Video: 7 Minutes Of New Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order Gameplay

I really want to like this, but...it just looks a bit too basic. Just wander around small enclosed spaces button bashing various flash ability with no real heft or nuance? I dunno. Maybe it'll be more fun than it looks but so far I'm really not feeling it.

Looks excellent, as expected.

This game is getting lots of love and attention from outside the fanbase. GameInformer plastering on their front page, and a number of people I've read say they're buying a system for this game. Been doing great in the Amazon charts also. Much better than I initially expected.

Ooh, nice to see it start off with GotG. Overall, this looks like a good one.

@SegaBlueSky Exactly how I feel at the moment. I'll wait for reviews but at the moment it seems like Hyrule Warriors - a huge amount of characters and content but not much depth.

Sorry but that looks like a free to play mobile game. Absolutly nothing special.

Screams in Marvel Fangirl

Looks amazing. What an exclusive. Superb. Cannot wait. Looking forward to full character list and possible DLC.

Looks decent enough, I guess.
I do like the gameplay of Scarlet Witch, though. Other characters they shown are a bit... blah? (my opinion, though)

I wonder how things will work when playing solo as well. Do I have to keep switching from one character to another all the time? Will the AI be good enough to survive without switching?

Nevertheless, still looking forward in this game. I have good hopes, so far.

"Game Informer highlights the possibility of some of the visual effects being toned down, for instance"
I can't watch the video at the moment, but how did they come to this conclusion?

Looks great so far. I loved X-men legends one and two, and the first Ultimate Alliance. Never got around to playing the second one, but definitely picking this up.

MCU inspired? Does that mean some of the cool niche characters that never had any screen time probably won't even make the roster? Was hoping for favs like Moon Knight, She-Hulk, & Tigra

As someone who prefers comics over the movies I'm not feeling this one so far.

Hmm. I might cancel my preorder & wait for reviews & a steep price drop. That video put a damper on the hype I had.

@Trellgoth it looks similar to the older two - the AI kinda matches your ability: rarely do they die before you but when they do get in trouble you can use Medipacks - (I haven’t played in a while so my memory might be sketchy) That was my experience- you swap between the characters when you need their special abilities. (You can swap whenever you like but occasionally you have to change)

First two were loads of fun. Like The Turtles arcade game mixed with RPG elements. I really liked them. This looks very very similar

Looks pants. Hopefully, that is due to video compression etc and the final product looks more engaging.

Looks similar to a iOS mobile game. Marvel warriors

@Stocksy I kind of remember playing the second one on the... I think on the Wii?... for a short time. Think they were fun but can't remember much of it as it was a very long time ago...

But as a Marvel fan, I kind of need to have this one in the collection. So far the game looks decent enough.

The thing that gets me is that while Arena of Valor (to compare) has an extremely limited moveset for each character (three abilities each + passive) the game is much more engaging and intuitive because of the equipment you buy that grants different buffs and passive effects. In short, there's far more going on in AoV in terms of strategy and long-term playability because no two matches can be the same. There's too much variety.

Now this game? I see many abilities on each hero, and several special moves by the looks of it. But already I can tell its incredibly hollow. The number of heroes is good, but there's no depth - no reason to keep coming back and continue playing beyond the multiplayer function. Its more of a party game then one based on skill etc. And thats a crying shame.

I'm working on a one game a month thing at the moment. Mario Maker - June, Fire Emblem - July, Astral Chain - August. I might come back for this later if the community rates it.

@SegaBlueSky you could always watch let's plays of the previous games to get a taste of what it'll do.

Idk, the more i see from this Game, the better it looks. I mean sure, i read through some stuff, and seems for an Game, which basically is an diablo-lite with Marvel License, there is some of Potential Missing like proper Skilltree and such, which would've been amazing to have so you can skill your Heroes differently and two thors (as example) are distinct to each other. However it still looks good and i bet it will be one of this "Hidden-Gems".

About "Skill".. in my experience with Games like this, in an Range from an Genre like the Warriors Games (Hyrule Warriors, Fire Emblem Warriors) to Hack'n'Slay like Diablo, Path of Exile, Grim Dawn and such, and everythin inbetween... while this Games often tend to start out as pretty easy Games, which might lead to the believing they are in the end mindless Button-Masher without skill, later on at the higher Difficulty-Levels People who think like that often are the first one who massively fall on their face. Diablo-esque Games with proper Skilltrees and huge list of Items, your first hurdle / step is to properly build your Character. If you throw mindlessly points around, and equip stuff which looks "only" cool, you will have a pretty hard time in such Games. Doesn't mean there isn't any build diversity (atleast for Games like this who are done well), but you need some kind of synergy so the Build itself makes sense. And the Second Part is also to know how to play the game and mostly your class / build. I know some folks, mostly the ones who never saw the endgame or hardest difficulties, discredit this games as mere "gear-check" Games, but i saw many newcomers who build strictly builds from Guides and also have the proper Equip and still fail to beat the hardest bosses and such, due they don't know how to play them. Gear-Check is for higher Content and Requirement for sure, but hardly an guarantee for beeing able to beat them. And the more such Games tends towars Warriors Titels, the more you need to know the combos, proper dodging and how to kill masses. So TL:DR - the Concept itself must neither be "repetitive" (in a bad way) nor "easy without any skill", but moreover it's an matter of how well the Game is developed and how good the balancing is... (though i have to point out, there are also some folks which doesn't bother if you are OP because they enjoy roflstomp everything)

/edit: Though i've to agree with a post above, that the release-time-frame is again an issue and there are quite some games coming out for Switch. Due i recently got my PSVR it's even more problematic because i've quite some gems which i need to buy at a later date so yeah...

@Riderkicker We’re still getting Ms Marvel, Miles Morales and Spider-Gwen so I’m happy. Although I guess the latter two were in Spider-Verse. I’m just surprised the Inhumans are in it considering what a flop the TV show was.

I’ve never played a game in this genre, but it seems to me like it would get repetitive rather quickly. I guess fans of the movies have shown they’re ok with endless repetition LOL.

This game looks really bad. Animations are poor, every mob and battle looks the same. Also there are some serious problems with FPS. Huge disappointment...

Amazing. Cannot wait to play it.

Lol, it's so interesting how this comment section is compared to others. On my gaming facebook page, everyone is really excited for this, but on here the reaction is meh, I'll wait for reviews, or it just looks bad.

I for one, couldn't be more excited. I think it's looking great, and very fitting of the games from the past. I like the artstyle and I think the animations are fine. I'm not really sure what people are expecting with a game like this, especially if you've played them in the past — it's Diablo with Marvel characters.

it may be like Diablo but it just doesn't look as entertaining. Looks very generic. I rather stick to Diablo and Dragon Marked for Death. I honestly can't believe that people would buy the Switch just because of this game.

@TheLightningYu Nice
I have a bit of prejudice towards musou-like games, this gave me a better perspective (never played one)
Still I kinda feel that too many enemies must be annoying
Things like DMC3 are challenging but give you some room to work it out on your own, musou-likes feels to me that they're either super easy or super hard, just too many enemies
But the endgame / boss thing you said looks nice, assuming they're fair and not just damage sponges

I know the wasp is in the game but I hope ant man will be in there

@NintendoPete

And I think that's a fair opinion to have. Diablo is really good at what it does.

I'm just not sure what people's expectations were. If you've played these from the past, this is pretty much how these games were. You fight off hoards of enemies, fight a boss, do some cut scenes and then do a little talking with other comic book characters. Then repeat. If it isn't something you'd enjoy, that's no problem, but it seems to me that people had very high expectations without remembering how these games were in the past. They always kinda were a bit generic and samey.

So long as Team Ninja can get it to perform well (they are admittingly a little shakey on that subject with games in the past), I think they nailed what they were going for. At least from what I've seen so far.

@SilverFox798

I would have to think Ant-Man can be playable if Wasp is, but nothing has been confirmed. I want Ant-Man to become giant so you can just step on enemies, haha.

I’d rather they just stick with a few of the Avengers and give their move set and combat more depth. What sets this apart from the rest of the hack and slash games on the market?

Looks great. Pretty much exactly what I was expecting from an Ultimate Alliance game. Look forward to some co-op fun with it this summer.

definitely getting this game.

@SegaBlueSky The don't want to give anything away story wise I am guessing.

@NintendoPete because fans of the series have waited 10m years for this game and to see the sequel to there beloved franchise only be on one system they go and buy the system and they added warriors game aspects to the series it wont play exactly like 1 and 2 i personally cant wait and am overly hyped for this game so yea i mean i bought my switch for Pokemon but when i saw this at the game awards i flipped

This gameplay could be amazing (games can play better than they are to watch) and still those basic @$$ environments are just plain depressing. Looks like a mini game or hub in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 or DBFZ. In addition: animations are adequate; art direction is adequate; gameplay looks adequate, there even seems to be potential for interesting systems in the game (characters pairing buffing attributes) but overall the action looks below something like FE Warriors, but without the map strategy element (which literally makes it really good).

I'm desperate enough for new/big content on Switch that I'd buy UA3 right now, but July is overloaded with great games: FE, Red Faction, GOD EATER 3, DQ Builders 2, Wolfenstein Youngblood (Ps4 for me) just to start. UA3 is too little pizazz too late in the year for a purchase. God Eater 3, one week before, satisfies whatever this game is trying to do. Nintendo get your schedule better throughout the year.

@MoonKnight7

Yeah I noticed the same thing, the comments here are just... really negative. I suspect most of the comments stem from people who just didn't play the original games. For me, this looks like exactly what I wanted out of the game. It looks like a proper sequel. Everywhere else i look, everyone is pretty stoked to see this franchise making a comeback but here it's like "Oh my gawd it looks so boring blah blah blah".

This is pretty much day 1 for me.

@Onion

Well I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way, haha. I'm not gonna lie, I nearly jumped out of my chair when I saw Nintendo, of all companies, got an exclusive like UA 3. I have such fond memories of the first two games, flaws and all.

And yes absolutely, it looks like a proper sequel, and it should — it's an Ultimate Alliance game! These games were never really revolutionary, but they were fun beat em ups with interesting stories and interacting with different Marvel characters with step in and step out moments. Were they repetitive? Sure. But the point was mixing up your team and playing around with different heroes. Mindless fun is a good way to describe it, I think.

Either people forgot this, or they never played them. And if it isn't your cup of tea, that's fine. Very few games can be like BotW where everyone is equally amazed, but people here for this game have been surprisingly negative. I'm just not sure what they were expecting. The game is not gonna win any awards, but I think it's gonna be great mindless, beat em up fun, and that's the whole point of the series to begin with.

@rhyeee3216
everybody is entitled to be hyped for games they like and if it is the case for this game - hey why not.

But compared to other games in this genre - I don't see the appeal except for the Marvel characters. And I am a huge comic book collector. I have to admit that I am not a big fan of Diablo-like games (I only spend 40 hrs on Diablo - I actually prefer Dragon Marked for Death) - I kinda think that gameplay is rather repetitive and a bit boring - especially when the level design looks as bland as in this Marvel game. Diablo 3 is doing a much better job in this case. The levels and dungeons and overworlds look way better (in my opinion).

But at the end - to each their own. If this game sells new Switches - hell, why not.

Overly simplistic backgrounds, rather lacking animations, boring design. Surprised... Wow. Especially considering how much can be done with a Marvel license, I have seen much better looking Marvel games on mobile even. I was looking forward to this, now I am not so sure anymore. Still looking forward to seeing more, but no longer as excited. Though judging by some fans of the series and their comments here, all hope may not be lost.

@SegaBlueSky It’s a Beat-em-up. Par for the course.

And I’m excited

@NintendoPete The levels do look a little flat. There should be more platforming involved

Ultimate Alliance 1 and 2 are great. I'm hoping this one will be the same.

It looks like a cross between Dynasty Warriors and Disney Infinity. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing

The Ultimate Alliance games are absolutely nothing like Warriors/Musou games and have very minimal similarity to Diablo (other than both games being ARPGs). UA games are focused on steadily introducing comic characters, story developments, and dialogue every few minutes in between medium scale beat-em-up battles. It's kind of like an ensemble movie full of cameos that you play through. They're not games where you grind for hours with minimal story interaction and enemies do not explode into giant piles of loot to sort through every few steps.

The games were very enjoyable. It was great fun playing with a group of friends and there were a surprising amount of dialog interactions that changed depending on the team members you brought. Some of the team combinations we made such as Venom, Magneto, Spiderman, and Blade were unlikely to say the least! Ultimate Alliance 2 came out 10 years ago so I am very happy for a part 3.

I keep going back and forth on this game. I'll make a choice july 19th.

@Trellgoth if its like the old ones your ai characters should do just fine and only have to worry in difficult spots that give you trouble
and bosses.

@NintendoPete its not like diablo per say, diablo is about the loot primarily while these games you interact more with the enemy and its not really about the loot with a more fleshed out story atleast compared to diablo 3.
edit: your underestimating marvel fans if you don't think many will buy a system to play 1 game especially for a game series that was though dead over a decade ago.

@nofriendo the game will indeed get repetitive very easily but that's why the ultimate alliance games have generally 30 or more characters on average combined with the changing of game location and enemy variety but hard to say about variety of enemies this time though.

@Riderkicker That seems to be the case sadly. No random picks from outside the MCU like Moon Knight or Squirrel Girl.

@MoonKnight7 for the voice actor it should be Paul Rudd

@SilverFox798

Yes of course! There is no one better!

@Riderkicker It means the look and voice of each character is more based on the MCU films than maybe the comic material past games have been sourced from. Obviously there are exceptions like Scarlet Witch who looks like the comics over the movies, and Captain America who sounds more like the comics. I think the MCU inspiration is the way to go on this one as it will draw in more fans and hopefully lead the way for more DLC and both MCU and non-MCU characters as well.

@SilverFox798 I have to agree on that one, though the MCU actors are likely expensive to bring in. Still from Rocket it sounds like they have a few good doubles for the MCU counterparts.

@Nico07 iron man was a sound a like too. I think from the footage they have gone fifty fifty. Wasp wasn’t like the movies at all. I’m surprised they didn’t do one or the other. Either way still looks good. Will be a blast to play through

@SegaBlueSky That's exactly how I feel about it. The worlds/environments in LEGO Marvels superheroes looks more thrilling than what I'm seeing here.

Does anyone remember Gameloft's Spiderman - Total Mayhem game on iOS, I loved the comic book art style in that and it was actually really fun.

I’ll only cop this is I can catch it on sale for $20 or less.

@MoonKnight7 I'll join in the fun as well. This game is EXACTLY what I expected it to be, and it looks perfectly fine. In fact: it's the best looking Ultimate Alliance game out there...

I don't understand all the negativity either. I'm torn between trolls, clueless idiots, or just people that were expecting WAY too much.

Either way, none of them are going to diminish my anticipation or enthusiasm for this game.

@Antraxx777 Not really. Beat em ups should have good combat. The combat in this looks more like a bad action RPG, where you just fire off your abilities and hope the enemies get caught up in it. Honestly gameplay-wise this looks some distance behind the Lego games and that's a bit worrying.

@ThanosReXXX

Absolutely! Let's be honest. The old games were never anything jaw-dropping either. Level designs were usually a bit sparse and empty, but that was mainly because you were about to fight off an endless hoard of enemies. It's easy to look at the video and say, it's just an empty room, but when you're actually playing, you're really not gonna notice until the battle is over. Also, I like the artstyle of the characters. It reminds me of a comic book cartoon show.

I'm excited too. I preordered right away, cause I just found these games so fun, warts and all. Everywhere else I've been, most people seem to be pretty excited about it, except here lol. Releasing the Gameinformer info right after Endgame was incredibly smart to get the hype going.

@MoonKnight7 Yeah, love the comic book-like art style as well.

Some of these comments though....

It's like Nintendo fans live under a rock and have never heard of this franchise. It's always been extremely barebones and it most certainly isn't comparable to Diablo.

Diablo has ever increasing difficulty to loot settings and seasonal content drops. Games like Diablo and path of exile are designed to be played infinitely.

Games like Alliance are just button mashers set in a comic theme. Once you beat the story or unlock stuff it's over. Its a very templatey style of game that could literally be reskinned with any fan service.
Similar to the musou games for Zelda and fire emblem. Drop a new skin rinse repeat.

I don't know much about this series. Thought it was an action RPG, but this looks very much like Marvel Warriors.

@SegaBlueSky Have you play an ultimate alliance game before?

@ThatNyteDaez You are comparing an action RPG to a MOBA, two completely different realms bud. I've played AoV and honestly for a MOBA its very shallow and underwhelming. Sure, its the best MOBA on Switch, but honestly if I were to play a MOBA it would be LoL or DOTA. Also, there is no story mode in AoV, its purely a PvP game. This game is more along the lines of Diablo or the PS2 era of action RPGs like Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance, Champions of Norrath, and well, Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Its a superhero hack n slash with RPG mechanics