Overview

The fundamental, defining characteristic that [the best] games have in common is that the environments are a function of the narrative, an expression of the thesis that the game posits (explicitly or implicitly) and ultimately an expression of the character. – Dan McLaughlin

MAA is a turn-based strategy game that is not based on time. In other words, forget about the frantic thumbing of buttons and keys on game controllers to try to achieve some task in a limited amount of time. The actual battles, at their core, are two teams of three facing off in a relatively straight line, and going turn by turn to do their thing. You can walk off from a battle in the middle and stay away for a minute or an hour, and (assuming your browser hasn’t crashed), resume game play from the moment you got up and walked away. For some gamers, MAA is quite old-fashioned and stodgy. If you prefer live action gaming where seconds matter and battles take place in hyperactive, chaotic environments, MAA might seem a bit tame. However, if strategy games are your thing, and you like spending as much time considering what you’re going to do as you spend actually doing something, the game might work well for you.

Finding the best course of actions to take ends up feeling like a really satisfying puzzle. “If I have Hawkeye attack the Blaster Type enemy, he can get an immediate extra turn that I can use to recharge She Hulk’s stamina. That’ll free up my S.H.I.E.L.D. agent to destroy the guy with the bazooka because his gun packs a big wallop, and we reduced the enemy’s evasion with an attack last turn.” At the same time, though, it’s a level of depth that’s only there for people who want it. – Jim Squires

One of the most intelligent decisions made by Playdom was to have the player (you) as a human SHIELD agent and not as a particular hero or heroine. Instead, you recruit heroes and play a selected pair of them in your battles. (Why is that good? Who wants to be Captain America, as cool as he may be, every single time out of the gate?) Most of the time, you can change heroes freely from one battle to the next. You might play Spider-Man and Cyclops alongside your agent in one battle and Ms. Marvel and the Hulk the next time – if you have them recruited. In some battles, the game either gives you the option of “teaming up” with a specific hero, which you may or may not have already recruited, or forces you to accept the designated hero during a particular battle. This is a good way to play heroes you haven’t yet recruited, both for additional fun and to see how the hero functions in combat.

To a limited extent, the game is asymmetrical in its style, meaning that different players can play the game differently. There are elements of cooperative gameplay in MAA, considering that your allies give you indirect, but critical, assistance during the game. PVPPlayer Vs. PlayerPeriodic tournaments where your team plays against another agent and his team. is classic deathmatch gaming, where you compete against another player. However, in PVP, the computer, not the opponent, plays the defensive team. The game centers on classic hack and slash gameplay, but that is not the entire focus – much of the time spent by gamers is in preparation for combat missions. The game is quite nicely leveled and dynamic, inasmuch as new and inexperienced players can win battles and achieve tasks such as leveling heroes with no real difficulty; only as the game progresses does winning battles and achieving tasks get harder, more complex, and more time-consuming. The game has strong and pervasive elements of micromanagement, to the point that players with short attention spans or a need for incessant stimuli (near-constant action, etc.) will likely get bored with it. (For more about the different types and aspects of gameplay, visit the Wikipedia page and explore the source links.)

Societal Content

• Playdom deliberately made MAA as appealing to a broad audience as possible. Comic book mavens, especially Marvel fans, are guaranteed to at least be momentarily interested in the game – who doesn’t want to play Thor or Iron Man in a game? The game appeals to men and women, children and adults, and is available in a multitude of languages for global appeal. Some hardcore gamers may find it a bit “bland” as a result of the attempts at a broad appeal, but that is more than offset by the game’s appeal to a wide diversity of players.
• MAA is relatively family-friendly, with a limited amount of mild profanity used by characters in their dialogues (which take place during missions and, on occasion, while you’re still on the flight deck). The female characters are dressed quite provocatively at times and often posed somewhat suggestively, but this aspect of the game is consistent with Marvel Comics artwork and is (relatively) low-key. So unless you’re pretty strict with your kids or your spouse, you probably won’t have a big problem letting your children (or your hubby or boyfriend) play this game. You see more skin, and hear worse language, on the average Fox or CW television show. If it were a movie, I’d give it a PG or PG-13 rating.
• Ethnic and gender diversity has been something of a focus for Marvel for decades. The Marvel Comic Universe (MCU) has a number of powerful female characters, and that is reflected in the game. There are fewer non-white characters in the game, but they are equitably featured. There are some openly gay characters in the MCU, most of them relatively minor, and none of the heroes in the game are gay. The subject of homosexuality is not addressed in the game at all.
• Religion is treated carefully in the game. Few references to any faith are made. While the characters from Norse mythology are called “gods” by some, the game makes it very clear that no one in the MCU considers them to be gods, nor do they call themselves gods. They do not challenge any component of any of the major faiths. Some may be troubled by the demonic content in the game. Marvel has long had demonic characters, both heroes and villains, and several missions and operations in the game feature demonic villains.
• Politics is also treated carefully. While there are political aspects to the game, the writers are careful not to identify anyone with either of the dominant American political parties, nor do any of the characters directly espouse any political or social ideology. You would have to make some pretty strong leaps to claim with any validity that the MCU, or any of its main characters, can be identified as Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, or any other flavor of political ideology or party.

Individual Gaming Styles

MAA lends itself to a number of different styles of game play. Your personality, temperment, and your decision as to how much time and money (if any) to spend on the game influences how you play. Here are some of the more identifiable styles of game play. If you can see yourself (more or less) in any of the particular styles listed below, you might be able to find ways to get more enjoyment out of playing.

• Casual Gamer: MAA is part of your overall entertainment routine, but you don’t schedule your life around game events. You can step away from the game for a day or a week and feel no loss. The main disadvantage to this approach is the likelihood that you won’t do well in PVP against the more hardcore gamers, but if you’re a casual gamer, you probably aren’t too concerned with that.
• Hardcore Gamer: You spend a great deal of time, and possibly money, on the game. You ponder the different aspects, strategies and tactics of the game. What varies here is your definition of “winning.” Many of the hardcore gamers focus strongly on PVP, viewing the other parts of the game as merely training and preparation for the PVP tournaments. Others may be just as dedicated to the game, but less interested in PVP and more interested in the regular missions, Special Operations, and so forth. While time spent on the game is not necessarily more than a casual gamer spends, a hardcore gamer spends more time and effort learning about the game, and most likely “grinding” (playing the same missions over and over) for specific rewards: more command points, a particular item, etc.
  • Speed-Leveling Gamer: A small but insistent number of players engage in “speed leveling,” which involves using strategies to keep their agent from leveling quickly while leveling their heroes as rapidly as possible. Basically, this involves having your agent die during battle, reducing the amount of experience points (XP) he/she receives, while winning the battle and gaining your heroes as much XP as possible. While this has some short-term benefits for PVP play at lower and midlevels – the speed-leveler is likely to have higher-level heroes than many of the opposing teams he encounters – it is costly in the long run, making it take more time for the player to win bonus gear and other items, and generally slowing the progression of the agent into higher and more “profitable” levels of gameplay.

According to game expert Richard A. Bartle, there are four basic kinds of players: Achievers, Explorers, Socialites and Killers. All four player types can thrive in MAA. Achievers will pursue higher levels and more acquisitions to the exclusion of all else; game enjoyment for achievers may come more in leveling an agent or snagging a nifty item than whipping Magneto’s behind. Explorers want to find new and different ways of achieving game tasks; they may play the same mission five times with five entirely different teams, looking for new and interesting ways to win the mission. They want to understand the game even more than they want to win it. Socializers may spend more time on gaming forums talking and forming relationships with other players than actually playing the game. To an extent, killers are self-explanatory: they like killing off the bad guys, or even better, killing off fellow players in PVP. If they visit forums, it may be more to sow discord and strife than to socialize or learn about the game. Ultimately, their goal is to impose themselves on others, whether it is to dominate a mission or a Facebook forum. Achieving higher levels and acquiring heroes and gear are secondary to wreaking havoc and dominating a mission. Bartle writes, "[O]nly in the knowledge that a real person, somewhere, is very upset by what [they]’'ve just done, yet can themselves do nothing about it, is there any true adrenalin-shooting, juicy fun.” In my view, achievers and killers may get the most out of MAA, though there is plenty to offer the explorer as well. Socializers may find some enjoyment in the game dialogues (it’s a real test of a player’s game style as to whether they actually read the game dialogues or just skip through them to get to the good stuff), as the dialogues create the illusion that the player is part of a larger good-guy community, but I believe that in the long run, they get the least out of the game.

I find it useful to classify myself (and other players) as members of the five hero classes in the game: Blaster, Bruiser, Infiltrator, Scrapper and Tactician. Blasters such as the Human Torch and Dr. Strange like to wreak large amounts of damage on as wide an area as they can, preferably in a spectacle of energy and explosions. Bruisers like the Hulk are the “gentle giants” of the game, needing to be “enraged” before reaching the heights of their fighting abilities. Infiltrators like Black Widow and Spider-Man like to move through the shadows, learning key information without going noticed until they are ready to strike. Scrappers like Wolverine like to fight, and don’t mind getting roughed up in the process. Tacticians like Cyclops and Mr. Fantastic spend most of their time strategizing and pondering the different aspects of the task at hand, and go into battle only when well prepared. I think like a tactician, and I play the game accordingly. I read the dialogues both for enjoyment but also to get every scrap of information I can get from them. I find out as much as I can about a new special op, and go into battle knowing something about who I’m fighting and how to win the end rewards. My wife, when she played, was pure scrapper. She stormed through dialogues without reading them and launched herself into battle ready to kick butt and take names. I found her style of play frustrating. She found my style of play boring. You might consider what class of hero you might be, what motivates you in the game, and what gives you the most enjoyment out of the game.

To Spend or Not Spend Real Money

Probably the biggest dichotomy in the game is the divide between players who spend large amounts of money on the game, and those who spend little or no money on it. Before addressing the issue, let me make an overarching acknowledgement: The players who spend money on the game make it possible for the rest of us to play for free. Period. You think Playdom spends inordinate amounts of time, energy and expertise on the game just to give it away? The players who spend their money on the game help keep it profitable for Playdom, thereby allowing Playdom to keep providing it as a free app for Facebook. So when players gripe about Playdom encouraging players to spend money, and creating situations where the easiest way to move forward is simply to buy something, they ought to remember that Playdom needs to keep its profits up to keep the game itself free. Almost every task and challenge in the game can be achieved without spending money – what the non-spenders invest is their time, energy, and patience.

MAA is a “freemium” game. Businesses, game companies, and the like make products free to use, but charge financial “premiums” for users who wish to purchase advanced functionality. Skype is an excellent example; you can make computer-to-computer video/audio chats for free, but you’ll have to pay for calls to landlines, voicemail, and other functionalities Skype offers. MAA is free to play, but not entirely, as delineated on this page. It is not a free trial, either; the free elements of the game (the vast majority) will, as far as I know, be free for the foreseeable future. Only you can decide whether you want to spend real money on the game.

There are advantages and disadvantages to spending serious coin on the game.

• Advantages: By spending real money to buy gold, you can buy gear and PVP armory items that cannot be won in the game. Most of the gear items (almost all weapons) are considered to be not worthy of the money spent, but some of the items such as Coulson’s Revenge and Neurotrope are considered classics. (Both are “limited edition” items, which means they are not on sale at all times.) Many of the highest-level players in PVP (Adamantium and Vibranium levels) have armories filled with items that give huge attack and defense bonuses, and that can only be bought for gold. Spending money also allows players to level heroes (not agents) very quickly, research items instantly instead of having to wait hours for the item to “complete,” and, perhaps most importantly, skip tasks in Special and Covert Operations that would otherwise cost time, effort, and in some cases specific heroes to complete. Probably the starkest advantage enjoyed by money-spending players is in PVP. While there are a small number of players who have advanced to Adamantium or Vibranium levels in the tournaments without spending money, most of the highest-ranked players are money spenders. Spending money on gold-only armory items, the most expensive heroes, empowered ISO-8 chips, and other goodies gives the spenders a strong advantage over other players. That advantage is distinct and undeniable.
  • Special Operations 16 (early 2014) featured the hero Iceman as the final reward. It was a time-consuming op, and Playdom allocated five weeks for its completion – the longest-running SO in game history at the time. As a member of the Facebook group League of Avengers, I routinely checked that page for hints and updates on the op. Within three or four hours of the op going live, someone posted a screenshot laconically titled “Fast ice,” showing Iceman in his hero entourage and already progressed to Level 6. The reactions ranged from congratulations and requests to describe Iceman’ gameplay, to irritated jibes at the player for buying his way through the op and bragging about it. Probably the best response I saw said something like, “Nice job. I hope you go back and actually get some enjoyment from playing the op now that you’ve gotten the final reward.” Others pointed out that by using gold to skip all of the tasks, the player missed out on some pretty nifty gear that was available to win in the op. Within a week or so, most serious players, spenders and non-spenders alike, had acquired Iceman for far less expenditures of gold (in many cases, zero gp).
• Disadvantages: To my mind, the disadvantages of spending money are subtle and indirect, but existent. Most of it comes in the form of lost experience, both for entertainment value and for game expertise. Let’s go back to the guy who spent big money to complete SO16 and gain Iceman in a few hours. What did he (or she) really achieve? Yes, he gained a new and potentially powerful hero in hours instead of days. But he missed out on the fun of actually playing the op. He didn’t have to mull over the strategies and tactics he would use to win the various battles and complete the op – a big part of the fun for most players. And by not leveling Iceman by game play, he gained no expertise in playing the hero. As I write this, I’ve just trained Iceman to Level 9 by playing him and earning the experience points. I’ve learned something about playing him, his strengths and weaknesses, his ability to mesh with other heroes I have, and so forth. I worked him up, and the knowledge and experience I’ve gained in playing him will help me play him better when he gets more advanced. I won’t go so far as to say that non-spenders are “better players” than money spenders, but I will say that to excel in the game without spending money requires a level of experience and consideration for the game’s various aspects that money spenders are not required to achieve to reach the same levels. (It goes without saying that many gamers who spend money on the game are just as devoted and expert in the various facets of the game as any non-spender.)

General Tips

Maximizing Strengths, Minimizing Weaknesses Like most of the better strategy games, most actions in MAA have their strengths and weaknesses. Your job as a smart gamer is to figure out what the strengths and weaknesses of each action are. One of the most basic actions you take is choosing a team to fight a battle in regular game play. Now that I have a pretty good stable of heroes to choose from, with at least eight heroes in each of the five classes (not counting generalists), I’ve found a good strategy to maximize several aspects of battle: maximizing my chances of winning the battle, maximizing my chances of giving needed heroes experience points, and earning silver all at once. While I’m gaming, I keep my highest-level heroes on the flight deck, going on one 20-minute mission after another. They gain some experience (though most of them don’t need it), but gain me a lot of silver. Meanwhile, I’m leveling other heroes up, becoming more familiar with their abilities (and avoiding the boredom of playing the same few heroes over and over again). If I need one of the highest-level players, I can easily go get him or her from the flight deck. I win battles, gain experience, and get the silver needed to train those heroes.

Using Outside Sources of Information Content coming soon.

Using Your Time Content coming soon.

This is the Game that Never Ends … This game never ends. Literally. In World of Warcraft, when you decimate your enemy and take his home base, you’ve won. You win in chess by checkmating your opponent’s king. In MAA, as in the comics, you can win battle after battle, chapter after chapter, operation after operation, and never “win” the war. You beat the Enchantress in one regular mission and she crops up, hale and hearty and ready to fight, in another mission. You save the world from one imminent threat in one special op and another one appears weeks later. PVP tournaments come around one after another, and each time players begin from the same starting point and battle their way upwards. Obviously this is for Playdom’s benefit, as players continue playing for months or even years, and hopefully (from Playdom’s viewpoint) spend lots of money while doing so. But for you, it means that the game will continue on, adding new content every couple of weeks, for the foreseeable future, and give you as much gameplay as you choose without hitting an endpoint. If you’re dissatisfied by not being able to declare final and ultimate victory, then MAA may end up frustrating you. But you win plenty of smaller victories throughout the game – not just battles, but acquiring new and difficult-to-win gear and heroes, the resources to purchase new gear and heroes, and so forth.

It’s worth noting that a major endpoint is when your agent reaches Level 300. At that point, he/she can no longer advance, and your gameplay becomes more static. It would not surprise me to see Playdom extend that in the near future. (The game developers did extend the usual hero max level from 12 to 13 and then 14, as part of its introduction of new “empowered” and “augmented” ISO chips to the game. Advancing to Level 13 gives the hero a second E-ISO slot. Heroes can have up to 4 A-ISO chips, acquiring the last slot at Level 14. They do not get additional regular ISO chip slots at Levels 13 and 14.)