After the underwhelming disappointment that Overwatch 2 came to be, I uninstalled it and never looked back. I turned to other games with similar gameplay to fill this craving I had for the hero shooter genre, like Apex Legends, The Finals, and Concord. None of them seemed to stick or even remain playable… Marvel Rivals is the closest in terms of gameplay compared to the others, and in my opinion, it’s the most fun. It has a massive roster of marvelous characters, each treated with love and care and satisfying yet addicting gameplay to back it all up. As refined as the gameplay may be, it is arguable that there is a lack of originality in some circumstances. I don’t see it that way. NetEase Games took this idea and ran with it all the way to Marvel. These developers were clearly inspired, and the game it created is amazing.
The Rivals Initiative
Marvel Rivals is a free-to-play hero-based shooter where players work as a team to fulfill the mission objectives against an opposing team. The teams are 6v6 and consist of various roles on how to contribute to the battles. Hero’s are classified under three categories; Vanguard, which are tank characters, Duelists, which are damage characters, and strategists, which are supporting characters. Team composition, synergy, and hero skills all play a significant role in overcoming the opposing team for victory. Luckily, there are a good amount of characters for each category, so there are plenty of options to choose from for each role. Hero difficulty can also play a factor since some heroes have a higher skill ceiling than others. In this case, Spider-Man’s web-swinging makes him a harder character to maneuver with, for he deals in close combat compared to Scarlet Witch, who doesn’t require aim to deal damage. Each character has their own unique move set and an ultimate to unleash a powerful move that can tip the scales. Sound familar? It’s not hard to see the influence of Overwatch, but NetEase proves that this hero shooter is fun, chaotic, competitive, and, most of all, addicting.
Additional features of Marvel Rivals that should be addressed are the battle pass, factions, and sheer passion for its cast. The game releases with an event in effect called Dooms’ Rise (Season 0). You can choose from either a luxury battle pass and an upgraded luxury battle pass (not sure why both have “luxury” in it). Both will grant you access to premium rewards such as skins, emotes, banners, and highlight clips. The ultimate unlockable is an in-game comic book that pertains to Dr. Doom. These prizes can be obtainable without the pass, but it will be a long process to gain enough currency. For those wanting to put their skills to the test, they can join or create a faction. Creating a faction enables you and your teammates to compete in in-game tournaments that will be taking place across the season. Reaching silver rank is the prerequisite for all teams to enter, but they will be subject to exclusive rewards. It’s impressive to see such early support for the competitive scene.
The characters have been treated with such love and care; the passion is bursting from the seams, and it’s all over the place. Like Overwatch, there are characters having dialogue in the waiting room before the matches start. Banter is done constantly, even when the enemy team has relating character, your character will comment as you do damage to or kill them. Characters have very flashy highlight clips that look stylish and very polished. It’s always hype see these characters show up on screen to perform their “MVP” spotlight scene. Lastly, while characters have all original designs, there are also additional costumes that are depicted from the comics themselves. Under the skin, it will say where the costume design originated from, which will cater to long-time hardcore Marvel fans. NetEase really did its research, and it shows. The characters not only look the part, but they also play how you think they would.
Avengers Assemble!
Speaking of which, the best strength of Marvel Rivals is its all-star cast of characters that span galaxies, universes, and multiple timelines! There are 33 playable characters at launch, and with the popularity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, of course, having all of the Avengers be playable in this hero shooter was a must. Dr. Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy and X-Men are all very popular characters that are available too. Most characters (except Black Panther) even have an alternate MCU skin, so they look just like their Marvel movie counterpart. There are even characters that appeal to more hardcore fans, like Psylocke, Cloak and Dagger, and Magik. If there’s a character you are unfamiliar with, the game comes with a lore paragraph written just for that character to know their place in the Marvel Rivals story. This is a feature I appreciated a lot because there are many characters I didn’t know about, and it’s always fun to learn about the characters I enjoy playing. It’s undeniable that these characters were selected not only because of their popularity but also because the dev team is made up of fans themselves.
As much of an Overwatch clone as it may seem, Marvel Rivals does incorporate some fresh ideas to rival its competition. First, is the addition of the “team-up” mechanic. If you choose a character and another player on your team chooses one of the few characters that correlate to yours, it will activate a team-up! This team-up mechanic may add an ability, passive, new move or other attribute to your character. For example, if you are Thor and have a Captain America on your team, this will add a lightning effect to Captain America’s animations as well as grant him a new attack. This team-up mechanic adds a whole layer of strategy when it comes to overcoming the opposing team.
Some of these team-ups are better than others. For instance, Starlord and Mantis get to be revived when they are paired with Adam Warlock which can be crucial in battle while… Jeff the Shark and Rocket Raccoon get to just ride on Groot’s shoulder (I know this provides some benefit, but it is underwhelming)? Regardless, these team-up mechanics can be a significant attribute when your team has them and your opponents do not. This can definitely be a deciding factor in playing more characters that will benefit a good team-up to synergize with your team. This will be critical when it comes to competitive matches. This mechanic adds yet another deep layer that makes the gameplay better for those that can use and abuse it.
In addition, there are tons of completely new moves. I’ve seen a lot of discourse similar to, “Oh Hulk is just D. Va mixed with Winston from Overwatch.” As this looks to be the case, there are more characters with power and abilities that are never before seen. Like there being multiple airborne playable characters in this Hero Shooter. Spider-Man, Venom, Storm, Scarlet Witch, Iron Man, Hulk (to some extent). Notably Spider-Man and Venom. Both have swinging mechanics, neither of which are present in Overwatch. Both Iron Man and Storm don’t have to touch the floor at all! Some other one-of-a-kind abilities are Adam Warlock’s healing, which is able to bounce across nearby teammates in the vicinity. Jeff the Shark’s ultimate is a special move that I have seen wipe whole teams. Finally, Dr. Strange’s magic portals, which work exactly how you’d expect, are able to teleport entire teams across the map. These and many more unique abilities make the game exciting and fresh.
With Great Power Comes Minor Critiques
As enjoyable and addicting as Marvel Rivals may be, it has some noteworthy shortcomings. First, the game modes are lacking. At launch there are Escort the Payload (ESCORT) and Capture the Point (DOMINATION), and a hybrid of the two. There’s a competitive mode that consists of the two aforementioned modes. There’s also a mode to practice against enemy AI. This will only be useful for those looking to practice, but not for everybody. This lack of variety can make gameplay feel really repetitive quickly. As of right now, the characters still feel fresh enough, and the maps feel new enough that it’s not a big issue, but a few months later, this will get stale. I’m hoping they add a more original mode, like a ‘Heroes vs Villains’ mode, in addition to more standard game modes like Capture the Flag or a 3v3 option.
Another nitpick I have is that the game comes with virtually nothing to customize your heroes with unless you are willing to cash out or willingly grind for hours. Like I mentioned before, there are battle pass prizes that can be earned, but there still has to be some time put in to require. That being said, the game is free-to-play and I realize that the developers do have to make a profit somehow. The cool skins are about as expensive as you would expect from a typical live service game, but they do nothing to affect the gameplay besides look awesome. I think this is more of a compliment to how much attention to detail and effort put into the skins to make them look awesome.
I played Marvel Rivals on Steam, and it performs decently enough. It’s not perfect, but in my experience, the matches and gameplay were never interrupted. I heard there were issues with payment, and there are some glitches that people have been noting, but nothing happened to me personally that notably affected my enjoyment. I’ve also seen a lot of complaints about characters being too overpowered, and my response to that is, “They are superheroes!” Game balance with 33 playable characters is going to be a hard feat to manage, especially once new characters are added to the mix. As of right now, things are fun, and if you’re not having fun with the current character you are playing with, my advice would be to try switching characters. Marvel Rivals is available on multiple platforms and launchers (not the Switch), so there really is no barrier to entry for this great video game.
The Endgame
Marvel Rivals has awakened my love and addiction to a hero-shooter that has laid dormant for a long time. Just including a playable Spider-Man would’ve been enough to draw me to this, but the mass appeal of Marvel heroes reaches far and wide. This massive launch roster comes with quantity and quality, sporting new and unique moves and showing love and care for the character’s lore and design. There are plenty of new moves, and the Team-Up mechanic adds a new layer to the competitive spirit of the genre. The lack of modes may be bothersome, but the game is still fun to play nonetheless. It’s obvious that a particular hero shooter inspires a lot of the game, but Marvel Rivals proves that is able to stand tall, even taller on its own. If you’re not into multiplayer, it’s at least worth a shot because it’s free-to-play. NetEase released Marvel Rivals at just the perfect time. We will see how far they can take this very strong launch, but currently, this game is a blast! It’s a must-play for Marvel fans, shooter fans, and especially Overwatch fans.
The Review
Superb
