This week marks the release of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 from Activision.  Ultimate Alliance 2 is an action RPG with a top down perspective in the vein of Diablo, Baldur’s gate, and X-Men Legends.  It is available on every platform known to man except the PC. Unfortunately, much like the ‘Civil War’ portrayed in the game, a good deal of fans are confused about where to shop as specific retailers are offering their own set of unlockable characters.

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If you pre-ordered the game at GameStop you will get a code that allows you to play as Juggernaut. As far as I know this is the only way to unlock him, but I heard a rumor that he might be in some post-game DLC. Wal-Mart gives you a comic book based on the Civil War storyline with cover art done by artist Gabrielle Del’Otto that highlights the key moments in the game. Here is where things get tricky. If you pre-ordered at Best Buy then you will receive a code to unlock Thor and retailer GameCrazy has exclusive access to The Incredible Hulk. Both of these characters are playable on the normal retail disc but your code allows you to unlock them earlier in the game.

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Pre-orders can be lucrative by offering special content to help sell a game before it comes out, but do retailers really need to make it so difficult?  Are there some hardcore Hulk or Thor fans that can’t wait a few hours to play as their favorite characters?