While many Marvel comic book connoisseurs consider the roster in Marvel Ultimate Alliance to be one of the best superhero galleries ever released, some players expressed concern over the fact that some obvious favorites were not featured in the original game. No Incredible Hulk? Spider-Man without Venom? Tomorrow, Raven Software looks to amend their mistake with the release of Marvel Ultimate Alliance: Heroes & Villains, an expansion pack of sorts for the Xbox 360 that will be downloadable via Xbox Live Marketplace. I spoke with Chris Palmisano, associate producer at Activision, to find out more about the game's forthcoming additions.
Shack: What characters have been added to the game?
Chris Palmisano: Hero wise we are adding: Hulk, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, and Hawkeye. The new villains will be Venom, Magneto, Dr. Doom, and Sabretooth.
Shack: Why were these particular characters chosen over others? Were there any the team wanted to include but couldn't?
Chris Palmisano: We worked closely with the Marvel Ultimate Alliance VIP community site to figure out what characters people wanted most for the downloadable content. Truthfully Hulk and Venom were going in regardless, but they are also fan favorites. Adding to the largest character roster ever in a Marvel game is always a challenge, but we were all excited to make the total number of playable characters 32.
Shack: What unique abilities will these new characters bring to the game?
Chris Palmisano: The downloadable content offers everything from Hulk's power and Venom's cool tendril moves, to Nightcrawler's agility and Dr. Doom summoning Doom Bots. From a gameplay perspective there is a ton of variety and depth. All the new characters have 4 upgradeable costumes and achievements tied to achieving different game objectives with these characters.
Shack: What went into balancing the new characters? I imagine making Hulk anything less than god-like was quite a test.
Chris Palmisano: Hulk was definitely a challenge balance-wise, especially since one of his moves makes him grow to twice his size. We tried to make the new teams and new characters slightly over-powered though just to make them really exciting.
Shack: Will the storyline be affected by any of the new characters? Dr. Doom is featured quite prolifically; what would happen, for example, if I chose to play as him?
Chris Palmisano: The storyline in itself does not change fundamentally when players use the new characters like Dr. Doom, but new plot points have been written in. There are a bunch of cool moments in the plot now when players play as Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Doom, and Hulk.
Shack: Will the new characters affect saved games at all?
Chris Palmisano: New characters can be loaded right into old save games and even taken online!
Shack: What sort of Achievements have been added?
Chris Palmisano: The new achievements are something that we were really excited to get into the game. There are 12 new achievements and 250 new gamer points, bringing the total number of achievements up to 60. I don't want to give too much away, but 8 are tied to game progression with the new characters and the last 4 reward players for finding the new plot points.
Shack: When players decide to purchase Ultimate Heroes & Villains, will they receive all the new characters, or are there different purchase options available?
Chris Palmisano: The downloadable content will be released in three packs. The Hero Pack and Villain Pack will each be 500 Microsoft points ($6.25) and the Combined Hero and Villain Pack will be 800 Microsoft points ($10). Heroes and Villains gamer picture packs will also be available for 80 Microsoft points each ($1).
Shack: Are there any plans to bring the expansion over to other systems in the future?
Chris Palmisano: Can't comment on this one at this point.
Shack: Have any future expansions been planned?
Chris Palmisano: I think that will depend on how well this first wave of downloadable content [is received]!
Shack: Thanks for your time.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance: Heroes & Villains will be released for the Xbox 360 on Tuesday, April 10th, for download from the Xbox Live Marketplace.
