Raven Software surprised many gamers when it released the two X-Men Legends games, followed by Marvel: Ultimate Alliance -- both because the co-op-focused action RPG gameplay was a departure from the studio's FPS roots, and because they were uncharacteristically well-received for licensed titles.
With Raven now developing two shooters, the role of lead creating the 2009-due Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Fusion has fallen to Vicarious Visions.
Though the studio has made a name for itself as a premier handheld developer -- with its portable Tony Hawk titles often earning higher praise than their home console counterparts -- it is developing the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions; n-Space and Savage Entertainment are handling Nintendo DS and Wii.
Speaking to Gamasutra on their task, creative director Dan Tanguay spoke on the role reversal. "Certainly this is the first time in a couple of years for me that I've been working on a lead SKU," he said.
