MUA's future has a franchise-defining decision to make

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Marvel Ultimate Alliance is far from what it used to be. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order may have a similar formula with different settings visited and their associated characters recruited or fought, but its menus and insistence on ISO-8 farming unfortunately turn it into something the previous two Marvel Ultimate Alliance games have never been mistaken.

Each Marvel Ultimate Alliance the game has had its own ways of boosting stats and abilities – equipment, medals and ISO-8 respectively – and which ones are better or worse than another will be subjective as each installment is quite different from each other anyway. As I said, about a fourth Marvel Ultimate Alliance ever in the cards, it would have to learn from all of them and decide what the best way forward for the franchise is.

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Marvel Ultimate Alliance deserves a Civil War sequel, but it can't make the same mistakes

The future of the Marvel Ultimate Alliance series is once again uncertain, but with any luck, a modern entry will be able to correct its Civil War history.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance has a decent base of gear

Marvel Ultimate Alliances equipment comes in the form of individual hero- and villain-related items that assign different passives and buffs to the characters they are equipped with, with some equipment only equippable by a specific character. Each character could only have one piece of equipment equipped, meaning players had to constantly reassess whether a new piece of equipment had a passive static boost or buff they'd prefer to have on a particular character, and with plentiful pieces of gear flooding players' inventory often they were a decent source of SHIELD credits if deconstructed.

Aside from its overwhelming volume of items, gear is arguably the easiest stat allocation system to wrap your head around and manage from the inventory menu while also being the most beneficial and meaningful in the game – Enchantress drops Aura of Seduction gear and gives enemies a 5% chance to become allies for 30 seconds on melee hits, for example, which is completely unique and worthwhile.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 unnecessarily simplifies gear to medals

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2s medals are included in equipment and offer similar passives and buffs, but they apply to all characters and must be equipped with slots that increase in turn as players progress through the story. The sequel begins with only one medal slot available and the game ends with four; four medal categories are also chosen from, with melee, power, defense and specials to mix and match.

Only one special medal can be equipped at any given time as they are a bit more unique and powerful, and eventually different grades of quality are introduced for each medal category: bronze, silver and gold, with bronze and silver medals obviously becoming redundant compared to everything gold medals offer . Managing medals is easier than managing equipment, but with only four equipped, players lack the breadth of ability and stat-boosting items the first game boasted, and characters can feel less empowered or specialized as a result.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Orders ISO-8 is very controversial

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black OrderISO-8, the most contentious of the three stat RPG features, leans more towards gear than medals but is so appalling in its presentation and structuring of progression that it makes the entire game feel alien. ISO-8 is equipped with individual characters and comes in the form of color-coded crystals that are earned through various activities and Infinity Rift rewards.

Equipment is never very fun to sift through Marvel Ultimate Alliancebut Black Orders menu and inventory management can be a huge chore considering its UX. ISO-8 also encourages farming/grinding as before Marvel Ultimate Alliance games never had, and the extra Infinity content that players indulge in isn't incredibly varied as far as offering mild twists on levels or stages from the campaign.

Of course, much if not all of this content is supplemental; some players might like it Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order encourages more investment in character leveling, especially with a much larger roster and multiple expansion packs, while others probably wish its system was more similar to first and second Marvel Ultimate Alliance titles.

There is an argument to be made that the ISO-8 formula should either be reworked or discarded, and it would probably be preferable if something closer to the gear was considered for a fourth Marvel Ultimate Alliance game. Otherwise, a new entry may have success experimenting further with this system and exploring other options. It largely depends on the type of game Marvel Ultimate Alliance 4 proves to be, for example if it encourages grinding or simply immerses players in the rich Marvel atmosphere they live in with a focus on lore rather than leveling up.

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