Game Review--Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order (Switch)

"There is no escaping destiny."
--Thanos, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order


Disregarding the storylines of the first two Ultimate Alliance games, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 brings a large host of Marvel characters to the Switch as they attempt to prevent Thanos from obtaining the Infinity Stones.  Ultimate Alliance 3 retells elements of Infinity War in a way that features a far broader range of characters.  Although very little attention can be given to each character outside of specific scenes, Avengers, mutants, Inhumans, Asgardians, and others are present.  While the premise of the story seems particularly familiar in the wake of Phase 3 of the MCU, major deviations from the plot of Infinity War and the opportunity to play as both popular and obscure Marvel characters still make the game fairly unique.

Production Values

The MCU is definitely known for having lighter colors than the initial films of the DCEU, but Ultimate Alliance 3 showcases even more vibrant, diverse colors in both its environments and character models.  In some cases, the costumes look like they came right out of the MCU, but some costumes are distinct enough to be entirely new to players who have only seen the ones used in the recent films.  There are alternate costumes for some heroes.  However, they can only be obtained by completing optional Infinity Trials outside of the main story, and they have no ability to affect stats.

Competent voice acting complements the visuals well, and some of the more popular characters even sound like their counterparts from the MCU or some of the Fox X-Men movies.  The version of Magneto in the game sounds like Ian McKellen is reading his lines!  Considering the fact that there are so many characters, that the voice acting is not problematic is a very noticeable success of the game.  After all, there are well over 50 Marvel heroes, villains, and anti-heroes that make appearances.  In short, the overall production values are excellent, even if the gameplay is far more simplistic than that of many other modern games.

Gameplay

The most foundational aspect of the game, of course, is the cast.  Some of my favorites (as my screenshots sometimes evidence) are Captain Marvel, Ghost Rider, Psylocke, Spider-Man, Venom, and Elsa Bloodstone, but there are 32 characters unlocked in the campaign alone.  The cast is large, but the very limited number of attacks per character (each one has only a light attack, a heavy attack, four special abilities, and an ultimate attack) mean that the hack-and-slash gameplay is very repetitive.  Those who don't care about repetition will probably find the combat very enjoyable, but anyone who wants variety in the gameplay will need to switch out characters frequently to lessen the impact of the sameness.

Alternate costumes for some characters, as well as some characters like Elektra, are locked behind Infinity Trials, optional missions with criteria like time limits or dwindling health.  Some of these trials are first accessed by finding dimensional rifts in the levels of the story mode, while others are unlocked by simply progressing through the story.  The addition of Infinity Trials does allow for some additional replay value once the main game has been completed, but the potential allure of alternate costumes can't change the fact that the game is rather simple and repetitive.

It is worth mentioning that various character combinations are elgible for helpful bonuses that enhance team stats, like a strength bonus for having two or more anti-heroes active at one time.  The effects aren't always particularly noticeable, but they are still very beneficial during certain boss fights.  The bosses themselves range from human-sized foes like Mystique and Green Goblin to massive entities like Ultimo.  The move sets themselves are limiting and repetitive, as previously clarified, but the bosses are about as diverse as the playable characters.  Some are more challenging than others, but upgrades that apply to all team members simplify matters, as do equippable crystals and the aforementioned team configuration bonuses.

Story

Much of Ultimate Alliance 3 is just a series of encounters strung together into a quest to find the six Infinity Stones before they are acquired by Thanos and his Black Order.  This will sound very familiar to anyone who remembers the plot of Infinity War.  Despite the obvious similarities to the most recent Avengers films, the story goes in very different directions after the opening.  I will withhold major plot details to minimize spoilers for readers (yes, some of my screenshots do reveal things about the narrative, but these is no context, and these random reveals are just fractional parts of a game that is full of surprises).


Intellectual Content

Several key MCU films have at least touched on very crucial philosophical matters, but the constant juggling of the numerous primary and secondary characters in the game leaves no opportunity for any thorough exploration of any particular theme or character.  Anyone expecting this Thanos to have motivations or a worldview that are anywhere near as deep as they are in Infinity War will be very disappointed.  Actually, Thanos and the Black Order have very little time onscreen.  Environmental puzzles do occasionally await players in some areas, yet they are extremely simple, and I could see many players wondering why they are present to begin with.


Conclusion

Ultimate Alliance 3 is far from a flawless game, but it still manages to bring a very unique experience to the Switch.  The kind of person who would most thoroughly enjoy this game is someone who loves Marvel's many characters, as the major attraction here is not ultimately the gameplay or story, but the roster of playable characters and the references to the vast lore of the comics.  While the fact that the game is a Switch exclusive does limit the audience, anyone who owns a Switch and loves Marvel will likely enjoy the spectacle.


Content:
 1.  Violence:  The gameplay heavily involves non-graphic violence.  One of the most "brutal" scenes shows a Sentinel's head get torn off of its body.