This game was okay, but in the end a bit of a disappointment after the last Marvel alliance game. Perhaps it stems from the fact that at the end of that game Galactus clearly stated he was going to get his revenge on the heroes for what they did to him, well forget it as he plays no part in this game. The only thing connecting this game from that one is the mention of Dr. Doom being still held prisoner by Odin. I was so sad at this as I liked how the story progressed in that game, liked the idea of a sequel revolving around Galactus as a fight at the end with him would be one heck of a final boss battle, something that the previous alliance game and the X-men Legend games never really had. Instead they chose the civil war story from the comics and modified it a bit so that no matter what side you choose you end up on the same page for the last couple of missions. You start out in the game raiding the country of Latveria which is now under the rule of some crazed female who has been making weapons for some of America's more tech savvy super villains. This is followed by a couple of missions that culminates in the civil war as Captain America stands opposed to a new act that requires super heroes to register their identity and work for the government and Iron Man stands with this new initiative and works with the government to round out the rogue heroes. However, a much larger threat looms in the background that will make the civil war seem less important, I will not say what, only that I was disappointed with what it was as I was really hoping for a super villain to be the one behind it all and that turns out not to be the case. So what do we get in the way of heroes this time, you ask? Well you get a lot less of them than in the previous game which kind of sucks. The fighting is basically the same, however a couple of improvements have been made. One, fusion attacks are much better and easier to perform, and two strength is a bit more of a factor this time around. Still overall it was a step down. Also, the makers of this game clearly are not all that well read on the Marvel universe as for some reason Wolverine has his healing factor, but the Hulk does not. I am sorry to say, but the Hulk heals at a much faster rate than Logan and always has. In the movies when Wolverine heals he is doing so at the rate the Hulk does in the comics, Wolverine heals fast, but it is not instantaneous. Also, you read any cards with stats and you will see the Hulk is more durable than Wolverine thus capable of taking more damage. Though during a humorous exchange during the end credits they explain they tried to make it so no hero was significantly stronger than another. I really would prefer them to make them more based on their strengths myself and I am getting rather bored of the four team format. It might be great if you are the type who must play with others, but I usually play games solo and this format gets annoying when the other heroes are not attacking the final boss leaving nearly all the work to the character I am controlling. This game is pretty good though as it is fun making teams to battle through levels, I just wish they could perhaps make a turn based game one day that has more role playing game elements. That will never happen though as these games are generally made by American companies and Americans in general do not like turn based fighting. To me it is more strategic while the combat in this game consists of run up to bad guy and push buttons till dead, but to each his own. Maybe Galactus will come for his revenge in the next edition to this series?
