As a fan of the previous Marvel Ultimate Alliance games, and the X-Men Legends franchise before it, I comfortably sank back into the groove when I played a short demo of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order. But what surprised me most about Team Ninja and Marvel Games’ follow-up to the last entry 13 years ago is that, as much of the core of the experience is retained, the developers have done an impressive job of modernizing and expanding on it for a more varied, and possibly quite deep, experience.
Marvel’s equivalent of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate “Everyone is here” moment, Ultimate Alliance 3’s character roster continues to grow and grow. I spent most of my time in the demo with just a few — the close-quarters Wolverine, the shooting-and-hovering Star-Lord, the flying powerhouse Captain Marvel, and the mixed-ranged and close-up Thor.