Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects
I’ve played my fair share of good and bad games, and it was with a bit of excitement that I cracked open the plastic for Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects. Going into the game I was hoping for a similar experience to the other Marvel fighter from 1995, Marvel Superheroes. Unfortunately whereas gameplay is concerned I found myself left in the dark, though the comic geek in me had a warm and fuzzy despite that.
The game’s premise is very simple and feels like an extended Marvel universe comic. An alien force has come to attack Earth, so all of the Marvel superheroes join forces to put a stop to it. It’s not rocket science, and the gameplay leaves a lot to be desired, but the game has a thick comic book feel to it and feels like those mini-series that pool all of the heroes together for a common good.
Gameplay:
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects couldn’t have a more appropriate name, because the gameplay is, well, imperfect. The controls are very loose, the fighting boils down to a button mashing affair, and each character basically feels the same once you get right down to it. There are two distinctly different experiences to be had with the game, but unfortunately neither of them really live up to the hype that surrounded this game.
For starters the single player Story Mode is what you have to play if you want to unlock characters and bonus material. Instead of being a one-on-one fighting experience the gameplay here boils down to a sub-par beat ‘em up. The invading aliens will attack you in either pairs or groups of four, but really provide no challenge. Chances are you’ll take more damage from an exploding car than you will from the opponents standing in your way. The story is broken down into four different character points of views, so you have to play as those heroes regardless.
Playing solo proves to be extremely boring, repetitive and unchallenging. Unfortunately you have to play through this mode in order to make the Versus Mode more enjoyable, since you only have access to a few characters at the beginning. Playing human vs. human is a lot more fun than just fighting against the CPU, but even then the same control issues and poorly conceptualized gameplay show up in spades.
The small selection of arenas are each littered with objects that explode or can be thrown at your foe. I have to admit that playing as the Thing and hurling a tractor trailer truck at Wolverine gave me some twisted comic geek jollies, but it gets old after a while. Once you get bored of destroying the environments and beating your opponent over the head with a dumpster, the actual control disappoints. Each character has attack, throw, block, and jump buttons, as well as the ability to use some super powers in conjunction with those moves. It may sound like a lot, but there are so few moves that each character can do, that it quickly gets old after a few rounds.
If you’re still playing at this point, you can go online and take the fight to a buddy (assuming you have a friend that bought this game as well) from far away. I didn’t really encounter any lag while battling online, but it’s not like the game is really all that intense or involved. In the end the combat is overly simplistic, uninspired and very unsatisfying. What’s worse is the single player mode offers barely any entertainment value or challenge, aside from boss fights, which are altogether more cheap than hard.
Graphics:
Visually, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects is a mixed bag of quality. On one hand you have some gorgeous style thanks to the artwork of Jae Lee, but the problem is that the rest of the game can’t seem to match that look. Environments are bland, in the single player game your enemies are generic at best, and a lack of moves really puts a damper on things. Colors appear to be washed out and there is very little to “ooh” and “ah” at once things get going.
There are some nice special effects and some decently implemented lighting source, but even those fail to impress in the grand scheme of things. I even came across a few random graphic glitches that made things turn really nasty from time to time.
Audio:
Again, I found a little bit I liked, and a little bit that I didn’t with the audio department of Marvel Nemesis. Many of the voiceovers are great for the characters, and even though there are a few that leave a lot to be desired, the voice cast for this game is great. Getting there may not be all that fun, but many cut scenes in the single player adventure feature some phenomenal voice acting. Unfortunately a hit or miss soundtrack and some bland sound effects hurt the presentation a little.
Conclusion:
Any way you look at it, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects is a very flawed game. The single player leaves a lot to be desired with a sub-par beat ‘em up concept with random encounters in the Marvel Universe. If you happen to be brave enough to stomach the whole thing, you’ll unlock some characters for multiplayer, which does offer a little bit of a good time. If you can overlook the loose controls, shoddy camera, lengthy load times, repetitive moves, and graphical glitches, that is.
If you are a true comic die-hard and are running around in your X-Men pajamas with Iron Man slippers, then chances are you will get some geeky glee from this game (I know I did at some points). Considering that only fans will be even remotely interested in the game, I'm going to suggest that it gets rented, because there's really not enough quality here for a full MSRP purchase.