In the second instalment of the Autumn games preview, TwitchGuru examines seven more eagerly-awaited titles for a variety of platforms. From Star Trek to Marvel Comics, from shooters to skateboarding, it's all here.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance
Platforms	Xbox, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3, Wii, PC
Publisher	Activision
Developers	Raven Software

Slide Show!

The X-Men Legends series from Activision is one of the best examples of comic book licenses adapted into excellent video gaming. Most recently, X-Men Legends II gave players the ability to make their own teams from an extensive roster of X-Men characters, change their appearance, upgrade their powers and traverse stage after stage of thug-infested beat-em-up territory. It's an action game with a role-playing element. Marvel Ultimate Alliance is almost X-Men Legends III, but instead of just offering the X-Men characters, Activision and Raven offer a whole slew of Marvel characters from Dr. Strange to Ghost Rider. Veterans of the XML games will be immediately at home with the controls, while new players will be able to figure them out quickly. What Marvel Ultimate Alliance really offers is the biggest roster of comic book characters ever to appear in a video game as well as many obscure locales. You can expect to battle through a Shi'ar battleship, the Skrull homeworld, Murderworld and a S.H.I.E.L.D. heli-carrier. There are 17 total locations in the game. One of the big flaws of X-Men Legends II was the way items dropped and were used as upgrades. Most of the time was spent managing inventory instead of fighting, but Marvel Ultimate Alliance improves on this by allowing the items to be slotted into specific costumes. If all this wasn't enough to wet your appetite, MUA also has a new competitive multiplayer option as well as co-op. The competitive mode looks and plays just like the co-op, but the players compete for kills, destruction, combo strings, etc. Marvel Ultimate Alliance is shaping up to be a must-have for comic and action fans alike.

Pros:

Over 140 characters appear, more than any other superhero game in history (even Fin Fang Foom!). Competitive multiplayer. Item system has been improved over the cumbersome one from X-Men Legends II. Significant graphics quality step-up on next-gen systems.

Cons:

Game play is simple rock-em sock-em arcade beat down.