whether his knock-out of a bad guy was more Amazing or Spectacular), or the post-game Hulk humour (he has a funny radio interview at the end, as well as a hidden sound bite of him trying to alleviate his anger by writing and reciting poetry, which he calls "Hulk-kus"), it can be rewarding to pay close attention.
Immediately after finishing, the game prompts you to try it again on a harder difficulty. There's a temptation to do so, and see it again from the other side of the struggle, but by the middle, it's all the same anyway.
Rating: 3.25 stars
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