Just wondering if anyone has played this (Marvel: Ultimate Alliance) game and can tell me if it has the ability for free play. I have a 5 year old and he loves superhero games but I wonder if it could be to difficult for him. He doesn't care yet if he completes missions and things of that nature. He just likes to practice playing with characters. I prefer for him to stick to games like spiderman 2, where he can freely role around town and do as he wishes. He seems to enjoy this better and it helps him to manuveur the controlls to the game.

Ultimate Alliance is essentially a mission based game where you have to complete certain tasks in order to proceed and upgrade the character stats of your team. This isn't remotely like Spiderman 2, but more of a role-playing game with some action and a lot of Marvel trivia and lesser known characters thrown in.
I wouldn't recommend this to a 5 year old, since you realy have to be a Marvel buff to fully enjoy it. If your son's a superhero fan, he might be better off with "Superman Returns" - it's far from a masterpiece but at least it does offer free roaming within a superhero setting.