Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order Is... Only Available On Switch?!

To the surprise of everyone, Marvel unveiled a new entry into the Ultimate Alliance series, titled The Black Order, at The Game Awards. But there was a catch: it’s only coming to the Nintendo Switch. Not only that, but the developers in charge are Team Ninja, the guys behind Ninja Gaiden and low-key contender for game of the generation, Nioh. Also The Black Order are the villains? And it looks kinda… just ok? There’s a lot to break down, so let’s just get into it.

First up and most pressing is the exclusivity angle. Nintendo are publishing the game, and it is a shame that the previously multi-plat series is now being tied to a specific console, but it does kinda make sense, at least from a business perspective. Although Ultimate Alliance had a following, it wasn’t a huge franchise even back in the day, and now, so many years later, it’s not the kind of experience that most major developers would take a risk on - Marvel branding or no. Put simply, if EA weren’t willing to take a risk on a story-driven Star Wars game, then a throwback Marvel beat-em-up would have been an even more difficult sell.

Nintendo on the other hand have more to gain from aiding the game’s creation. The Switch is already a huge success, but if they can bring some Ultimate Alliance’s die-hard fans over to their console, then that more than justifies the investment, even if it’s not a Breath of the Wild level hit.

Even stranger than the exclusivity though is the choice of developer, Team Ninja. Though they haven’t been averse to taking on established franchises before - and of course teamed up to Nintendo to work on Metroid: Other M - how they ended up on this project is a complete mystery. At the very least it should guarantee some pretty solid combat, in a game that will live or die on whether or not it has pretty solid combat.

Of course, when it comes to a game in this series, the first thing that fans want to know is who’s on the roster. Well, it appears as though the superhero lineup - just like the story in general - is going to be closely associated with the MCU. The trailer showed off a roster that could have nearly entirely been ripped out of this year’s Infinity War, with Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, The Guardians of the Galaxy, Nick Fury, Spider-Man, Black Widow and the Hulk all being present. At least Wolverine was there for a bit of non-MCU representation.

Whatever happens, fans won't have long to wait before they get their hands on the long-awaited sequel, which launches early next year.