Embracing Action

By the mid 2000s, Marvel was working with multiple licensing partners to bring its characters to the gaming screen. This same period also began to see the explosion of silver screen Marvel treatments, including X-Men, Daredevil, and Spider-Man, and as expected, the gaming world often followed suit with connected games. Few of these titles had much to offer, but one of the rare exceptions was Treyarch’s 2004 Spider-Man 2. Based on the movie of the same name, the action title capitalized on the recent trend of open-world gaming and crafted an impressive version of Manhattan to explore. While the fighting system effectively evokes Spider-Man’s acrobatic tendencies, the most striking aspect of the game is the innovative web-swinging experience. By letting players swing freely through the whole city, Spider-Man 2 provides a sense of freedom unmatched in other contemporary games of the period. 

In that same year, X-Men Legends released to the gleeful cries of mutant fans, who had wanted something similar for years. The game taps into the isometric action RPG vibe of games like Diablo, but translates the action over into a modern-day comic setting instead of a fantasy one. Four players can all hop in together to confront Brotherhood members, Sentinels, and Morlocks. X-Men Legends is notable for its broad selection of playable characters, from familiar mainstays like Cyclops and Wolverine to lesser known heroes like Magma and Beast. X-Men Legends also allows for some fun upgrade options, encouraging players to customize their mutant abilities. 

X-Men Legends was so beloved by its fans that it spawned a sequel, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, the following year. However, most fans agree that the crowning achievement of the franchise didn’t come until 2006 with the release of Marvel Ultimate Alliance. By this time, Raven had polished its formula to a smooth and highly enjoyable grind. Ultimate Alliance expands the roster to include hero characters from across the Marvel comics spectrum, and further grows that roster through subsequent DLC characters. The game also let players either form their own superhero teams or slot in characters from well-known teams like the Fantastic Four and Defenders. 

2005 saw the release of another clear favorite: Radical Entertainment’s The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction doesn’t skimp on its title’s promise. The game mixes a huge open world of both urban and desert wilderness locales with the ability for Hulk to tear through the environment all around him. At the time of release, few games – comic-based or otherwise – had offered such a comprehensive suite of skills built to destroy. The effect is a potent power fantasy, in which players control a green goliath that can smash cars into boxing gloves and survive collapsing buildings. 

Coming Up Next: Modern Marvel games explore new genres...