With an Avengers movie on the way out this year, the time has come for a company to cash in on a Facebook game with an Avengers theme. Cue Marvel: Avengers Alliance. However, Marvel: Avengers Alliance is actually a much deeper game than players have come to expect from both Facebook titles and companies trying to make a few bucks exploiting a large fan base.
Marvel: Avengers Alliance is a turn-based RPG game that lets players suit up as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with access to big guns and cool gadgets and fight alongside Avengers and other popular Marvel heroes against villains and organizations that fans of the Marvel comics will definitely recognize. While being the tool bag of the group isn’t as glorious as being one of the super powered heroes, you do still get to fight on the front lines with the heroes (excuse me, that’s tool user of the group). The game is in no way based on the movie, so anyone hoping for a sneak peek will have to stick to movie trailers. However, Marvel: Avengers Alliance does have its own unique storyline that picks up after an energy pulse has hit Earth.
Players can recruit up to 28 Marvel heroes onto their team in Marvel: Avengers Alliance, which includes Iron Man, Wolverine, Captain America and Spider-Man. Unfortunately, your party can only contain three, so you only get to fight with two other heroes at a time. Heroes and villains are broken into classes such as Blasters, Bruisers, Generalists, Infiltrators and Tacticians, which have a Rock-Paper-Scissors type of balance. There is a training system in place that allows players to teach new skills and attacks to heroes who have been collected. As experience is gained from battles, both players and heroes will level up, but there is no customizable point distribution, just a general increase to all stats.
Silver is the in-game currency of Marvel: Avengers Alliance. Players can acquire Silver from each battle as well as from heroes sent out on Remote Ops. Remote Ops are just timed missions that players can send inactive heroes on. Heroes on a Remote Op can’t be used in the party, so it can be a good idea to send whoever you aren’t fond of. With Silver a player can buy gear, uniforms, supplies and resources from the store. Most items can only be purchased once you reach a certain level, but the creativity and diversity is still pretty impressive.
Starting a mission is like starting a small story arc in Marvel: Avengers Alliance. Each mission consists of several small battles that culminate in a boss battle with a Marvel villain and further the story of the energy pulse hitting Earth. Missions shouldn’t be confused with the small quests that are common in Facebook games and give simple objectives to teach players about the features of the game, but those exist in M:AA too.
The battles of Marvel: Avengers Alliance are set on a generic background with pictures of heroes and villains with lots of color and shading to make them pop from the background and look three dimensional. While the style is not very impressive, the artwork is well done and really captures the Marvel characters. Fighting battles uses the infamous Facebook Energy resource. Once you’re out, there’s nothing to do but buy Facebook credits or wait.
With the added PvP and Research features that Marvel: Avengers Alliance has, there is a considerable amount of gameplay. The story definitely has a comic book feel to it, but the characters dialogue is incredibly cheesy. However, you won’t make it far without needing to wait for or purchase more Energy, so the game can only be played in small increments. While the game itself is well designed and worth playing, the Energy factor really takes the wind out of its sails.
0 Comments