However, as you go through the game, there are a huge number of subplots, conversations and optional missions that you choose to take or ignore.
So as far as the main story-arch goes, there is a definitive beginning and end to the game, with a series of missions that you have to go on to progress. Shack: Is the player able to change the course of the story line at all? On top of the many main missions, there are also side missions, boss fights, puzzles and a ton of variety in the game. That's just one mission as a part of the bigger quest on board the Helicarrier to find your way to Nick Fury, get the Masters of Evil off the Helicarrier, and find out what Doom's true intentions are. As the plot unfolds, the player realizes that they have to stop a nuclear missile launch against the US that has been initiated from the Helicarrier. Matthew Paul: Well, at the beginning of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Dr. Shack: Give us some examples of missions that players will undertake in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.
However, we've got a lot of new RPG elements as well, such as being able to upgrade different costumes and the new MyTeam RPG element, which allows you to upgrade your whole team as you gain team reputation. When leveling, new powers are unlocked and upgraded.
Heroes in your team each level up after gaining an amount of experience. Matthew Paul: Marvel: Ultimate Alliance features the traditional RPG elements that you would expect. Shack: What kinds of RPG elements have been incorporated into Marvel: Ultimate Alliance? Cebulski to help us make sure the story stayed true to the whole Marvel canon, and that was a HUGE help. Actually, the toughest part was just fitting it all into one game.
Matthew Paul: It certainly was! With such a huge amount of material, we knew that making the story for Marvel: Ultimate Alliance cool and compelling was the easy part, as we could cherry pick the best moments from the comic books, TV and movies. Shack: Was it difficult creating a storyline that uses so many different superheroes? It's that kind of thinking that you need to put into every hero that you choose for your team. You may want to add a big bruiser like Thing when you need a tank to defend the party from another bruiser. You'll want one flying hero to take out the flying enemies. It's not only important to pick a hero for specific attacks, but it's important how you put your team together. For example, Thor can throw his hammer and Spider-Man can rope enemies up in his web snare. Matthew Paul: There are over 20 playable Super Heroes in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, and each have their own unique signature attacks that you would expect them to have. Also, what sort of powers does each have that makes him/her a unique play option? Shack: Tell us about the different heroes we can play as. And that's what you want to see in Marvel licensed games – a blow out of a huge cast of characters, a deep story and intense combat.
Although there have been Marvel games in the past, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is the only game with access to the entire Marvel universe – so just about every character you can think of is probably in the game in one form or another. There has never been a game like this before. It's the Marvel game everybody's been waiting for. Matthew Paul: Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is about being able to put together your dream team of Marvel Super Heroes and take them on an epic adventure to save the universe from Dr. Shack: What's Marvel: Ultimate Alliance all about? Marvel with me, if you will, at just how big this game is shaping up to be. How will the Wiimote and nunchuk controller allow you to swing Spidey to justice? Or maybe you're interested in the online options the many versions of the game will provide? To answer these questions and more, I had the chance to interview Matthew Paul, producer over at Activision on Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. Of course, out of all the systems the game is due out for, perhaps no version has gamers quiet as excited and intrigued as the Wii version.
There's a veritable orgy of Marvel heroes gathered in the upcoming title, and what's more, the game's due out for just about every system under the sun, so no comic book geek with anything pre-PS2 should miss out on this title when it arrives on store shelves. As far as widespread popularity and diversity goes, you probably won't find as many interesting and as large a variety of superheroes anywhere other then Raven Software's upcoming Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.