Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects
Encyclopedia
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects is a fighting game
for the PlayStation 2
, Xbox
, GameCube
, DS
, and PSP
, which ties into the "Marvel Nemesis" comic book series.
heroes
and villains
, including Venom
, Wolverine
, Iron Man
, and Spider-Man
against a series of original EA
-created/owned characters. Combat is simplified in favor of allowing the player greater movement, and the game initially drew comparisons to Power Stone
, Super Smash Bros. and Ehrgeiz
as a result. The video game is based on the Marvel comic book series with the same name, a 6-issue miniseries published from June to December 2005. The miniseries does not depict the events in the game or vice versa, and has a completely different story than the video game. There are even points in the video game story and the comic books that directly contradict each other. The comic does, however, star the same characters as the video game and introduces the EA characters with, aside from one or two minor details, the same background stories and powers. The EA characters are said to be part of the regular Marvel continuity but due to the games' poor response and the fact that they're owned by Electronic Arts, they have only appeared in the above mentioned miniseries and may never be heard of in the Marvel Universe again.
discovering alien invaders destroying a bridge. The Thing fights his way to the end of the bridge and finds another alien that has the same strength as him. The Thing smashes him and the alien reveals they do not want the humans; they want something the humans have. The Thing fights through the city defeating every alien he can. The whole city learns of the invasion and learns that the aliens have defeated Captain America
, The Punisher, and Hulk
.
Meanwhile, Wolverine
learns of the invasion and fights through the streets. He arrives at the Avengers Mansion
to find it infected with aliens. He fights his way through the mansion and finds The Wink stealing information from the Avengers computer. Wolverine fights the Wink and soon defeats her. The Wink tells Wolverine she was collecting information for her maker, and then she disappears. Wolverine travels to the bridge to find something wrong with Storm. After defeating her, Wolverine finds a mysterious alien device on her, removes it, and she's back to normal.
Elektra
, in the Avengers Mansion, gets a call from Daredevil
saying he is in trouble. She goes looking for him and finds him on the Daily Bugle building, infected. She fights Daredevil and defeats him. She takes off an alien device from the back of his neck, saving him. Niles Van Roekel
is revealed to be watching everything and is disappointed about Daredevil's defeat and decides to let his Imperfects
into the city. Fault Zone locates The Thing and they engage in a shaking battle in which he loses.
Daredevil, no longer under the control of Roekel, fights the aliens on the rooftops. He makes his way to Grand Central Station. There he finds Johnny Ohm
. They engage in a deadly battle, for Johnny is using an electric clock to access powerful amounts of electricity. Daredevil destroys the clock and is able to defeat Johnny. The game moves to a different story showing a girl named Maya. Roekel tells Maya that she will be the world's best and most deadly warrior ever. She begins her training by destroying different alien devices. The game goes back to Daredevil where he finds Elektra under control of the aliens. Although he was badly poisoned by her, he still defeats her and she comes to her senses.
Later on the bridge, Storm fights her way to the end of the bridge. There she finds Fault Zone. Fault Zone creates an earthquake, and hurls rocks at Storm. But Storm still defeats her. Around the same time, the Imperfect, Brigade
, engages Wolverine in battle and beats him.
Venom
, who stole information from the Avengers computer, makes his way out of the Mansion. He finds that he can heal himself by destroying a certain alien device. He goes to the power plant and finds Solara, who confronts him. Solara is using the alien device to enhance her abilities and has heat tanks to heal herself. However, she is still defeated by Venom, who gains possession and control of the alien device to voluntarily infect himself after his victory. Later, Elektra finds The Wink at the power plant. They fight and The Wink walks away as the victor.
Maya, now called Paragon, continues her training, fighting the same aliens the heroes are fighting. She fights her way out of the headquarters. Spider-Man
sees her escaping and chases her, but she easily loses him. Spider-Man gets a call from the Human Torch
saying he thinks Paragon has gone to the power plant. Spider-Man goes there and destroys many alien machines, but with Paragon not there, he leaves. He finds helicopters waiting for civilians to get onboard. Spider-Man protects the helicopters during this time. Then he goes to the Daily Bugle and finds an infected Venom, where it's revealed of Venom's intention to defeat the web-slinger with the help of the alien device. The deadly battle ends with Spider-Man defeating Venom. He goes to a bridge and finds Hazmat who he also defeats. Johnny Ohm later finds Spider-Man and defeats him in battle. Meanwhile, Solara, who survived Venom's attack, finds Daredevil and defeats him in a fight in the streets.
The Human Torch goes to the Daily Bugle hoping to find Spider-Man, but Spider-Man is not there. He goes to Grand Central Station and kills many of the aliens. He finds the secret headquarters of the Imperfects. He finds an infected Thing and defeats him. He removes the alien device to bring him back to normal. The Human Torch goes to the power plant and sees an infected Spider-Man. The Human Torch is no match for his attacks and is beaten. Storm finds the secret headquarters and is badly beaten by an infected Wolverine.
Iron Man
, at the Avengers Mansion to investigate the present events, kills the aliens. He escapes and goes to the power plant. There he finds Brigade. He defeats Brigade and leaves the power plant. Outside an infected Human Torch faces off with him. He defeats him and heads back for the Avengers Mansion. There he finds Roekel in a deadly alien suit. Roekel defeats Iron Man in a high-powered battle. At Grand Central Station, Hazmat poisons Venom with his toxin.
Magneto
fights around the city and finds Paragon. He uses the alien device to control her thinking she will serve as his minion. Magneto then faces off against Hazmat who is trying to rescue Paragon. Hazmat crumbles under the pressure and is beaten by Magneto. Paragon breaks free of the device's control and defeats Magneto. She realizes that she is not evil and plans to stop Roekel. She finds him and fights him. Roekel reveals that he is an alien, that he is the man responsible for the invasion, and that he will spread the invasion. She viciously attacks Roekel and kills him by taking away his life force. She stops the invasion, and she and the other Imperfects join together to share the Earth with the heroes.
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
, GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
, DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
, and PSP
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
, which ties into the "Marvel Nemesis" comic book series.
Gameplay
The game pitches a series of MarvelMarvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
heroes
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
and villains
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
, including Venom
Venom (comics)
Eddie Brock is a fictional character created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane. A comic book supervillain, Brock's earliest appearance is a cameo in Web of Spider-Man #18 before making his first full appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #299 as Venom...
, Wolverine
Wolverine (comics)
Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing...
, Iron Man
Iron Man
Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 .A billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer,...
, and Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
against a series of original EA
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
-created/owned characters. Combat is simplified in favor of allowing the player greater movement, and the game initially drew comparisons to Power Stone
Power Stone
Power Stone is a fully 3D arena fighting game series made by Capcom. Power Stone was initially released on the Sega NAOMI hardware and later ported to the Dreamcast...
, Super Smash Bros. and Ehrgeiz
Ehrgeiz
, fully titled Ehrgeiz: God Bless The Ring, is a 3D fighting game developed by DreamFactory and published by Namco in 1998 for the arcade platform. It was first ported to the PlayStation and published by Square Co...
as a result. The video game is based on the Marvel comic book series with the same name, a 6-issue miniseries published from June to December 2005. The miniseries does not depict the events in the game or vice versa, and has a completely different story than the video game. There are even points in the video game story and the comic books that directly contradict each other. The comic does, however, star the same characters as the video game and introduces the EA characters with, aside from one or two minor details, the same background stories and powers. The EA characters are said to be part of the regular Marvel continuity but due to the games' poor response and the fact that they're owned by Electronic Arts, they have only appeared in the above mentioned miniseries and may never be heard of in the Marvel Universe again.
Plot
The game begins with The ThingThing (comics)
The Thing is a fictional character, a founding member of the superhero team known as the Fantastic Four in the Marvel Comics universe. He was created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee in The Fantastic Four #1...
discovering alien invaders destroying a bridge. The Thing fights his way to the end of the bridge and finds another alien that has the same strength as him. The Thing smashes him and the alien reveals they do not want the humans; they want something the humans have. The Thing fights through the city defeating every alien he can. The whole city learns of the invasion and learns that the aliens have defeated Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
, The Punisher, and Hulk
Hulk (comics)
The Hulk is a fictional character, a superhero in the . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 ....
.
Meanwhile, Wolverine
Wolverine (comics)
Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing...
learns of the invasion and fights through the streets. He arrives at the Avengers Mansion
Avengers Mansion
In the fictional Marvel Comics universe, Avengers Mansion has traditionally been the base of the Avengers. The enormous, city block-sized building is located at 890 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York City.-Creative origin:...
to find it infected with aliens. He fights his way through the mansion and finds The Wink stealing information from the Avengers computer. Wolverine fights the Wink and soon defeats her. The Wink tells Wolverine she was collecting information for her maker, and then she disappears. Wolverine travels to the bridge to find something wrong with Storm. After defeating her, Wolverine finds a mysterious alien device on her, removes it, and she's back to normal.
Elektra
Elektra (comics)
Elektra Natchios, usually referred to only by her first name Elektra, is a fictional character in publications from Marvel Comics.Elektra is a kunoichi – female ninja assassin – of Greek descent. She wields a pair of bladed sai as her trademark weapon. She is a love interest of the superhero...
, in the Avengers Mansion, gets a call from Daredevil
Daredevil (Marvel Comics)
Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
saying he is in trouble. She goes looking for him and finds him on the Daily Bugle building, infected. She fights Daredevil and defeats him. She takes off an alien device from the back of his neck, saving him. Niles Van Roekel
Niles Van Roekel
Niles Van Roekel is a Marvel Comics villain. Created by Marvel Comics and Electronic Arts, he first appeared in Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects #1 . In the video game, he was voiced by Michael Dobson.-Before Marvel Nemesis:...
is revealed to be watching everything and is disappointed about Daredevil's defeat and decides to let his Imperfects
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects (comics)
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects is a six-issue comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Greg Pak and drawn by Renato Arlem...
into the city. Fault Zone locates The Thing and they engage in a shaking battle in which he loses.
Daredevil, no longer under the control of Roekel, fights the aliens on the rooftops. He makes his way to Grand Central Station. There he finds Johnny Ohm
Johnny Ohm
Johnny Ohm is a fictional character created by Electronic Arts, in conjunction with Marvel Comics, in their first attempt to bring Marvel heroes to a video game platform, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects. He is an Imperfect....
. They engage in a deadly battle, for Johnny is using an electric clock to access powerful amounts of electricity. Daredevil destroys the clock and is able to defeat Johnny. The game moves to a different story showing a girl named Maya. Roekel tells Maya that she will be the world's best and most deadly warrior ever. She begins her training by destroying different alien devices. The game goes back to Daredevil where he finds Elektra under control of the aliens. Although he was badly poisoned by her, he still defeats her and she comes to her senses.
Later on the bridge, Storm fights her way to the end of the bridge. There she finds Fault Zone. Fault Zone creates an earthquake, and hurls rocks at Storm. But Storm still defeats her. Around the same time, the Imperfect, Brigade
Brigade (Marvel Comics)
Brigade is a fictional character created by Electronic Arts, in conjunction with Marvel Comics, in their first attempt to bring Marvel heroes to a video game platform, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects....
, engages Wolverine in battle and beats him.
Venom
Venom (comics)
Eddie Brock is a fictional character created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane. A comic book supervillain, Brock's earliest appearance is a cameo in Web of Spider-Man #18 before making his first full appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #299 as Venom...
, who stole information from the Avengers computer, makes his way out of the Mansion. He finds that he can heal himself by destroying a certain alien device. He goes to the power plant and finds Solara, who confronts him. Solara is using the alien device to enhance her abilities and has heat tanks to heal herself. However, she is still defeated by Venom, who gains possession and control of the alien device to voluntarily infect himself after his victory. Later, Elektra finds The Wink at the power plant. They fight and The Wink walks away as the victor.
Maya, now called Paragon, continues her training, fighting the same aliens the heroes are fighting. She fights her way out of the headquarters. Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
sees her escaping and chases her, but she easily loses him. Spider-Man gets a call from the Human Torch
Human Torch
The Human Torch is a fictional character and superhero appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, he is a member of the superhero team the Fantastic Four, debuting in The Fantastic Four #1...
saying he thinks Paragon has gone to the power plant. Spider-Man goes there and destroys many alien machines, but with Paragon not there, he leaves. He finds helicopters waiting for civilians to get onboard. Spider-Man protects the helicopters during this time. Then he goes to the Daily Bugle and finds an infected Venom, where it's revealed of Venom's intention to defeat the web-slinger with the help of the alien device. The deadly battle ends with Spider-Man defeating Venom. He goes to a bridge and finds Hazmat who he also defeats. Johnny Ohm later finds Spider-Man and defeats him in battle. Meanwhile, Solara, who survived Venom's attack, finds Daredevil and defeats him in a fight in the streets.
The Human Torch goes to the Daily Bugle hoping to find Spider-Man, but Spider-Man is not there. He goes to Grand Central Station and kills many of the aliens. He finds the secret headquarters of the Imperfects. He finds an infected Thing and defeats him. He removes the alien device to bring him back to normal. The Human Torch goes to the power plant and sees an infected Spider-Man. The Human Torch is no match for his attacks and is beaten. Storm finds the secret headquarters and is badly beaten by an infected Wolverine.
Iron Man
Iron Man
Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 .A billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer,...
, at the Avengers Mansion to investigate the present events, kills the aliens. He escapes and goes to the power plant. There he finds Brigade. He defeats Brigade and leaves the power plant. Outside an infected Human Torch faces off with him. He defeats him and heads back for the Avengers Mansion. There he finds Roekel in a deadly alien suit. Roekel defeats Iron Man in a high-powered battle. At Grand Central Station, Hazmat poisons Venom with his toxin.
Magneto
Magneto (comics)
Magneto is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the central villain of the X-Men comic, as well as the TV show and the films. The character first appears in X-Men #1 , and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby...
fights around the city and finds Paragon. He uses the alien device to control her thinking she will serve as his minion. Magneto then faces off against Hazmat who is trying to rescue Paragon. Hazmat crumbles under the pressure and is beaten by Magneto. Paragon breaks free of the device's control and defeats Magneto. She realizes that she is not evil and plans to stop Roekel. She finds him and fights him. Roekel reveals that he is an alien, that he is the man responsible for the invasion, and that he will spread the invasion. She viciously attacks Roekel and kills him by taking away his life force. She stops the invasion, and she and the other Imperfects join together to share the Earth with the heroes.
Playable characters
| Marvel | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Elektra (comics) Elektra Natchios, usually referred to only by her first name Elektra, is a fictional character in publications from Marvel Comics.Elektra is a kunoichi – female ninja assassin – of Greek descent. She wields a pair of bladed sai as her trademark weapon. She is a love interest of the superhero... Human Torch The Human Torch is a fictional character and superhero appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, he is a member of the superhero team the Fantastic Four, debuting in The Fantastic Four #1... ~ Iron Man Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 .A billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer,... |
Magneto (comics) Magneto is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the central villain of the X-Men comic, as well as the TV show and the films. The character first appears in X-Men #1 , and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby... Spider-Man Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15... |
Wolverine (comics) Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing... |
| Imperfects | |||
|
|
|
Paragon (comics) Paragon is the codename used by three unrelated fictional characters from Marvel Comics. The first was genetically engineered by the Enclave. The second was created as an original character for the video game Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects. The third is a superhero and a member of... |
|
- †PSP only
- ~Not present on PSP
Development
Rise of the Imperfects was the only game from a Marvel-Electronic Arts partnership formed in 2004. The partnership terminated in early 2008.Reviews
- X-PlayX-PlayX-Play is a TV program about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits...
gave the PSP version a 2/5. They gave the PS2/Xbox/GameCube version a 2/5 as well.