As Marvel fans complain about the lack of their favorite character on the big screen, many have failed to see how they can find their favorite characters in the online game, Marvel’s Avengers Alliance. While the game can be found in multiple locations, the easiest way to play is on Facebook. Each player becomes a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and becomes responsible for a group of superheroes. At first, you’re given the heroes but as you progress, you get to choose which heroes to add to your collection. Most of the characters require SHIELD points, anywhere from 15-200 for the more popular ones like Deadpool. However, this isn’t some skimpy game with only 16 or so characters to choose from. There are 16 PAGES of characters to choose from with new ones being added all the time. Some of the most recent additions include Miles Morales, Kate Bishop and most of the Runaways. Miles Morales is involved in an entire special mission on the game.
Marvel’s Avengers Alliance is designed to delight a variety of gamers. For those who enjoy seeing their favorite characters interact, there are two seasons with multiple missions to play through. Missions can be played multiple times and with an option to have a harder difficulty. Special missions are happening all the time and if they’re completed, you can receive a special character like Miles Morales. Some players just want to collect all the characters and build them up. This is possible either by playing easy missions over and over or by purchasing better equipment and such. While money can make certain elements easier or faster, it’s not necessary. Players can also improve their teams or earn special characters by playing against other players. The game is similar to the early Pokemon games where the bulk of the game-play revolves around collecting new characters for your team and battling them against others to build their strength to learn new skills, but without having to ride a bike or wait for the ferry.
The best part of the game is the fun of it. It’s an interactive experience with almost every Marvel character regardless of which film studio owns the movie rights. Seeing Coulson refer to the Runaways or Wolverine teaming up with Captain America or Doctor Strange protecting Nightcrawler is simply priceless. It’s also nice to have Lockheed by Kitty Pryde’s side when Fox hasn’t used him yet. He defends her against attacks on his own and can be called upon by her to attack a specific enemy, too. The repetition of moves and who they’re able to team up with also makes it easier for newer Marvel fans to learn about characters they may not have seen before. Carol Danvers being Ms. Marvel is a little disappointing but Kamala Khan could still be added later by her real name instead of her alias as they did with Kate Bishop. The game is whimsical at times as this screenshot shows. When being attacked by what appear to be raptors, the raptors’ move was called “Clever Girl” after the internet meme referencing the first Jurassic Park film. This was shortly after Jurassic World was released.
While DC has DC Universe Online, it’s not nearly as user friendly and has no application on Facebook. Maybe they should take a page from Marvel’s book…