New footage showing gameplay of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order has been released. The third entry in the Ultimate Alliance series was announced back in December during The Game Awards. The title is looking to have a solid roster. Last week, Ms. Marvel (the Kamala Khan version) and Hawkeye were confirmed to appear.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 was a surprising announcement. The first game was a favorite among Marvel fans for its expansive roster of playable characters. Despite a cliffhanger featuring the world-devouring Galactus, the sequel did not follow up on it. Instead, Ultimate Alliance 2 loosely adapts the Civil War storyline from the comics. The game ended up getting a mixed reception, with a score of 74 on Metacritic. Now, here we are 10 years later with The Black Order, a Nintendo Switch exclusive that appears to be heavily influenced by the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Game Informer uploaded new gameplay footage of Ultimate Alliance 3, giving future players and those on the fence an extended look at how the title works. Check out the footage below.
The footage shows a number of things. First, you'll see that the gameplay is very reminiscent of the beat 'em up play style of the previous two titles. The footage highlights the "heroic camera" angle, which works best when it's just one person using the screen. Interestingly, according to Game Informer, you can't pick up and throw enemies anymore.
In addition to the core gameplay, the footage shows some story cues and RPG elements. The game apparently begins with the Guardians of the Galaxy, and then we see the Earth-based heroes like the Avengers in Chapter 2. Fans of the Inhumans will be happy to see Lockjaw, though the dog is, sadly, not playable. Game Informer notes that there will be "Infinity Trials." These trials work as side missions to acquire EXP and items. Although you can run into them in the main story, they will be unlocked from the main menu at about the midway point. Also, if your team contains certain characters together (Spider-Man-related characters for example), you will get a team bonus, which can stack depending on the character choices. The game will feature a skill tree-type feature for your team, and a section for powering up individually.
All in all, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order is appearing as one would expect from this series. The beat 'em up nature of the gameplay should make for a good couch co-op between siblings, friends, or families, just like the previous games. The game is releasing at the perfect time. The MCU is extremely popular, and many kids are getting into comic book heroes because of the movies. It remains to be seen if the game is too similar to the previous titles, or ends up being the next well-received Marvel game after Marvel's Spider-Man.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order will be released on July 19th for Nintendo Switch.