Huge Marvel RPG planned

By Tom Bramwell Published 28 April, 2006

More than 20 playable heroes due for Raven's next.

Activision and Raven have targeted virtually every conceivable platform with their next Marvel action-RPG - as well as opening it up to include much more than the usual X-Men characters.

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance will be released on all next-generation as well as current-generation platforms, handheld and PC, and will feature more than 20 playable Marvel characters including Spider-Man, Wolverine, Blade and Captain America. It's due out this autumn.

They'll combine forces in a game that - in an interesting twist - will not only determine the fate of planet Earth but also the Marvel universe, with a number of end sequences available depending on what the player does in the game.

That's "player or players", too, as Marvel: Ultimate Alliance will include offline and online co-operative story mode play - as well as a competitive mode that compares the stats of players and distributes experience points and equipment based on their actions.

At the heart of the game will be what's described as a new combat system, with players fighting in the air, on the ground and even underwater, using grapple, block and dodge moves, charging up powers beforehand and making use of objects in the game world and two-handed weapons to bring down their enemies.

Players will be able to customise the Marvel teams they build, choosing a name, icon and vehicle, and then establishing a reputation through gameplay, levelling up characters individually or all at once to maintain a balance.

And while the game is being developed by Raven, whose X-Men Legends titles have drawn critical acclaim in the past, the team will also be seeking input from Marvel Mangaverse writer CB Cebulski.

"Marvel: Ultimate Alliance delivers a new twist on action/RPGs where players' actions and choices ultimately determine what happens to the Marvel universe," says Activision's veepee of global brand management Will Kassoy, who's probably wetting himself at the prospect. "This coupled with the game's enormous character roster will deliver an action-packed experience that comic book fans have been waiting for."

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (5) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • itamae #1 6 years ago

    "action-RPG"

    One of the shortest oxymora I've ever seen!

  • Blerk #2 6 years ago

    Marvel-ous.

  • nickthegun #3 6 years ago

    I dunno about that being an oxymoron. As dungeon crawlers go, both the xmen games are pretty action packed in a 'push the same button 10000x' kinda way.

    Im looking forward to this already as I really enjoyed their last two efforts. And with the whole marvel cast to work with, there is potential for a lot of gameplay variety. Taking a whole squadron of fliers to the air or Namor and the like underwater could be pretty good.

  • Lagto_Soa #4 6 years ago

    Activision's veepee of global brand management Will Kassoy, who's probably wetting himself at the prospect

    And they haven't even announced the Wii version yet.

    (If piss gags haven't infiltrated every single comments thread by the end of the day, I'll be very disappointed)

  • morriss #5 6 years ago

    Sounds good.