Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: How to Play Online

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is now available exclusively on Nintendo Switch. It’s the latest in a franchise of Ultimate Alliance action games designed to be played with friends. But, as with many games for Nintendo’s popular platform, going online can be a bit of a trick, especially for Nintendo Switch owners who may not have played a game online before. Here are the basics regarding how to play Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 online.

Before getting into the details, it must be clarified that online play in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 requires a Nintendo Switch Online subscription and a Nintendo Account. Creating a Nintendo Account is free and can be done by opening the eShop from the Nintendo Switch Home screen followed by selecting your user profile, “Link a Nintendo Account,” and then “Create Account.”

To pick up a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, once again go to the Nintendo eShop from the Nintendo Switch Home menu. Select your Nintendo Account. Select “Nintendo Switch Online” from the menu on the left side of the eShop. Then choose from the Membership Options to pick a pricing plan. 1 month of Nintendo Switch Online costs $3.99, or 12 months for $19.99. A Family Membership, which is $35 for 12 months, will give online access to up to 8 different Nintendo Accounts.

That takes care of the steps required outside of the Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 game itself. From there on it’s just a matter of finding the correct menu options in-game.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3‘s multiplayer will allow players to play with up to 3 of their friends online, for 4 total players in co-op. It can also be played at home via couch co-op. Playing co-op on the couch or online is as easy to do as the other, but online is hidden away somewhat. There’s no shame in getting lost in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3‘s menus trying to find it.

In order to play online with friends, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 players need only click the “Co-op” option from the game’s main menu. From there, click the “Online” option and that will take you to the two options players have regarding playing online with friends:

• • Create – Create an online lobby, where you can change the mode, difficulty, stage, number of players, and set a password if necessary. This password can then be shared so that friends can join your specific game lobby once they’ve found it.

• • Search – Since Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 doesn’t allow for random matchmaking, players will require a password to search for a room to play in.
  • Friend – The third option is for joining a friend’s game after a game has already begun and will require that your friend already be in a game and that the game has a player slot open. If they’ve set a password, you’ll need to know it before being able to enter the game.

That’s it for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3‘s assorted online options. Of course, the most challenging part of playing online is organizing a group of friends without a workable social system like the PlayStation Network or Xbox Live. Nintendo, in so many ways, still has a lot of work to do to bring its consoles into the online future.

Luckily for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 players who are having trouble getting friends together, there’s an impressively robust single-player campaign with up to 36 different playable characters to unlock.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is available now exclusively on the Nintendo Switch.