Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects (PS2)

Top Marvel writer Mark Millar writes the story here, and he does a beautiful job. Following on from the events of the six-issue limited series published by Marvel, New York City is under attack from the alien forces, led by evil scientist, Niles Van Roekel, who is searching for Paragon, his ultimate creation and a warrior that is virtually perfect. As Roekel and his other creations, the Imperfects, tear everything apart to find Paragon, they naturally come into conflict with the Marvel Legends, who are also after Paragon.

Every character has a role to play in Story Mode. They're ten Marvel Characters to play as. These are the Thing, Wolverine, Elektra, Daredevil, Storm, Venom, Spider-Man, the Human Torch, Iron Man and Magneto. You start the game with the Thing, and then after completing his missions, you continue the story with Wolverine, before moving onto another character. You can of course, carry on playing on with the character you previously started with to complete the different missions.

Along the way, not only do you have to battle the Imperfects (Johnny Ohm, Fault Zone, The Wink, Brigade, Solara and Hazmat), there are also moments when you have to take control of an Imperfect and use him/her to take out different Marvel heroes and villains, resulting in a very layered story. By changing with different characters, the story gets more entertaining, as you progress, and certainly more challenging. Obviously, playing through Story Mode is necessary in order to unlock various goodies such as comics, arenas, characters and movies.

Graphically, the game is great. It has a very cinematic feel to it. Each of the Marvel Heroes and Villains look like they do in Marvel film format and look quite realistic. The sound is fine, with good orchestration and voice-acting that sounds as though they belong to the different characters.

The gameplay is very simple and easy to get to grips with. A different button is allocated to a simple function; attack, block, throw, jump, agility/fly and powers. There are also three metres for your character. Health, powers, and a special 'Rage' metre that builds up the more you fight, allowing you unlimited usage of your powers. You can also pull off special 'Finishing moves' when your opponent's health is critical.

EA have done a good job in representing the different Marvel Heroes as accurately as possibly. Each of the different characters fight like they do in the comics. Spidey and Venom can shoot webs and crawl walls, Storm and the Human Torch can fly, Elektra and Daredevil are quick and skilled in martial arts etc. In other words, each of the heroes and villains do what they're supposed to do and nothing else. There are also many arenas to choose from, such as famous Marvel locations the Daily Bugle and Avengers Mansion. The whole thing plays like Super Smash Bros. and is therefore very addictive and great fun.

Sadly, as the title says, there is imperfection in Marvel Nemesis. It only took me a day to complete story mode and unlock everything, and the absence of a four-player mode makes me feel sad. However, Mark Millar's plot left me coming back for more. Because the story focuses mainly on Paragon and Roekel, it makes them the stars of the game, and as such, introduces two fascinating and brilliant additions to the Marvel Universe, who hopefully we'll see again.

As for the Imperfects (Johnny Ohm, Brigade, Fault Zone, The Wink, HazMat and Solara), each are brilliant and fascinating characters. Viewing their origin videos makes them see the depth and potential within them, and although many have regarded some of them as clones of Marvel legends, I personally don't care so long as their designed brilliantly and given a very good background story. And that's what EA have done.

The sheer playability of the game is what also left me hooked. Although there is much here that can be improved, there's enough here to warrant a sequel, and I hope there is one. Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects is something that I'm glad I waited for. Critics may have mercilessly bashed it but that's because they didn't give it a chance. Any Marvel fan will enjoy it. For anyone else, it's certainly worth a play.

In the months leading up to the game, many previewers said that the game would be something to look forward to. So now it's finally here, was it worth the wait? Well, yes...and no.

When the game first came out in America, I was shocked to hear that critics had mercilessly bashed it. I thought that surely it couldn't be THAT terrible, so I decided to get it regardless and judge the game myself.

Many of the criticisms I can understand. The story mode is quite short, and it didn't take me long to unlock everything. The sound is a bit hit-and-miss with average music and average voice-acting and the camera can be quite frustrating at times.

However the gameplay is NOT as bad as others perceive it to be. Yes, it's simple, but it works. One button is allocated to a simple function each: Action, Jump, Block, Throw, and Powers. It's similar to Super Smash Bros. and it allows the battles to be great fun.

The different arenas, along with the varied character selection, increases the entertainment factor. Whether you're playing as Spider-Man or Venom on top of the Daily Bugle, or as Iron Man in the Avengers' Mansion, you can fly and shoot projectiles, scale walls and pick up tanks, and create battles that provide a genuine Marvel Experience.

Each of the different characters perform differently. For example, Daredevil (lacking super strength) cannot pick up cars above his head, or stick to walls or fly. Each of the different Marvel heroes and villains do what they're supposed to. Their performance levels are faithful in virtually every way to those in the comics.

As for the Imperfects (Johnny Ohm, Brigade, Fault Zone, The Wink, HazMat and Solara), each are brilliant and fascinating characters. Viewing their origin videos makes them see the depth and potential within them, and although many have regarded some of them as clones of Marvel legends, I personally don't care so long as their designed brilliantly and given a very good background story. And that's what EA have done.

When playing through the Story Mode, I found it got better and better the further I played through. Each Marvel Legend and Imperfect has a role to play. You start the game as the Thing, and then later you have the option to switch over to Wolverine and continue the game with him, before switching over to another Marvel Legend, encountering many boss battles with the Imperfects along the way. Or you could still carry on playing with the Thing. It gets more and more entertaining as you progress by changing with different characters, and certainly more challenging.

Marvel writer Mark Millar provides the story here and he does a beautiful job. The plot focuses mainly on Paragon, who has escaped the clutches of her creator, Dr Niles Van Roekel, the main villain. As the Marvel Legends and Imperfects search for Roekel's only perfect creation, Paragon embarks on her own quest, where she struggles to regain memories of her past and uncover Roekel's motives. Because the story focuses mainly on Paragon and Roekel, it makes them the stars of the game, and as such, introduces two fascinating and brilliant additions to the Marvel Universe, who hopefully we'll see again.

Now it's time for the obvious question. Is it Marvel vs. Capcom 2? NO. Nor does it try to be. Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects is something totally different, and all the better for it. Give it a chance, as it's better than most people give it credit for.

One thing I will agree with is that it IS imperfect and needs development and refinement. But it's addictive and great fun when playing it with your mates. I hope there's a sequel as there's certainly enough here to warrant one. I recommend improved sound, a larger list of characters, expanded extras and story and a four-player mode.

Despite what I've said, I think it's worthy of four stars. Marvel fans will certainly lap it up. For others, I advise you to try before you buy.

This could have been such a good game. The character list is fantastic, the Imperfects each have well constructed back-stories and are as varied as the Marvel heroes themselves, the graphics are eye-pleasing and the fighting arenas are grand and fully interactive. Each Marvel character is represented as you'd hope them to be (e.g. Spider-Man and Venom can swing on their webs and crawl around the walls, Storm can fly and fry things with lightning, Magneto is relatively weak but, using his magnetism, can hurl tanks around, etc.) and there's a nice array of evil minions to kick around 'til your heart's content.

Sadly - as seems to be an ever more common occurrence with games nowadays - all comes crashing down with the controls. Their layout isn't bad (which is a good thing as there is no option to change it) and even the fact that this is a fighting game, yet has only ONE attack button can be forgiven (various aerial attacks, power attacks and grabs help change things up a little). However, the controls can be very unresponsive (the block button for example picks and chooses when it wants to block, when it wants to dodge and when it wants to do neither) and there is no target lock, which is a particularly frustrating problem when your character decides they'd much rather punch a nearby barrel and blow themselves up than attack the enemy getting ready to shoot you. This problem is then exaggerated by the erratic camera.

There are also a number of little things that will niggle away at your enjoyment of the game, such as not being able to skip a character's speech after they defeat you, a camera shot of a bad-guy flying through the air from a well placed attack distracting you from the half-dozen of his friends that are beating you around the head or the many number of times you find yourself too close to a wall and can only see a black screen.

This game has so much potential and I'd like to see EA go back and take a little more time over it should a sequel ever be commissioned, but for now, this stands as yet another example of a great game spoiled by rubbish player-interaction.