Reviewed: November 5, 2005
Reviewed by: Mark Smith
Publisher
Electronic Arts
Developer
Nihilistic Software
EA Canada
Released: September 21, 2005
Genre: Fighting
Players: 1-2
ESRB: Teen
5
9
8
6
6.7
Supported Features
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
Just when you thought they had run out of ideas for super hero video games along comes EA with Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, bringing together a wide assortment of characters from the Marvel universe for the ultimate in fighting action, or at least that was the intent.
You can’t deny the impressive list of characters ranging from huge fan favorites to some of the lesser stars like Punisher and Elektra, and there was a guilty pleasure, at least for me, substituting actors for super heroes and imagining Jennifer Garner bitch-slapping the crap out of Ben Affleck, much like we all want to.
The full Marvel roster includes Wolverine, Storm, Iron Man, Spider-Man, The Thing, Human Torch, Magneto, Elektra, Daredevil, and Venom, and the cast of Imperfects includes Van Roekel, The Wink, Fault Zone, Solara, Brigade, Hazmat, and Paragon. If most of those name went over your head don’t feel bad and don’t start thumbing through your comic collection. This is an all-new cast of super heroes created just for the game, although I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of them. Check out the six-issue miniseries of Marvel comics already in stores.
Concept artist, Paul Atling, inspired this eclectic cast of new characters and each of the Imperfects has been given an intriguing backstory with the help of other veteran Marvel talent. Renowned comic artist, Jae Lee joined the project to bring the Marvel line-up to life with some stunning visual designs to give this familiar characters a fresh look..
As ambitious as Rise of the Imperfects sounds on paper, something went amiss during the creation of the actual gameplay. The game is fun, but I can’t really explain why, and the game gets repetitive quickly making it only good for short spurts of solo gameplay. You can play a bit longer with a friend or online.
Available game modes include the Versus mode where you can challenge a friend, or the computer to one-on-one super hero battles. Your choice of characters is quite limited out of the box and you will have to wade through the relatively short story mode to unlock the characters you’ll probably want to play the most.
The Story mode, while quite short is actually pretty cool. You basically get to play as a select group of super heroes trying to defend the Earth from a new breed of super heroes and space aliens not to mention some of your own group of heroes who have been “influenced” by little mind-control devices on their cerebral cortex, turning them into mini-boss fights.
As the story progresses the character selection opens up and you can pick and choose the character to play next, but this doesn’t actually alter the path of the story. You still have to go back and play the other choices, so basically you are just playing through parallel character plots. Even so, it’s nice to have the option so when things get too tough for the Thing you can take a break and play as Elektra or Wolverine.
Character control and fighting is quite simple but only because the fighting engine isn’t all that advanced. For a game that is being billed primarily as a fighter I was hoping for something a lot more involved. The X attacks, the Y blocks, the A jumps, and the B picks up and throws environmental objects like cars and trucks if you’re the Thing or barrels and mailboxes if you are Elektra. It’s nice to see the limitations of character strength and there is a bit of “testing your limits” when you play as a new character. You can also use the B button for grabs and throws during combat.
The triggers are used for super actions like the Mobility Move (left trigger) that gives you character-specific moves like wall-running, flying, web-zipping, teleport, etc. The right trigger activates your Super Attack that can only be used once your Rage meter is filled by performing regular attacks. And finally, each character has special Finishing moves that can kill a non-boss opponent if timed correctly.
With such an assorted cast of characters I was really surprised how similarly all the characters played. Once you master the buttons you can pretty much stomp all over this game. Only the actions and the animations change. The game does a great job of “balancing” the characters so nobody has a clear advantage, but let’s face it, we all know Spidey would walk all over Elektra in a fight, and if the Thing ever got hold of Wolverine he’d strip the flesh from that adamantite reinforced skeleton like a turkey leg and take the remains to the recycling center. Battles like Iron Man vs Magneto ask some obvious questions that are never addressed.
The one element of Marvel Nemesis that does change with each new battle is the environments and the use of objects for combat. You can pick-up just about anything that your strength permits and some objects like light poles can be ripped from the sidewalk and swung around like clubs. If you get the timing down you can even catch incoming objects and throw them back – catching my first mini-van and throwing it back was a very cool experience.
Multiplayer is really fun and definitely builds upon the lackluster solo experience, but keep in mind you (or somebody) is going to have to play that solo game to unlock the multiplayer cast. But again, the fighting moves are limited and shared between the entire ensemble, so once you learn one character you know them all and gone is that sense of accomplishment you felt when mastering the fighters in games like Tekken, Dead or Alive, or Soul Calibur.
Even if the gameplay is simple and repetitive you can’t deny the amazing visuals that will probably keep you playing longer than you would have otherwise. I know that even after I got bored with the continuous mashing of the X button I just had to see what that next level was going to look like.
The lighting is gorgeous and the entire presentation has a very high contrast with large dark patches, heavy black outlining, and deep shadows that only serve to bring out the detailed textures, reflections, glowing force fields, and flames that you can almost feel the heat.
The levels range in size and they all include a lot of objects you can toss around, some of which explode, and others that decompose at various rates showing multiple levels of increasing damage. Some levels have ledges that allow for multi-tiered battles and new tactics.
Of course the highlight of the visual package has to be some of the best character design I have ever seen, both for the Marvel cast and the Imperfects. I’ve played enough Spider-Man in the past couple of months that I now answer to Peter Parker, but the Spidey model in this game is outstanding. The Thing pops off the screen and is far superior than his Fantastic Four appearance. It was interesting to see the lithe and rather athletic version of Venom after playing the hulking beast version in Ultimate Spider-Man.
But the absolute coolest part of all of these characters is that you can play evil versions of them, so when picking evil Elektra or evil Thing they all take on this creepy dark and sinister look, often accented with neon green like they all fell into a pool of toxic waste. Their costumes all take on subtle changes and their faces (when visible) all turn into evil scowls.
Sound effects are spot-on with all of the typical sounds of combat, smashing objects, and a few environmental city sounds, but most of those are drowned out by the explosions and crashes. There are some futuristic sci-fi sounds like the aliens beaming (spawning) into the level.
The soundtrack, while unremarkable and even a bit forgettable, does fit with the action and super hero theme of the game. It’s more ambient than anything else, but there are some nice period pieces that go with a few of the flashback cutscenes and some good old-fashioned rock and techno for the fights.
Much like the visuals, the characters steal the audio portion of the presentation with some quality voice acting. When the Thing says, “IT’S CLOBBERIN’ TIME” you believe him, and Spidey has all his traditional wisecracks, Elektra sounds sexy, and Wolverine sounds dry and sarcastic. Most of the voice work is limited to brief cutscenes before and after the level in solo play and a few taunts during combat.
You can get through the relatively short solo game in less than 10 hours and another 4-6 hours of gameplay should have you unlocking all of the character cards, artwork, and comics. There are hundreds of unlockables so don’t plan on doing it all in one sitting.
The true staying power for this game is the multiplayer, either local or online. The online modes don’t differ from playing the guy sitting next to you on the couch and there was no noticeable lag, but I did have trouble locating a reliable group of players on Xbox Live, even a month after the game has been released. This might be a game better suited for local multiplayer, at least until the price drops and more people come onboard.
As a fighting game, I found Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects lacking in the most fundamental of areas, character variety and depth of combat. Sure, you can boast about a game with more than a dozen characters but when they all play exactly the same you may as well only have one.
For those looking to master a single and simple set of fighting controls then watch a huge assortment of character-specific animations play out, you’ll love this game, but true fighting fans will get bored halfway through the story mode and move on to something more challenging.
The only thing that saved this game from utter disaster was the amazing visuals, both for the characters and the levels you get to fight in, and the multiplayer. Plus, I’m a sucker for unlockables, so I probably played the game more than I should just to see all that stuff.
Rise of the Imperfects is a fun experience and a beauty of a game, but is probably best as a rental. Only those without the skill or desire to master complex fighting moves will enjoy this game long enough to warrant a purchase.