Marvel's Ultimate Alliance 1 and 2 are coming to PS4, Xbox One and PC platforms this July 26 in celebration of the game's 10th anniversary.
Announced at the San Diego Comic Conference (SDCC) 2016, players will be able to revisit some nostalgic moments from the previous titles as they rebuild famous Marvel hero lineups or create their own customized team. Of course, staying true to the Marvel multiverse that uses core groups like X-men, Avengers and Fantastic Four, will earn players bonuses and team advantages.
"It started back in 2006 as the successor to the X-Men Legends series, which was developed by Raven Software," explains Executive Producer Mike Jones in an interview, adding that the "Ultimate Alliance games went beyond just the X-Men," in terms of customizability, "and brought together superheroes from all over the Marvel universe in an epic action RPG game experience with a huge focus on cooperative play."
As mentioned, teams can hold up to four simultaneous player-controlled characters from each game's hero roster in either online or local area network (LAN) play. Not all characters are available during initial gameplay, however, and it is up to the players how they plan on unlocking the many heroes included in the games. As more and more characters are unlocked, players will be able to switch from one to another instinctively to further improve cooperative play — or just because they prefer one character over another.
In addition, amid the action-packed sequences and different team synergies involved, Ultimate Alliance is a role-playing game (RPG) at its core and thus, features a narrative questline taken directly from the Marvel universe. Different endings can be unlocked depending on how gamers tackle the missions and objectives, offering unique experiences each time the game is booted; this also adds to the game's replayability aspect alongside unlockable hero customizations that provide additional stats.
According to Jones, the games' relaunches are a product of an observed demand by players who wished to revisit the games on the latest hardware. While the games still stay "faithful" to the original design and gameplay, Marvel Ultimate Alliance and Ultimate Alliance 2 have also undergone a few enhancements to further improve performance, graphics and its related user interfaces (UI) for a much smoother and optimized experience on current-gen gaming platforms.
Both titles will be available digitally on the PlayStation, Xbox and PC via Steam stores for $39.99 each or the bundled $59.99 promo.
