It's something of a canny move by developers Neversoft - although I'm sure the customer would've preferred a properly optimised 720p game engine. So effectively, only 66 percent of the output resolution is actually being generated by the 360 - the rest is interpolated upwards to 720p by the Xenos GPU's scaler. While Microsoft mandates that all games should render at 1280x720 at the minimum, these titles actually work with a much smaller frame-buffer: in the case of THP8, 1040x584. This game, along with its Activision stable-mate Call of Duty 3, is something of a technical curiosity. Just make sure you set the PS3 XMB display settings to max out at 720p - as usual there's no option to change resolution in-game. Overall though, download content politics aside, this remains a very strong game and well-deserving of its original 7/10 score regardless of the host console you choose to play it on. Bearing in mind the relative paucity of content on Sony's servers, this does seem rather odd. So Marvel Ultimate Alliance becomes yet another title to offer additional content from Xbox Live that for some bizarre reason is not mirrored on the PlayStation Store. However, an Xbox Live Marketplace brace of paid-for downloads offers up a further eight playable characters, including Doctor Doom, Venom, the Hulk, Hawkeye and Cyclops. The original review mentions two exclusive 360 characters, but in actual fact the heroic duo of Colossus and Moon Knight (a complete non-entity even a Marvel nut like myself is embarrassed to acknowledge) are also shared with the Wii and PlayStation 3 renditions of the game. There's also a native 1080p mode, but this has an unacceptable frame-rate penalty and, as the comparison gallery reveals, doesn't look that much better than the full-speed experience upscaled on the 360. The graphics are pretty much identical between the two, and while the 360 version has a noticeably better frame rate, the PlayStation 3 rendition has some token, unremarkable Sixaxis support for dodging, throwing and other minor gameplay elements. There's very little to choose between the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game in terms of the 'take home' package. The Thing only punching a touch harder than Captain America? Low-grade villains like Bullseye and the Winter Knight (who?) troubling the Mighty Thor? The Human Torch resorting to basic, non-flame-powered fisticuffs? Spider-Man running about as though he's wearing John Barrowman's trousers? For a game about superheroes, it does seem a touch odd to power them all down to the level of the lowest common denominator, then spend the game powering them up again. While the gameplay itself is most satisfactory from start to finish, with some of the more geeky touches really hitting home, I just can't quite reconcile myself with some of the creative decisions. As a long-term Marvel Comics fan, I can't help but have something of a love-hate relationship with this particular offering.
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