Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3‘s soundtrack is certainly a bit of a mixed bag. As I mentioned in my review last week, a lot of it consists of rather generic orchestral tracks that aren’t particularly catchy or memorable. It’s especially disappointing since there are a quite a few tracks that manage to avoid this; tracks that are full of energy and excitement and sound… videogamey, if that makes sense. Tracks that make running down hallways while taking down the swarms of enemies that come at you all the more exciting. For example, this piece from the game’s third chapter.

When you’re dealing with an army of ninjas, it only makes sense to have the accompanying music be Japanese-inspired. I’m afraid I don’t know exactly what types of instruments are used for it (though I do recognise the Japanese drums), but it perfectly matches with the rest of the level’s aesthetic, as the heroes charge through a re-purposed temple filled with booby-traps and the like.

I think the main reason why I like this track in particular is that it stands out from the rest of the soundtrack. As I said, a lot of this game’s music are orchestral-sounding pieces so this one is very refreshing to listen to. It’s not trying to sound like an epic movie score or something. It is admittedly very repetitive, but it’s just what’s needed for this kind of game and enjoyable to listen to on its own in small bursts. Had the rest of the soundtrack followed a similar vein, it might have been a hell of a lot better.