Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 for the PS2 has turned out to be a large disappointment so far. Granted, I'm not finished with the game yet, and it could turn out to be the best game ever fucking invented, but I somehow doubt it. It took everything that was great in the first game and kind of tossed it out the window.
Besides the game getting rid of multiple alternative costumes for characters (which then granted bonuses), it also has this overwhelming feeling of not being quite finished. I don't know what it is, but the load screens (which pop up way too often) are stylized, but lazy. The bonus medals seem trite and useless, and that glitch in the NYC level where you have to rescue three people and are then stuck is what really sealed the not-quite-done feel for this one. Even the instruction manual leaves a lot to desired.
I don't know how to unlock alternate costumes. I don't know if I get special team bonuses like in the first one, and I don't even know how to unlock extra bonus missions. I'm not finding hidden CDs like in the first game, or action figures. In fact, the more I play it the more I get the feeling that the developers actually forgot they were doing these things.
I understand the PS2 can't handle what the PS3 can. I understand the games have to be different. What I don't understand is the concept of taking out the things that made the first game great and replacing them with crap. That's not a system issue. That's a developer issue.
At this point, I won't be buying any future sequels (though I want to read reviews of the PSP verison -- which I'm not even sure came out -- in case that game is better) to this franchise until they hit the magic $20 mark. I don't want to feel ripped off again. Luckily, I used some money I made writing to get this game, so it's not like it took food off my table, but still. It's starting to be a burden to play, and that is the worst thing you can say about a video game.
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