Does the phrase "United we stand, divided we fall" mean anything to you? It does if you're a fan of action RPGs or video games based on comic book characters. When individual heroes can't sustain their own titles, why not take the X-Men Legends idea and cram it full of every major character a license can buy?

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance promises to do just that. You'll be able to control more than 20 Marvel heroes in an overhead bash-em-up fashion. Just like the Legends games, each hero can be powered up in several different areas by earning experience points. Obviously, you get these by kicking the crap out of bad guys.

Above: This would be the "next-gen" version - your results may vary

Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Blade and the Thing are just a handful of the heroes you'll get to pump up, but Activision's saying more than 140 characters will be present - world-devouring Galactus, anyone?

Ultimate Alliance lets you create your own superhero team, complete with name, icon and vehicle, plus the ability to build up a reputation throughout the game. Multiplayer options include off and online play, both co-op and competitive. The latter style tracks in-game stats to see which super team is ridding evil in a more efficient fashion.

You'll be able to thrash super villains on land, sea and air on practically every gaming platform this fall. Right now we can only say "all next-gen... current-gen, handheld and PC," but rest assured the Marvel heroes will save the day regardless of what system you own.

April 27, 2006