The new hook in this version is the idea of fusion power. Once you build up your fusion meter by smacking bad guys around you can link up any two heroes to perform a wicked fusion power which can clear rooms, target bosses, or boink heroes around like two pinballs smashing everything in their path. Each hero has his or her own special fusion power so if you fuse Invisible Woman with The Thing, she’ll slap a force field around Ben and he’ll proceed to bash everything he runs into. Join with Iceman and he’ll do a room clearing freeze ray. You can fuse any heroes together and some of the results are pretty spectacular.

The only issue is that there are, at times, a lot of enemies on the screen and it can be hard to see exactly what’s going on – especially at the start of the game when you are getting used to how fusion powers work. In one co-op game, my partner was utterly baffled by what was going on simply due to the mass of activity on screen and all of a sudden Iron Man leveled the entire area.

Speaking of co-op, MUA2 shines when playing with friends either online or locally. The AI of your teammates is actually quite good – they’ll use powers and take the fight to the enemy and are not just window dressing, but nothing beats assaulting an enemy stronghold with three other super powered friends. This is truly the best way to experience this game.

The biggest issue I have with this sequel is the reduced number of upgrade and power options. You only get four base powers with extra (passive) abilities tacked on. You have no choice as to your base four powers and every hero has the same four archetypes: the ranged attack, area of effect attack, single punch attack, etc. Everything looks cool with various animations but why remove options that were in previous games? There is no need, at all, to manually upgrade your heroes because the choice is so limited.

So the story is so-so and the RPG section watered down with limited development choices, weak voice acting and script writing. But you still get to beat up a lot (and I mean a lot) of bad guys and fight super villains using neat-o fusion powers. This defines disposable entertainment but all in all – it’s not a bad way to spend a weekend.

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