MARVEL Cosmic Invasion - Part 2 - Genosha

Welcome to MARVEL Cosmic Invasion, this retro-influenced beat-‘em-up game has a variety of heroes to play as, and many stages to complete to reach the end. This is part two of the series, where I go through stage by stage and describe what characters the game recommends using, the challenges set for you, and what dangers are awaiting you, along with info about the boss you will meet at the end.

GENOSHA, Heavy Metal

We have made our way out of the big city, and we are now in Genosha, an island nation from the X-Men universe. Professor X tells you that strange activity has been detected in the old mutant complex that needs to be checked out. 

The heroes that you need to take to complete the optional challenges are Wolverine and Storm. Remember, you don’t need to get these extra tasks done, but if you do, you will earn XP. If you would rather take some of the other heroes, go right ahead! Sometimes, I complete the challenges then jump out and restart the mission so I can swap my characters, if there is someone I like playing as more. As long as the challenges are completed, it still counts.  

Challenges: Defeat 10 enemies using Wolverine's Feral Throw, use Storm's attacks to trigger Electric Bombs to destroy 10 enemies, and free all the captured mutants. 

As soon as you arrive on the island, a Sentinel breaks through the wall of the Penitentiary to attack you. Be careful as it will reach up and grab you by hitting the left shoulder button to swap characters and attack; this is your only way out. But, because of its large size, he moves quite slow, so take advantage of this. I just kept using Wolverine's jump dive attack to take him down. 

Once inside the building, there are Sentinels that look like they are powered down standing there, of course they wake up when you get close. There are four of these bots to battle to get to the next area. You walk into a corridor, right above you are doors with a red dot in the middle and above it is a red blinking bar. These are prison cells, some holding captured mutants for you to save, while others have food to replenish health, but be prepared as some have enemies, like a Sentinel just waiting to attack you (like in the second cell). All you need to do to break down the door is punch it a couple times. I expected it to be stronger if it was built to restrain mutants…

The cell at the end of this section, before the hallway turns, has a mutant to rescue at the corner. Four yellow insectoids and a Sentinel greet you at the end, before the corridor changes directions. You can use your special power with the right shoulder button if you want to make quick work of these enemies. Or just beat the crap out of them and go for a huge combo if you find it satisfying, like I do.

Keep walking and you will see a Sentinel is hanging off a mechanical claw; it drops down and more claws move in to drop explosives on you, along with an extra robot and yellow insectoid join the attack. If Storm hits the claws, they will drop the bomb they are carrying and if the bombs kill enemies, this counts for the Electric Bomb challenge. There are two more empty holding cells, then a massive sentinel and two smaller ones show up. Once you take care of them, one cell has food and another mutant to save.

Right before the conveyor belt, there are two snoozing robots, and above them, there is the outline of the stage's hidden cube. While fighting the two red and purple Sentinels, two others fly in to attack. 

Go down beside the belt and you find large chunks of compacted metal. Destroy these to find power-ups like health. There is a yellow insectoid munching on one, hit him and his two friends jump in. You will get a bag of chips to replenish health before a swarm of insectoids and Sentinels attack. While fighting that group, the claws are once again dropping explosives on your head; if you didn’t get the required amount to complete the challenge, now is your chance. 

Watch out for the silver and purple Sentinels as they shoot powerful beams and plasma balls at you. Destroy the scrap blocks you find and insectoids, and get ready for the large Sentinel waiting to attack. Once you get to the end of the hall, the end stage boss fight with Master Mold awaits you.

This massive Sentinel stands in the background and fires shots at you from his eyes. X's show upon the ground where these shots will hit. If you are using Storm, you can fly and avoid some of the damage. Focus on attacking the head while you are avoiding the projectiles. He will then try to smash you with his fists, starting with the left-hand side of the screen and then the right. After doing this a couple times, his head goes up and his chest opens and two smaller Sentinels come out to attack you while you focus on attacking the boss’ fists. Storm's wind attack is useful for this, as it will go through all the smaller enemies and still hit the Sentinel. 

When the hands move, go back to attacking the head and dodging the enemies shots. Be sure to use your hero's special move to do extra damage to the foe; it helps knock down that health bar a lot faster. As the fight progresses, the fists can open up and fire a powerful beam at you. On the screen, you are given a quick warning of where it will go. If you are fast, you can move in front of, or behind the blast to avoid taking damage. The best part is that enemies in the line of fire will get hit.

Once the mechanical enemy is destroyed, our characters level up and we get a score based on enemies destroyed and time taken. It’s time to leave the island and head into the air and onto the Helicarrier to face off against A.l.M. Agents and the Taskmaster.