I finally got my hands on the closed beta preview for Marvel Rivals, an upcoming competitive hero shooter from Netease Games — and instantly fell in love.
It’s been eight years since Overwatch’s original release, and the hero shooter has seen its ups and downs in popularity. Notable “down” being Overwatch’s own mildly-received sequel, Overwatch 2, in 2022.
It’s impossible to disseminate Marvel Rivals without mentioning Overwatch, as the two games share the same core DNA. Players choose among a cast of colorful heroes (and anti-heroes) with unique weapons and powers. Two teams of six face off in team-based missions, such as capturing control points or escorting a payload (or stopping said payload).
With Marvel Rivals, I’m prepared to declare the hero shooter officially UP after playing the closed beta. Higher, Further, and Faster.
Holding out for a Hero
Whereas Overwatch has to work at creating a background world and compelling characters in a series that has no singleplayer story campaign, Marvel Rivals has over 80 years of comic book history. And perhaps more notably, well over a decade of the Marvel Cinematic Universe making household names of Rocket Racoon, Scarlet Witch, and Black Panther.
And I expect Marvel Rivals will do the same for Jeff the Land Shark!
The closed beta already features over 20 superheroes. The familiar characters are a huge draw, and comic superheroes are an obvious choice for a competitive game with asymmetrical characters.
Rivals takes a cue from Overwatch 2, reducing the classes to three main styles: Vanguard (beefy, usually close-range tanks), Duelist (faster, squishier damage dealers), and Strategists (healers, buffers, and crowd controllers).
Iron Man is a Duelist, capable of flying indefinitely and bombarding enemies with rockets, pulse lasers, and giant explosions. It’s super fun to fly above the battlefield and rain down damage, but also easy to get picked off by a sniping Hela, or swinging Spider-Man.
Adam Warlock is a Strategist, using his quantum magic to link his allies together to share health and reduce damage. His ultimate can resurrect the entire team in a pinch (hello, Mercy!), but the weakened state leaves them vulnerable.
Magneto is a Vanguard. While it’s a bit disappointing to see my mac daddy mutant reduced to a shielding role (Reinhardt + Zarya), Magneto has a shield for every occasion, and uses them to power up his own attacks. When teamed up with his daughter Scarlet Witch, however, he gains an awesomely powerful metal-sword!
Our Powers Combined
Team-ups are unique to Marvel Rivals, and a cool evolution for the genre. By building on comic history, the designers implemented unique abilities and passives that unlock when certain heroes are on the same team.
Adam Warlock bestows his self-reviving cocoon feature to Guardians Mantis and Star-Lord. Storm and Thor power up each other’s lightning abilities. And my personal favorite: smol boys Jeff and Rocket can ride on Groot’s shoulders!
I once had a random Rocket teammate ride with me as Groot throughout a whole match. It was absolutely delightful, and empowering.
Team-ups add an entire new layer to team-building, and make new arrivals that much more exciting.
Rivals’ other big genre change is shifting from first-person to third-person. Third-person allows more complex movement associated with superheroes: flying, swinging, dashing, and teleporting. Not to mention actually seeing your chosen hero on screen, with all their glorious animations and fancy skins.
But what impressed me most about the closed beta is the overall presentation. Rivals is a slick-looking game, from the opening intro of every loading screen, to the radial character selector and the flashy MVP highlight.
The game world is brightly colorful without being jarring or tacky. Character abilities are flashy and punchy, and voice lines range from decent to dang-near iconic. When Scarlet Witch screams “PURE CHAOS!”, you know you have only a few seconds to take her out, before she kills everyone around her.
I also love how well they captured the stylized comic-look of each hero — there isn’t a dud in the bunch. And there’s always room for expansion. Not just new heroes, but more skins that celebrate different eras, outfits, and evolutions.
But speaking of new heroes, can we please get some more X-Men?
Rivals will undoubtedly feature plenty of cosmetic goodies to unlock and/or purchase. A battle pass of sorts was available in the beta, rewarding in-game currency and other goodies. Blizzard was heavily criticized for gating new characters behind seasonal battle passes when Overwatch 2 launched.
Netease Games has yet to announce monetization plans what looks like a surefire hit. With all the right pieces in place, hopefully Rivals can learn from Overwatch’s many stumbles over recent years to emerge as the dominate online hero shooter.
Marvel Rivals is coming to PC (Steam, Epic), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S, and rated T for Teen. A release date has not yet been announced.
