Marvel Ultimate Alliance 4 Needs to Happen Now More Than Ever

These days, Insomniac gets a lot of credit as a leading developer of Marvel superhero games. The hype is well deserved, and the Marvel’s Spider-Man games are great. However, before Insomniac brought us the web-slinger, another developer delivered some of the best Marvel games. In the 2000s, Raven Software delivered action RPGs that let gamers build and strengthen their own superhero teams. In fact, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is widely considered one of the best superhero series out there. I tend to agree, and now is the time to bring it back.

The first Marvel: Ultimate Alliance arrived back in 2006 for consoles and PC. It was followed by a multi-platform sequel in 2009. After that, the series was dormant for a while, until it made a dubious comeback in 2019. Despite releasing at possibly the perfect time of peak MCU hype, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 missed out on its true potential. The game was a Nintendo Switch exclusive, skipping the multi-platform approach that made the previous games so accessible for Marvel fans. Though 2019 might have been the perfect time to capitalize on MCU hype, the next best opportunity for Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 4 is likely the next few years.

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 Missed Its True Potential in 2019, But The Franchise Deserves More

I love a good standalone superhero movie or video game as much as the next nerd. But there’s no denying that big-scale superhero team-ups are part of what makes Marvel special. There are few moments in recent cinematic memory quite like Captain America’s “Avengers assemble” in Endgame. And crafting your own superhero team is part of the appeal of games like Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. These action RPGs combine the fun of a superhero brawler with the kind of engaging storytelling Marvel fans love to see.

The first two games performed quite well with critics and fans alike, and for good reason. They were just plain fun, with massive rosters of playable heroes to choose from and interesting powers to unlock and level up. You could craft your own version of iconic teams like the Avengers or X-Men, then take them into battle through various levels packed with concept art and Marvel trivia. When the franchise returned as a Switch exclusive in 2019, it was a pretty massive fumble of potential.

I love my Nintendo Switch, and I love a good action RPG. But the two haven’t historically gone hand-in-hand, with Nintendo far more favored by cozy gamers and first-party enthusiasts. Skipping PlayStation, Xbox, and PC when releasing a major Marvel game at the peak of MCU hype was kind of a baffling choice when you look back on it. As a result, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 didn’t sell as well as you might expect given its release date in between Infinity War and Endgame. Yet for a Switch exclusive, it performed better than expected. That all but proves that Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 4 would be an instant hit if it targets a multiplatform launch in the next few years.

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 4 Would Fill a Much-Needed Gap Modern Marvel Games Are Missing

We’ve had no shortage of new Marvel games in recent years. There’s the hit free-to-play superhero shooter Marvel Rivals and Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man. And of course, we’re about to get Marvel’s Wolverine in September. But one thing we’re really missing is a solid team-based Marvel RPG. While you can team up with other heroes in Marvel Rivals, it’s in a PvP arena centered on quick, repetitive interactions. The joy of the previous Marvel: Ultimate Alliance games is in the crafting and curation of your own team alongside the exploration of engaging levels that build up to a story.

The Insomniac games are great action titles, but they focus on one hero’s story. They’re missing that team feeling that Marvel fans love to lean into. Meanwhile, games like Marvel Tokon might give us a big roster, but they’re fighting games that sacrifice some of the storytelling and exploration of a game like Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. Bringing this franchise back would fill a gap in the current market, but it could also be perfect timing to line up with a resurgence in MCU hype.

Marvel fatigue set in with gamers and moviegoers alike in the post-Endgame era. There were just too many shows and films to keep up with, and they lacked the drive and hook of the previous phase. But following the success of Spider-Man: Brand New Day and the hype with the lead-up to Doomsday and Secret War, the MCU is poised for a resurgence. Fans like me who’ve slightly fallen off the homework of keeping up with everything are starting to tune in again. And that means that the next few years could be the best time for a new Marvel: Ultimate Alliance game since 2019.

If Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 4 strikes in the next few years with a multi-platform launch and a return to form from the original developers, it could be huge. Many gamers are hungry for a new version of these classics, a game that lets them step into a fun story with a cast of superhero characters. And while they’re at it, I’d say we should go ahead and plan for a new X-Men: Legends game to fall right around the release of the new X-Men reboot movies. The best time for a multi-platform Ultimate Alliance renaissance might have been 2019, but the next best time is now.

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