The first Marvel Ultimate Alliance was a comic book lovers dream game. With dozens of characters, four player co-op play, and lots of replayability - it was a sure fire hit. Now with the sequel on the horizon hoping to up the odds, we sat down with Dan Tanguay, Game Director, at Vicarious Visions to get the details of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.
Co-Optimus: With so many characters, people may be a bit lost or unfamiliar with some. Is there going to be any character backstory or extras for people to find out more?
Dan Tanguay: Yes, there will be. We wanted to create a story that everyone could enjoy. If players want a more straightforward action experience, they can get that. If players want to learn more about the story or the Marvel Universe, there is a sizable amount of backstory to absorb. Numerous audio logs provide critical pieces of the backstory, while hundreds of dossiers provide information on every conceivable topic, ranging from organizations to locations to—of course—characters.
We also have a strong community website (marvelultimatealliance.marvel.com), where we have tons of backstory on the storyline and the characters, so people can learn all about them before the game’s out.
Co-Optimus: The first game had team bonuses (X-Men, etc) - Roughly how many "teams" are there this time? Is there still bonuses for certain teams?
Dan: There are roughly 20 different roster (team) bonuses in the game. They are a mix of new and returning teams. Though we’re in the middle of DLC development, it’s safe to assume DLC will add more roster bonuses to the game too.
Co-Optimus: The whole Gamestop exlcusive character thing with Juggernaut has created a bit of animosity. In a game like MUA 2 it seems that characters can really change the dynamic of the game - so why limit it to such a small group? Is there any chance of seeing Juggernaut as DLC in the future?
Dan: I’m sorry to hear that Juggernaut has created some animosity in the community. Unfortunately, we can’t speak on our DLC plans quite yet, but I can tell you that we are always listening to the community and always will do our best to provide the best content and experience for them.
Co-Optimus: Are there any characters you wanted to use, but couldn't use, because of licensing issues?
Dan: We’d love to include every single character in the Marvel Universe in the game but we do need to deal with licensing issues from time to time. Regardless of licensing issues, I believe we have a strong mix of heroes that stays true to Civil War and delivers fan favorites. We’re really excited to see what players think once they see the heroes in action.
Co-Optimus: Other than Civil War, does the story touch on any of the other major storylines of the past few years? World War Hulk? House of M? Annihilation? Secret Invasion? Dark Reign?
Dan: The story in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 is inspired by the “Secret War” and “Civil War” story arcs. This game does not touch on any other major storyline. Once we started rereading all the comics and crossovers, we realized “Secret War” and “Civil War” were very rich already. If we had included a third storyline, it would have detracted from our work on the first two, both in terms of tone and production effort. Most of those storylines you noted could be their own game.
We also decided that this game still existed in the Ultimate Alliance continuity. We didn’t want to refer to storylines such as “House of M” that would create even more backstory for players unfamiliar with those comics. (As you noted, it’s pretty easy to overwhelm players unfamiliar with the Marvel Universe. Our dossiers can only help so much.) However, we did want continuity with the previous game, so we touched on the events of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance specifically, partly by starting in Latveria and partly through conversations and other techniques.
Co-Optimus: The art style seems a bit less colorful this time, as many of our forum users have noticed. Is this by design or just a case of bad screenshots? Perhaps the darker scheme was a choice given the Civil War subject matter?
Dan: The art style is a little less colorful this time. We felt our story and themes demanded a style that felt closer to a Modern graphic novel than a Silver or Bronze Age comic. That in turn compelled us to implement a dynamic lighting system in our engine. This creates more believable light and shadows, but it also makes those shadows more intense.
As we continued working on the game, we actually started adding more color back into our maps when it felt appropriate. So given the iterative nature of game development, I can’t really vouch for the screenshots either. :)
Co-Optimus: With the last game, some characters unlocked "alter ego" versions of themselves. Dr Strange could be The Blue Mage, etc. I was semi-disappointed when Venoms costumes were almost all identical - will we be seeing other alter ego characters, like Carnage for Venom, in the sequel?
Dan: We evaluated this, but we realized we couldn’t afford to make “alter egos” to the level of quality we wanted. We put a lot of effort into the production of the characters to the most minute details that making a new “costume” was no longer as easy as swapping a model or texture.
Still, I think players will be happy with the alternate costumes we decided to go with. And certain “alter egos” may appear in DLC, but I have to keep mum on that for now!
Co-Optimus: One of the great things of the original game was how varied the dialog was depending on which characters were in your party. It added a lot of replayability to the game - is this something we can expect in the sequel?
Dan: Absolutely. We loved this aspect of the previous game. Conversations will vary based on whether certain characters have a history together. They will also vary based on which side of Civil War you choose to support. So when other members of the Fantastic Four talk to Reed Richards at one point in the story, they get a different conversation than other characters. (I’ll leave it to your imagination what that conversation might actually entail…)
Co-Optimus: Approximiately how many different "Fusion Powers" will we see? What's your favorite one?
Dan: Each hero can fuse with every other hero in the game. That leads to a staggering number of fusion combinations. The game will ship with 24 heroes on disc. Between those heroes, that’s over 250 combinations. Once we factor in downloadable content, the number of fusions could easily top 400 combinations. Each one will have subtle characteristics representative of each character’s powers.
My favorite fusion is the fiery tornado. It will pick up any object in its path and leave a wake of destruction and debris. Gameplay isn’t the only reason it’s my favorite though. It was one of the first fusions we concepted, and it plays just how we imagined it. It reminds me of how proud I am of my team, and how far the game has come.
Co-Optimus: Will MUA2 players be able to play with a friend locally with another pair of players online?
Dan: Yes. We felt this was an important improvement for cooperative play. The game will support any combination of 4 players locally or online, even if it’s one player on one side, two in another location, and the fourth somewhere else entirely.
Co-Optimus:What's one of your favorite moments from the game?
Dan: One of my favorite moments is when players must choose a side to support in Civil War. We’ve kept the moment under wraps so far, but I can tell you why I like it. The choice occurs in-game. It really builds a sense of tension as you approach it. The feedback we’ve gotten from everyone who’s played the game internally is always interesting, and everyone has found unique, personal reasons to choosing the side that they do. Of course, you can always explore the other side the second time around you play the game.