When the history of mobile gaming gets told to our grandkids by their robot nannies, there will inevitably be a chapter about mobile games that started out as Facebook hits. The original Marvel: Avengers Alliance is a holdover from those days, which tells you how long it’s been a going concern. For Marvel: Avengers Alliance 2, Disney Interactive and Marvel Games went mobile first, resulting in a sequel that is bigger and bolder, though not necessarily better.

The bigger part is obvious as soon as you fire up the game. Marvel: Avengers Alliance 2 takes full advantage of the power granted to it by several years of improvements to mobile devices, meaning it looks incredible. Full 3D versions of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and their foes await, complete with impressive animations and an appropriately dramatic soundtrack with plenty of driving guitars.

While Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 doesn’t have the developed endgame that a game like Destiny 2 has, there are certainly high-end challenges to put your team of Avengers to the test throughout. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 borrows much of its gameplay from its predecessor. The game allows players to select a team of four given characters from a larger pool of heroes and villains; team members are interchangeable and may be swapped during gameplay. General gameplay mechanics are similar to those of the X-Men Legends series.

Like the first game, you take on the role of a SHIELD commander, though you stick to the sidelines when it comes to the actual fighting this time (undoubtedly a safer choice, that). The core gameplay remains the same; turn-based tactical combat that is very much in the JRPG style. In fact it might be bit too similar to what’s come before for some, even if it looks prettier. Disney Interactive obviously stuck to a “don’t fix what’s not broken” approach for the most part. You do get to field a bigger team, with the option to swap in two heroes from your bench when needed.

Along with that twist, there’s a great deal of additional strategic depth that might not be immediately apparent. Every hero now has customizable ability slots — two at first, with an additional slot opening up at level 10 — meaning they aren’t always packing the exact same powers. A variety of builds are possible, and since the abilities themselves can also be leveled up, it can make things a big guessing game when it comes to PvP play, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

With those extra abilities comes an additional chase element, because you’re not only trying to collect more heroes in Marvel Avengers Alliance 2, but more abilities for the characters you already have as well. Both are acquired through a system that uses items called Power Cells. It’s very much in line with random reward mechanics found in many other F2P mobile games, yet it might frustrate gamers who appreciated having more control over which heroes to pursue in the previous series installment. Also, they’re like batteries. How do they fit the Hulk in one of those?

Jokes aside, duplicate finds from Power Cells are converted into currency that allows you to purchase specific abilities, which is nice. Many other things have been streamlined, including the way that ISO-8 can be slotted (this is a Marvel game, after all) and how heroes are leveled up. There is one strange exception though: Promoting characters to levels 10, 20 or 30 requires items that are primarily found through special, non-story quests. Again, this is pretty common in the current F2P mobile landscape, but it comes off as a bit of an annoyance instead of an exciting addition.

It’s to the game’s credit that you’d be irked by diverting away from the meat of the narrative, which once again promises to be a highlight. There’s definitely an epic tale being told that involves the Avengers, various SHIELD personalities and numerous villains, and that’s just in the first chapter. The folks at Disney Interactive have spoken of the new ways that going mobile first allows them to tell stories, and anyone immersed in Marvel lore is going to want to see where the story leads.

Where does that leave us? While not quite the revelation that its predecessor was when it landed on Facebook four years ago, Marvel: Avengers Alliance 2 is a worthy heir to its legacy; one that takes a solid foundation of both gameplay and story elements and wraps them in sleeker presentation. It slots in nicely with the other Marvel games of various genres already available for phones and tablets, and unlike the first Avengers Alliance, this one is all for us mobile gamers.

Marvel Avengers Alliance was a turn-basedsocial-network game developed by American studio Offbeat Creations and published by Playdom on March 1, 2012. It was based on characters and storylines published by Marvel Comics, and written by Alex Irvine.^[5] The game was available as an Adobe Flash application via the social-networking website Facebook.^[6] It officially launched in Facebook at March 1, 2012. It was initially released as promotion for the 2012 Marvel Studios crossover film The Avengers. It won the award for Best Social Game on the G4tv.com Video Game Awards 2012.^[7]

It was made available on iOS and Android devices on 13 June 2013. The servers running on Playdom's official website were announced to be discontinued, but the game continued to be available via Facebook.^[8] Disney shut down the game on September 30, 2016.^[9]

Gameplay[edit]

Players take control of an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.^[10] and can fully customize the agent by gaining experience, leveling up, and equipping their agents with various weapons and uniforms obtained within the game. The player can also team up with two out of the current 166 available Marvel heroes in the game, each with their unique skills and abilities. While some heroes are locked and can only be recruited on some occasions, most of them are available for general recruitment, and can be bought with 'Command Points', one of the currency that appears in the game.

Gameplay itself consists of turn-based fights that pit the player's agent and heroes against one or more waves of three or fewer enemies, with each character having unique attacks. There are six character classes: blaster, bruiser, scrapper, infiltrator, tactician and generalist. The first five classes have a specific strength and a specific weakness to one of the other classes, in a rock-paper-scissors style. Blasters have guaranteed critical hits against bruisers and ignore their defense stats. Bruisers increase their statistics when they attack or are attacked by scrappers. Scrappers have a second automatic attack (follow-up attack) against infiltrators. Infiltrators gain the ability to counter enemies' attacks after attacking or being attacked by tacticians, while the latter gain an extra turn when they attack or are attacked by blasters. The generalist class has no special strengths or weaknesses against other classes. Some playable heroes can switch classes during the game, and a character class may be changed with alternate costumes. The player has access to uniforms of all the classes.

Collections[edit]

Collections are a feature used to recruit new characters to your team, most of whom were previously Villains. It was first unveiled as part of Special Operations - Cry Havok.

Collections can be completed by opening Lockboxes to collect Comic Book Covers. Collecting all eight unique Covers of the Collection will unlock the Hero.

Player Vs. Player (PVP)[edit]

For a limited time, Player Vs. Player (PVP) tournaments are available where the players fight to reach different tiers (Silver, Gold, Diamond, Vibranium and Adamantium). Players who placed at Adamantium tier at the end of the PvP season are awarded a new hero. PvP fighting can also be done during non-tournament times in practice mode only.

Special Operations (Spec Ops)[edit]

Special Operations are limited time challenges in which the player has to complete, at least, 25 tasks in order to obtain a new hero. Unique boss items can be acquired through battle, and special weapons or items are rewarded for every 5 tasks completed. The only exception has been the first Spec Ops mission, in which the player had to get 5 star mastery in all the missions.

Marvel Avengers Alliance 2 Gameplay Torrent

Daily Missions[edit]

The daily mission is a 24-hour limited mission. These missions award elite rewards when completed and also include certain restrictions to be played. After the 24-hour window ends the mission is exchanged for a different one and any cumulative score the player had is returned to zero.

Marvel Avengers Alliance 2 Gameplay Cheats

Simulator[edit]

The S.H.I.E.L.D. Simulator is composed of two parts: Challenges and Villain Archive. The Challenges are a set of difficult fights with special conditions and rules which, if completed, earn the player a reward. The Villain Archive provides a brief biography of each villain and also a free fight simulation against them.

Plot[edit]

The player is a new S.H.I.E.L.D. recruit, dispatched by Nick Fury and Maria Hill, as an unknown event, referred as 'The Pulse' causes a strange material known as Iso-8 to emerge on Earth. The material has various properties, but is primarily used in the game to power up characters. The player is charged with joining various heroes in battle to take down numerous villains who are all aiming to gather and use Iso-8 for their own nefarious purposes. As the game advances, more heroes join the conflict as playable characters. The game had 2 seasons; Season 1 was an original plot where Hydra was eventually revealed to be using Iso-8 to resurrect Red Skull, which results in Magneto turning over to fight alongside S.H.I.E.L.D.; Many other villains would follow suit. Season 2 was heavily inspired by the Fear Itself story-line but also contained other details such as Incursions as part of Time Runs Out, that would eventually lead into Secret Wars. Season 2 ended with the defeat of the Serpent, at the cost of the lives of Thor and Jane Foster (as Mighty Thor, who arrived via Incursion).

Development[edit]

Season 2 was expected to be released on the 18th of June, 2013 and featured new heroes and villains. On the 18th, Playdom said there would be a hold on its release.^[11] Season 2 was released on August 1.

The game was available as a Facebook game. Playdom tried to migrate from it, first by hosting the game on their own page as well, and then by making Marvel Avengers Alliance 2 available only as a cell phone application. However, the Facebook community remained big.^[12]

End[edit]

Disney announced the end of the game on September 1, 2016. It was the end for both Marvel: Avengers Alliance and Marvel: Avengers Alliance 2, which had been released early in the year, in all platforms. The games were no longer available for new downloads or accept online payments, but were still available for players for a month. A final Special Operation was released, to close the plot of the game. The game completely ceased to be available on September 30.

Related games[edit]

Marvel: Avengers Alliance Tactics[edit]

A related game to Marvel: Avengers Alliance was called Marvel: Avengers Alliance Tactics, which Playdom made for Facebook. Launched in June 2014, Tactics took the gameplay mechanics built in the original and applied them to an isometric 3D map, with the player choosing four of their agents or heroes for each mission. The game was shut down on October 22.

Marvel Avengers Alliance 2[edit]

A mobile-only sequel to Marvel Avengers Alliance, Marvel Avengers Alliance 2^[13] was released in The Philippines on July 27, 2015, and worldwide on March 30, 2016. It has new characters as well as being in 3D. Disney canceled the game on September 30.^[14]

References[edit]

1. ^Kathleen De Vere (2012-01-09). 'Disney's first branded Facebook game will be Marvel: Avengers Alliance | SocialTimes'. Adweek.com. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
2. ^'Glimpse the Future of Marvel: Avengers Alliance | News'. Marvel.com. Archived from the original on 2015-04-03. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
3. ^'MAA Insiders on Twitter: 'Catch game designer Creighton Evans talk about #MAA1 on @hyper_rpg tomorrow 5/18 2pm PDT https://t.co/F9Bc9Brrs6''. Twitter.com. 2016-05-17. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
4. ^'Sam Wood on Twitter: '@KaizerAllen Glad you like it-it was drawn by our newest artist on the team, Darran Hurlbut. He's got some great stuff in the works.''. Twitter.com. 2016-02-20. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
5. ^Marc Graser Senior Writer @marcgraser. 'Disney forges new playbook with 'Avengers Alliance''. Variety. Retrieved 2013-04-08.
6. ^'Playdom Online Games - Play Marvel: Avengers Alliance'. Playdom.com. Archived from the original on 2013-11-05. Retrieved 2013-10-24.
7. ^'Avengers Alliance Wins X-Play's Social Game For the Year Award'. Marvel.com. 2012-12-06. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
8. ^'Playdom Game Closures: Playdom Support'. Playdom.com. 2014-03-12. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
9. ^'Disney Interactive Support'. Disney.com. 2016-09-01. Archived from the original on 2016-09-03. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
10. ^'Marvel: Avengers Alliance Lets You Assemble Your Own Oddball Avengers Team on Facebook'. Kotaku.com. 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2012-06-28.
11. ^'Marvel Teases Marvel: Avengers Alliance Season 2 - 11 June 2013 - Marvel: Avengers Alliance'. Maaforums.com. 2013-06-11. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-24.
12. ^In Celebration of 'Marvel Avengers Alliance'!
13. ^'Marvel Guest Services - Getting Started with Marvel: Avengers Alliance 2'. Help.disney.com. 1990-01-01. Archived from the original on 2016-07-07. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
14. ^'Disney Interactive Support'. Disney.com. 2016-09-01. Archived from the original on 2016-09-03. Retrieved 2016-09-01.

External links[edit]

• Marvel: Avengers Alliance at Playdom