2019's Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order is the third game in the Ultimate Alliance series, releasing a whole decade after the second. With Team Ninja and Nintendo taking over from Activision, the series was allowed to evolve into something fresh.
Ultimate Alliance 3 serves as a reboot for the series, creating a brand-new continuity and revamping its visual style. While Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 did manage to sell 1 million copies, the reception was rather mixed. With the Marvel brand being more popular than ever, it can’t help but seem Ultimate Alliance 3 was underappreciated and overlooked by many players.
10 UA3 Has An Impressive Roster Of Marvel Characters To Play As
In the 10 years between Ultimate Alliance games, the landscape of Marvel greatly shifted. Ultimate Alliance 3 reflects this change through its roster of playable characters. Classic Marvel characters like Captain America, Iron Man, and Spider-Man are all presents, but the likes of Miles Morales and Kamala Khan also make appearances.
Some of the playable characters have also evolved over the years, like Carol Danvers who went from being Ms. Marvel to Captain Marvel. With the release of the X-Men, Marvel Knights, and Fantastic Four DLC packs, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 has assembled an impressive 52-character roster.
9 Fresh Takes On Marvel Villains Make For Interesting Boss Battles
What are a group of heroes without a group of villains to go against? As the title of the game suggests, players face off against the members of the Black Order as well as their master, Thanos.
While they serve as interesting bosses in their own right, things get even more exciting when other Marvel villains show up as boss fights, now powered up by the Infinity Stones. These make for fresh interpretations of classic villains to fight like Green Goblin with the Time Stone, Kingpin with the Power Stone, or Ultron with the Mind Stone.
8 The Variety Of Locations Widen The Game’s Scope
All 10 chapters in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3’s main story focus on a different iconic setting from Marvel Comics to fight through and explore. The variety of locations gives players a wide range of settings and characters to interact with. There are classic earthbound locations like Avenger’s Tower, Xavier Institute, and Wakanda to explore. However, Ultimate Alliance 3 widens the scope by giving players access to cosmic locations like Knowhere and Attilan, home of the Inhumans. Even other realms like Asgard and the Dark Dimension are featured in the game.
7 Assemble Your Own Team In Single-Player Or Multiplayer
A major focus in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is the ability to assemble a team from any 4 characters on the roster. There are countless combinations of characters that each provide different team bonuses. Players can also perform synergy attacks by having two different characters on their team with compatible abilities.
This 4-character gameplay can be enjoyed in single-player by swapping between characters. There is also online and local multiplayer where up to 4 players can each take control of a single character. In an era where online multiplayer seems to be the main focus, it is nice to see a game with fully integrated couch co-op gameplay.
6 There Is No Shortage Of Customization Options
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 gives players access to impressive customization options. Not only can players mix and match characters to make their own team, every heo can be customized to the player's liking. There are several costumes to unlock for each playable character – some act as recolors while others completely change the look of the character. Some standout costumes include Old Man Logan for Wolverine and Ronin for Hawkeye. Players can also unlock a variety of voice lines for each character that can be triggered during gameplay.
5 There Are Extensive RPG Elements To Sink Your Teeth Into
Not only does Ultimate Alliance 3 have an impressive customization system, but it also has some extensive RPG elements as well. First, each character can gain XP to level up and increase their stats. Each character can also upgrade their abilities and equip ISO-8 crystals that are collected throughout the game.
These crystals serve a variety of functions and each have their own level of rarity. Players can manage or upgrade their ISO-8 crystals at the Lab, which also home to a skill tree where points are spent to gain permanent stat boosts and perks.
4 Impressive Voice Acting Breathes Life Into The Game
The worlds and characters in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 are brought to life in part thanks to a stellar voice cast. The game is littered with some of the most notable voice actors around.
There are too many to list here, but a couple standouts are Laura Bailey as Black Widow, and Nolan North who does double duty as Deadpool and Rocket Raccoon. The voice acting keeps the gameplay from getting stale as characters interject voice lines that can either add some needed comic relief or add to the intensity of the situation with a great quote.
3 A Captivating Story Holds It All Together
The impressive cast of characters and worlds in the game would not feel as impactful if it weren’t for the captivating story mode that ties it all together. While the game features familiar Marvel characters and locations, the story still finds ways to present them in new and exciting ways.
Ultimate Alliance 3 does a great job at introducing interesting characters throughout the whole story to keep players invested. One area where characters truly get to shine is during the story’s many cutscenes. These cutscenes allow for a level of meaningful character interaction that can’t be experienced during gameplay.
2 Extra Modes Help To Flesh Out The Game
While the story mode is the main attraction, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 also has plenty of extra modes that add much replay value. Infinity Trials and Gauntlet are two modes that present different challenges that when completed grant players special rewards.
Danger Room is an X-Men themed mode that pits two teams of characters against each other in a competition to complete challenges the quickest. The challenges in these modes can often be difficult, so it encourages players to keep playing in order to strengthen their characters. Trying to collect every reward from these extra modes is sure to keep players busy for a long time.
1 It’s A Celebration Of All Things Marvel
The amount of love and care that was put into Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is clear. The game celebrates all forms of Marvel media. Characters and locations draw inspiration from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel animated series, and of course Marvel Comics.
Ultimate Alliance 3 story takes obvious inspiration from the MCU’s Infinity Saga. Meanwhile, many of the characters are voiced by actors that have portrayed them in previous video games and animated shows. By embracing all these different aspects of Marvel, UA3 becomes an exceptional entry into the world of Marvel.