Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects is an open-world style fighting video game that ties into the Marvel Nemesis comic book series. The game includes the classic Marvel characters fighting toe-to-toe with a team of super villains – the imperfects. Published by Electronic Arts in 2005 for PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Nintendo DS, and PSP this game is truly a 3-D fighting game in truly 3-D environments. No more side stepping in circles only to realize you haven’t really moved anywhere except into a slightly different background.
Marvel Nemesis: Rise Of The Imperfects Offers Ease and Fun Playing Experience
The most inexperienced gamers will find solace in the fact that you don’t need to know the deepest intricacies of video gaming in order to pick up your controller and compete with experienced gamers. This accessibility makes the game an excellent choice for company. A 2-minute crash course is enough to set up any gamer with the opportunity to win with any character.
Unlike other fighting games, Nemesis doesn’t cram the menu with a load of options that, when you get down to it, are basically the same or only slightly different. You get your Versus Mode, Story Mode, Rewards(cards, comics, and movies), and options.
Versus Mode, like in most fighters, is the meat and potatoes of the game. This is where you will spend your time, and it is time well spent. You start with the basic “Player vs. Player” or “Player vs. COM” options, but once you pick that the choices branch out again. You are offered two modes of battle, a “Lives” match and a “Timed” match. Time to get down to the nitty gritty, is the game worth spending some money on?
Playability of Marvel Nemesis: Rise Of The Imperfects
The controls are the same for every character. You have buttons for strike, throw, jump, and block, as well as one button for mobility moves and one to activate your “Superpowers”. The mobility button allows fighters to fly, swing, zip, sprint, and even blink about the arena depending on the characters abilities. Some characters can even climb walls, or run up them, setting yourself up for devastating dives onto your prey.
The “Superpower” button gives new meaning to the other buttons on your controller. A normal strike may do a limited amount of damage, but power it up and the characters do what they do best; claws come out, web-balls let loose, lightning crackles. Your average jump becomes an amazing leap. You’re up close and personal throw takes on spectacular personality, including ranged throws.
The health meter consists of a health bar and an overlapping stamina bar; when your stamina gets low you get a “danger” warning. Stamina rebuilds over time, never going higher than your health bar, which decreases as you get pummeled and won’t increase, unless you are Wolverine or Paragon, until the fight is over.
The accessibility of the controls allows gamers to really experience the hero, by really learning the character and not just the button combinations. Like the real thing, the heroes in the game are very unbalanced, some having far more power than others, giving you the real “Who’s the Greatest” feel of the game.
Keep Your Eyes Peeled
The environments are dark and dreary places, full of flames and debris, and lots of goodies to throw at your enemies, but watch out for what they throw back. Objects break and explode, columns crumble and crush you, pits await your missteps, antenna and parking meters can be ripped up for a game of squash, and your opponent will be looking to use it all against you as he vies for dominance in the Marvel Universe. The darkness of the environments also serves as a solid contrast to the appearances of most of the fighters, allowing them to ‘pop’ from the pages as it were.
Things to Consider about Marvel Nemesis: Rise Of The Imperfects
There are two things that make super heroes the iconic figures that they are, their abilities and their appearance. Spider-Man just wouldn’t be the same without his red and blue tights, nor Torch without his bright orange flames, but some characters have changed costumes a number of times over the years and different costumes relate to different fans.
The voice over work also has its ups and downs. On the upside, some of the characters really sound good, and their catchphrases are right on the money, but on the down, there are more that don’t sound quite right or say things that just don’t fit the character. Several of the characters say things that are just plain wrong, and most of the characters only have one (two at the most) comment for before the fight and one for after, so don’t expect too much variety.
Closing Thought
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects takes minutes to learn and months to master, and it provides a well-rounded and, most importantly, fun experience, if you know what you are getting into. This is not your standard “toe-to-toe”, best of three 90-second matches, combo cruncher, this is “kill or be killed” Marvel mayhem. All in all, it is worth taking a look into if this gameplay fits the style players are looking for.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©Steam.