If you enjoyed playing the original Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC, PSP), Activision has a treat for you. In a recent conference call, the company confirmed that it will be releasing a sequel to the game within the year. More on this superhero sequel in the full article after the jump.

At this point in time, you've probably read or heard a thousand and seven-hundred forty three (way to go, Mr. Exaggeration) reviews on Marvel Ultimate Alliance from your friends, relatives, and maybe even from that Captain Planet summoner guy from the comments section. Most of us have a thing or two to say about our favorite superheroes.

This game has been around for quite some time now, and it's available on a whole lot of platforms. So what's going to be different this time around in this review? For one thing, I've been MIA in the Marvel scene ever since they started mixing things up with parallel dimensions, time shifts, and the whole idea of Jean Grey with her now-dead-now-alive-then-resurrected-after-getting-killed-twice (ad infinitum) plot development. Meh.

Tedious thing, trying to keep track of the story line in the comics, and so, this review is coming from the perspective of someone trying to go back to his roots. I'd want to get in touch with the Marvel universe once again and safe to say, I'm pretty much satisfied with this game (developed by Raven - the same guys responsible for X-Men Legends) as a reintroduction to the Stan Lee club.

Before anything though, let's get the usual stuff over with first: graphics, controls, the works. This being in the PS3 blog, do know that we're reviewing the PS3 version here. You can skip this part if you've played the game already... or not. This is where I talk about the stuff that you can either directly see, hear, or interact with.

Superheroes in tights - video games and eye candy:

First impression, of course, would have to be the opening cinematic of the game. By god, it's nothing but a cinematic in every sense. More cinematic than seeing Eric Bana turn green in front of a bathroom sink. Graphics aside, the video pits you right in the thick of things - in media res, as they say - and flip you with all the explosions to get your heart pumping and screaming "C'mon, man! Just let me play already!" But then, of course, exciting as it might be, you definitely wouldn't want to skip the cinematic. It's cool like that: 1080p is love.

More of the review - and the eventual conclusion of my return to my superhero fandom roots - behind the "Full Article" link. And we promise: no parallel universes and iffy time lines.

Activision's Marvel Ultimate Alliance is already in stores, and this video should convince anybody else who hasn't gotten the game to go and get it now.

• 1080p. You can really see the details on a character - the skin (er, rock) of the Thing, the sheen off Iron Man and off Wolverine's claws. The experience is really realistic. Objects really pop out of the screen in a way that's never been seen before.
• A true gaming experience. Thrilling, immersive, and so believable. The graphics are every hardcore gamer's dream - and with the best heroes the Marvel Comics universe can offer - *faints* my heart can only take so much. It looks like a movie, and when you play it, you ARE THE MOVIE. Amazing. In 1080p splendor... *brain explodes*
  
• Sixaxis. The Sixaxis tilt/sensor features are also used in the game. There are scenes like the Galactus fight where the movement of your Sixaxis controls the movement of your hero (in the Galactus fight, you use Silver Surfer, of course).

There are also five bonus villain missions - because it's more fun to play the bad guy.

We'll update these download links as soon as we can so you can get the MOV files.

Activision announced today that their launch games for both the Wii and PS3 have shipped to retail stores nationwide and are already up for grabs. The following games from the company's lineup are now in stores:

• Tony Hawk's Project 8 (PS3, Xbox360)
  
• Call of Duty 3 (Wii, PS3)
  
• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Wii, PS3)
  
• Tony Hawk: Downhill Jam (Wii, DS)
  

The company will also be releasing two more Wii titles on November 22nd, Rapala Tournament Fishing and World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions.

Yeah, we know, these games would mean absolutely nothing without the consoles, but wouldn't you want to get a head start before everyone starts flocking to stores for these games? And for the lucky few who already have their Wii's and PS3's, go grab these games now! (Or maybe after you're done drooling over your beautiful consoles...?)

Aside from being all published by Activision, what else do Call of Duty 3 (PS3, X360, Wii), Marvel Ultimate Alliance (PS3, X360, Wii) and Tony Hawk Project 8 (PS3, X360, Wii) have in common? Nope, it's not that these games are slowly becoming bad ports of of each other. The answer we were looking for is that they will all be available the moment the PS3 launches.

On a related matter, Activision just held its second quarter financial conference call and guess what? They reported that all three games will also launch together with the console in Europe by March. If memory serves right, this is the first confirmation we've reported when it comes to PS3 European launch titles.

This is rather good news for our friends there as the delay seems to bring Sony into getting its acts finally together. While Europe have to wait for four long, agonizing months, it is just 11 more days to go for the North American Market. We'll try to get all games as possible and we'll gladly share them with you. How about you, what titles are you planning to pick up?

Buy: [Call of Duty 3 (PS3)]
Buy: [Marvel Ultimate Alliance (PS3)]
Buy: [Tony Hawk Project 8 (PS3)]

Look, the game has hit the stores. But some of us don't have it yet. So to tide us over, here's a Marvel: Ultimate Alliance video. Dubbed the "Smash Em Bash Em Gameplay HD", this vid (from October 24) has the smashing and bashing. If you want, we also posted the video after this: the October 25 Marvel: Ultimate Alliance "Behind the Scenes Featurette" (although there was nothing "ette" about that; it was big on action and news and Deadpool and Captain America and Stan Lee goodness).

As for this "Smash Em Bash Em" vid, it's one of the better gameplay videos we've seen, even though it's old.

1. The menu where you select your characters. It's a small auditorium where the heroes are standing (and/or floating) around in dramatic poses. Choose your warriors and head on to the mission.
2. Teamwork in action. Watch the team go in and beat some bad guys. Combo moves.
3. Fing Fang Foom.
4. A whole bunch of our favorite heroes. We were too busy fainting like little girls at the heroes and the amazing way their powers, poses, and coolest moves have been transformed into a good game. Don't believe us? Ask the Xbox 360 people.
   

Come to think of it, even QJ's resident "Justice League Unlimited" fanboy wrote an article about this game.

The Wii fanboys here are getting it for the Wii (launch title, November 19), the PS3 fanboys are getting it for the PS3 (launch title, November 17), and the sweaty-palmed Xbox 360 fanboys are not going to let any of the others play... (if you haven't been paying attention, it already hit the stores). And spread the word to your PSP and DS buddies to expect it, too - Nov. 7 for the PSP and Dec. 4 for the DS.

Finally, since I haven't been lucky enough to get my hands on the Xbox 360 controller, if any of you out there has already tried this game, do share what you're thinking. That's what the comments system is for, hehe.

Pre-order: [Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for PS3]
Pre-order: [Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for Wii]
Buy: [Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for Xbox 360]

What happens when you go behind the scenes to find out more about a superhero's life? If said superhero was still working for the government (*ehemCaptainAmericaehem*), you'd probably die from some well-orchestrated hunting accident. It's a good thing we've got all these heroes under the employ of a giant commercial enterprise now, because you can be sure they won't have anything to hide from us.

So, what's in store for this new video of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance? You get to see a lot of fun gameplay portions, but you also get to hear from the developers about what it took to make the game and who their favorite characters are. Even more exciting is their discussion of some of the characters who aren't as well known in Marvel's universe, as well as some folks you've always wanted to see in a game, such as Deadpool, Blade, Ghost Rider, and the Black Panther. You'll also get a sneak peak at some of the alternate costumes of these guys, though Ghost Rider looked like he was wearing a pink robe in one of them.

Needless to say, if you love comics and action games, then Raven Software and Activision have made something every fanboy can be happy with, whether it be PS3, Xbox 360 or Wii. As for me, I intend to get a copy and play my dream team: Spider-Man, Iron Man, Colossus and Ghost Rider. How about you?



Pre-order: [Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for PS3]
Pre-order: [Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for Wii]
Buy: [Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for Xbox 360]

San Francisco turned into PS3 Central for the entirety of Gamers' Day as everyone got their hands on playable PS3 demos and game media outlets everywhere got their hands on those gameplay clips. Of course, for those of us who are not so lucky to be there, in the middle of all the action, we've had to settle for waiting for the latest news from that day, and to watching the action play out in our PC screens.

It's not that bad, really. It gives us another good look at exactly what Sony's baby can do - playing games and showing clips from Stranglehold, Ridge Racer 7, Call of Duty 3, and more. We're now going to go through the "more" part, this time with four clips from Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07, Madden NFL 07, NBA 2K7 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Gee, there goes our original intent of making this a sports-centric article.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07


More videos await after the jump!

Okay, we all know that when comic book characters change costumes it's usually to hype sales. Yeah, the writers will say it's because the story requires the characters to change duds, and the artists would say that the publisher just gave him an ok to exercise their creativity... or something. Still they can't deny the fact that whenever Spider-man changes from blue and red spandex to black symbiotic goo or red and yellow metallic alloy, reader buzz is generated.

Sequential art readers like stuff like that. Change every now and then is welcome.

Well, Activision's Marvel Ultimate Alliance has a similar treat for gamers. You get to change your characters costumes. Yay. whoop-dee-doo. Well, IGN claims that the costume change is not only cosmetic, but also functional. Performance will be affected, or so IGN says. So black Spidey really is physically stronger? Well, we'll have to wait for the game I guess. Good thing that the release is about a week away.

Given this historic (nostalgic) assortment of alternate costumes for the playable characters, and the inclusion of a healthy amount of notable non-playable characters, this game is set to be an action packed tour through Marvel-verse lore.

Read the full article to get a whole truckload of images of the good Doctor Strange, Storm, Cap, Spidey, Wolvie, and Thor in their different costumes.

As the countdown for the release of the PS3 and the Wii closes in by the day, some of the the people over at Raven Software have put together a short trailer to show how their game, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, will be played on the PS3.

Featuring a whole array of characters from the Marvel Universe, players will be able to take command of their favorite heroes. With a selection that includes Captain America, Elektra, Luke Cage, Thor, and Warbird to name a few, one will have to go up against the forces of Dark Phoenix, Galactus, Enchantress, Ultron, Doctor Doom, and many others. So will good prevail? It's all up to you.

One interesting thing about this video is how it shows the player having to tilt, raise, and lower the SIXAXIS in order to execute his heroes' moves. Don't get me wrong. We know that the PS3 controller boasts of its tilt sensors and all, but doesn't this look a little uncomfortable? Considering that the SIXAXIS already has numerous buttons to begin with, unlike the bare-essentials design of the Wiimote, will the player have to mash those buttons AND move the controller in order to play this game?

I suppose we'll all find out once Ultimate Alliance gets released by November 17 as a release title for the PS3, so in the meantime, let's enjoy some eye candy.

Download: [Marvel: Ultimate Alliance official trailer for the PS3]