Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order doesn't have the same staggering expectations its Marvel film counterparts faced by any means, but in video game land, the hype is about as high as it can get.
The short of it says it all: This is a Marvel game with 30-plus characters in a Diablo-esque format developed by Team Ninja. It's also a series that had a long hiatus and is an exclusive to the Switch, published by Nintendo and on the heels of the wildly successful Diablo 3 Switch edition.
Now feel free to loop in the rest. The Ultimate Alliance series threw together a diverse cast of customizable Marvel teams before it was mainstream and cool to do, with Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 a decade old as of this writing—and it still holds steady today.
This is more than most sequels ever have to put up with. Yet with so much at stake, the game succeeds by squeezing every last bit of power out of the Switch and expertly modernizing to today's video games, both in its systems and gameplay.
A replayable, highly customizable experience built for solo and co-op players alike—on the go or at home—Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is worth the wait.
Graphics and Gameplay
Much has changed since the last Ultimate Alliance game, as the Marvel Hollywood films were just getting underway. In the gaming landscape, similar gargantuan changes have unfurled. Chief among them is the progression of visuals and production values, which MUA 3 matches in stride.
The game is simply a looker from up close or afar. It leans hard into the comic book side of the Marvel Universe, with each hero and the surrounding environments getting a uniform stylistic look. It has the look and feel of a comic book come to life, especially once things get in motion.
And the sound design matches the visuals. The game doesn't project this on the screen in little visuals, but the comic book style thump and thwack sounds are all there as combat unfolds.
The music is superb to match. It applies on an individual level to the massive roster, too, as Nightcrawler makes the "Bamf" all over the screen or Deadpool "Pew Pews" his way through a fight. The audiophiles among the playerbase will notice the fidelity doesn't drop much in handheld mode, either, especially when experienced on something like an Astro A10 headset.
For those 100 percent out of the loop, the MUA series is a basic hack-and-slash game with RPG elements where players swap heroes in and out of a four-party tandem while working through levels. Players can switch to any of the four at a time and, indeed, this basic description belies the depth.
So too does the basics of combat. There are light and heavy attacks, a block and a dodge. Blocks, dodges and playing around stuns mean the later difficulties are much deeper than a simple beat 'em up.
Each hero has four super abilities, too. But few heroes feel the same. Spider-Man is agile compared to Hulk's lumbering ways. Those familiar with the Marvel Universe will understand that some heroes fight up close and personal while others are better off in a support role from range. The variety of team builds is refreshing.
Depth comes in staggering forms and as early as the game's opening level. Different hero combinations will yield different tandem abilities called synergy attacks, for starters. As in the past, it's fun to mix and match, and all four characters on the screen can team up for an Alliance Extreme attack.
Assisting the gameplay in a big way is another element from the presentation department—the banter. Different party constructions will lead to some hilarious interactions, within the party and otherwise. The voice actors do a great job of matching their big-screen counterparts, too. It's the little complementary things like this that really round out a positive experience.
Unfortunately, parts of this review could spur some deja vu from a decade or so ago. The game's biggest issue is its camera. There are two different camera options available, but neither are agreeable. Players would be silly to expect perfection, but there are simply too many instances of the camera getting stuck. It has a hard time tracking the player in all of the varied environments, and the gameplay suffers for it.
Simply tracking the action is the other big problem. These visuals are really good, maybe too good in some instances. All the particle effects flying around and enemies on screen make it hard to keep track. This problem is amplified in handheld mode, where craning the neck and squinting in an effort to keep pace isn't uncommon. Framerate hitches are noticeable at times when too much is happening on screen.
But these were admittedly anticipated problems. The format with the Switch has its drawbacks. It's still better than anything players have experienced in the past given the versatility of the platform and by no means makes the game as a whole a no-go.
Story and Features
MUA 3's story is background noise serving as an excuse to throw as many heroes and villains together as possible within a fun gameplay and RPG framework.
It should come as no shock to see the Infinity Stones involved. The game starts with the Guardians of the Galaxy serving as training wheels for the player as an example of how different styles of characters function in battle, and it goes from there.
Honestly, it's all a little silly. The colorful stones are a mere set piece to move players from one place to the next, shoveling character unlock after character unlock on to the screen. That doesn't mean it's bad, but players probably shouldn't go into this one expecting a tale spun from the same quality of thread the movies are.
In fact, though this might sound a little odd, it's almost more interesting to see which villains actually get to make an appearance. A superhero roster flirting with 40 or more characters if and when DLCs come out is predictable and leaves little room for heroes to miss the cut. But not every villain from these universes is guaranteed to make an appearance, so some of their reveals were the best moments of the game.
But again, the story here is a device, not the main attraction.
The more in-depth slant to the game's RPG elements deserves a closer look and sprinkle of praise, too. Individual characters can level up their special moves via currencies found out in the game. These upgrades reduce the cost of using the moves and make them stronger.
There's an entirely different menu with a giant spider web of stat bonuses to unlock called Alliance Enhancement. These impact whatever team composition brings into battle and makes for some interesting specs for team builds.
There is also ISO-8, an element found in the Iron Man canon and otherwise. It serves as a character modifier, and equipping different colors creates different specific bonuses. One, for example, ups damage by a certain percentage, but it makes the player take the same percentage in additional damage. While everything else mentioned was surely enough as is, ISO-8 is just another way to create player agency for the detailed ways players can spec out their builds.
Back on the overarching-team front, the four characters a player tosses into the fire have the potential for notable stat buffs based on classifications. New characters to the game, for example, are part of a subset group, and throwing them in lineups together buffs their viability.
Given these options, even the most predictable of Marvel builds (webslingers unite!) can have some fun unexpected elements. It should make online play and watching a stream all the more interesting given the layers of diversity possible.
There is a snag here in the RPG formula—grind. If players aren't diverse in their parties throughout the game's lengthy campaign, heroes who have remained on the sidelines will simply be too low of a level to help out if the party needs shuffled for whatever reason. Players can grind out modified boss strikes dubbed Infinity Rifts to grind out some levels, but it can become a tedious side tack quickly.
As a disclaimer, those Infinity Rifts will end up functioning like the endgame as they do in other games in the genre. It's where metas will be formed and speedrunning—touched on later—will come into play. It's just a shame the desire to create reasons to keep replaying stems from keeping benched characters without a way to gain experience.
But otherwise, the deep dive into the RPG deep end is a welcome one. Losing to a boss isn't just a case of trying again and trying to better learn the patterns and mechanics. It also means hopping into The Shield hub and tweaking all sorts of stats, if not outright team lineups, to up the odds of victory.
Unfortunately, one would think having the power to draw on the entirety of Marvel's backlog surrounding all of these characters and more would lead to some of the most memorable settings possible. And while some of the places players will visit are cool, the design within—namely the endless corridors—start to make many forgettable.
It doesn't help that there are a few puzzles here and there thrown in to spice up the journey. But the simplicity and the way they slow down the corridor sprinting makes them more of an annoying speedbump than a diverse experience that players will look back at fondly.
To round it all out, there are some suspension-of-disbelief moments and videogame-isms even here, which is funny given the context of the comic book world as it is. Some epic creatable teams that should be able to take on Thanos himself end up struggling against cookie-cutter villains solo heroes usually take down.
Even so, the Marvel license flexes its rippling muscle in plenty of mentioned ways and in another neat one via the gallery. It's a dedicated fan's paradise given the details thrown on to each character's page and the commentary provided.
Given Nintendo's history with online experiences, it is understandable if players have some hesitation here. But the servers seem to run smoothly so far, though the game does need some quality-of-life help. It seems only the party host can instantly change characters on the fly, and a speedster of a player can advance the story of dialogue faster than others, forcing a skip.
But overall, MUA 3 holds up well in a co-op setting or online. The pick-up-and-play potential marries well with the rest to suit all style and experience of players.
Speedrunning Tips and Appeal
Speedrunning has blossomed alongside the rise of social media and platforms like Twitch since the last installment of this series.
Naturally, MUA 3 is a goldmine for speedrunning potential given the current environment, paired with what it brings to the table.
Speedruns of past games in the series weren't uncommon thanks to the customizable experience. It's the same story here: Popping into a stream to check out how some of the best in the world are going about running through the story or individual challenges makes for a great viewing experience.
Diversity of game modes helps. There is the story, a new-game plus and even the Infinity Trials. Some of these sport time challenges, so speedruns with specific modifiers and teams are possible in these side segments as opposed to only having story speedruns.
The "how" is a little trickier. Typical speedrunning staples like skipping cutscenes and dialogue apply. Players only focused on the timer will quickly realize there are plenty of areas where they can simply run by enemies, too.
Team construction, loadout and skill investment is a whole different animal, though. Like past games in the series and others of its ilk, it might take the community years to deep dive and unearth the best possible loadouts.
On paper at launch, a robust one-two punch of a balanced character and a speedster makes sense for runs while dialing in points investment in things like vitality. Spider-Man, for example, is a good up-close brawler but can also hang back from range to assist in fights. His abilities can immobilize pesky enemies, too, leaving them open for big damage from others.
Players could swap over to the mandatory speedster like Deadpool—whose brief teleport seems quite quick—right after a fight is over to sprint through the next portion of the level as quickly as possible.
Given the current environment and what the game entails, MUA 3 shouldn't have a hard time carving out a nice subsection of a community that focuses on speedruns, which in turn will only further the game's longevity.
Conclusion
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is an impressive feat in the way it tackles its subject matter and style of game. Anyone can hop in and rough it up with recognizable or low-key heroes and villains and come away happy they did so. The roster and fan service is sure to be a crowd-pleaser for Marvel diehards, too.
Ever since its announcement—besides the obvious when it comes to the Marvel license—it was clear Nintendo's Switch was the best possible platform for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3. While some of the camera issues and difficulty seeing things lost in the particle effects hurt the experience at times, the Switch is a dream for portability and co-op play.
Like the heroes themselves, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 has something to offer literally all age ranges and slants, from casual to competitive. Immense replayability is the capper, and looping back through for a new story mode and leveling up other characters makes MUA 3 one of the more robust gaming packages on the market right now, which is fitting given the expansiveness of its cast, too.
