Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 - Reception and Sales

Reception and Sales

The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 have received mixed to positive reviews from most critics, and holds a 76% at GameRankings. Metacritic currently holds the game at 74% (PS3, 73% for 360). Brian Michael Bendis, writer for Marvel Comics, was given an early opportunity to play the game, to which he later tweeted, "Happy to give a huge thumbs up for 'Ultimate Alliance 2.' The stills do it no justice. It's gorgeous." The Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable fared much poorer, averaging between 45% and 65% for their respective platforms.

Gamespot's Kevin VanOrd stated that the game delivers "the button-mashing, power-flinging, over-the-top action fans of the original would expect," additionally praising the branched story and unlockables, citing additional replay value. However, the reviewer cited "technical oddities" and said that the "RPG elements were stripped down." 1UP's Thierry Nguyen was more critical, saying that the game was "like Ben Reilly: almost, but not quite as good as the original," citing issues with alternate costumes that "seem pretty lame," a "a persistent feeling of oversimplification," and that a hope that "either Raven returns as the developer or Vicarious Visions learns from its missteps." He did however praise a "more coherent story," new fusion abilities, and gameplay tweaks. IGN's Greg Miller gave the game a 7.7 /10, praising its new fusions and "healthy cast" but criticizing the game's similar gameplay to its predecessor, inconsistent voice acting, and its weak CG cutscenes.

According to the NPD sales group the Xbox 360 version of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 was seventh in sales for September 2009, selling 236,000 units. However, the sales dropped in October 2009, with the game no longer listed in the top ten in sales.