Available on: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
Played on: PC
It’s not often a developer can beat Blizzard at their own game. The juggernaut publisher has traditionally dominated entire game genres with World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Overwatch, with their occasional ebbs and flows.
With the hero shooter genre on a nasty downturn, leave it to one of the most popular IPs to reach out a gloved hand. Marvel Rivals doesn’t try to reinvent the hero shooter, but helps perfect it with fun gameplay, smooth servers, a huge starting roster, and attractive art style.
Read on for our review of Marvel Rivals!
Not So Secret Wars
If you’re new to the hero shooter genre, it’s a competitive online game where teams of six players battle as a roster of diverse heroes (and anti-heroes), each with their own unique skills, weapons, and playstyles.
The Marvel IP is obviously a great fit, with an incredible roster of colorful badasses, many of whom are household names thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. At launch, Rivals features an astonishing 33 superheroes, from Iron Man, Hulk, Black Widow, and Thor, to almost all of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Hela, Black Widow, and Hawkeye are long-range snipers, while Black Panther, Wolverine, and Captain American prefer to brawl up close and personal. Iron Man and Storm can permanently fly and hover, attacking foes from above. Dr. Strange makes portals, Loki makes clones, and Cloak & Dagger are a unique 2-in-1 hero combo.
Each hero is rated from one to five stars by their overall complexity and difficulty. It’s easy (and satisfying) to bombard foes with Squirrel Girl’s grenade launcher-like slingshot, while zipping in and out of fights as Spider-Man takes a ton of practice.
Refreshingly, Marvel Rivals includes the option to play against AI bots in normal matchups (with human teammates). Even better, the AI has multiple difficulty levels, letting players practice and perfect different characters without running into the grinder of experienced players. Rivals also includes a robust practice range with every aspect you could want — multiple enemies in different positions and attacks, dummy teammates, ultimate chargers, and more.
In short, Rivals makes it incredibly easy to jump in and start learning and playing — a critical component that many hero shooters (and competitive online games in general) tend to neglect.
With Our Powers Combined
Rivals looks and plays great thanks to excellent optimization and a comic art style that, for once, doesn’t bank entirely on MCU nostalgia (cough Marvel’s Avengers cough). The characters look ripped from the pages of a comic, but without simply copying their most iconic appearances or style.
| Monetization: Marvel Rivals is free to play, and monetized through a familiar battle pass and cosmetics stores. By completing missions, players earn Battle Pass tokens to unlock various rewards. About half the pass is locked behind a Premium wall, requiring a real-money purchase (this initial half-season is $5, with future battle passes priced around $10).
Players can also purchase currency to then purchase fancy, unique skins with custom MVP animations. These cosmetic bundles are pretty pricey, averaging at around $25 each. Players can (slowly) earn premium currency through the battle pass, and through completing some daily missions and challenges. |
Captain America, for example, is decked out in an armored uniform that looks partly robotic. Namor is (thankfully) sans speedo, but wears cool cerulean pants and shoulder armor that still leaves plenty of room for his chiseled abs. The only real miss is Wolverine — I respect our anatomically correct short king, but the big yellow and blue jacket is way too loud for our surly mutant.
The fun voice lines also add to the experience — and not just the hilariously melodramatic war cries during bombastic ultimate attacks. I also love the fun little banter between characters before a mission, reflecting the characters’ personalities and relationships from decades of stories.
Picking heroes to successfully work together and protect or escort or convoy, or capture areas on a map isn’t just about our favorites. Heroes come in three familiar classes: vanguard for defensive tanks, duelist for damage-dealers, and strategist for support heroes.
Currently, Rivals doesn’t feature any class restrictions or role queues in any game modes. Time will tell whether NetEase Games will feel forced to implement something for more balanced parties (there are also more duelists than strategist and vanguards combined) , but the strategists at least are all very fun and can deal quite a bit of damage.
Team-Ups are the other thing to consider, and Rivals’ one true innovation to the genre (well, that and the nifty destructible, respawning environment).
Certain characters, when paired together on the same team, unlock new abilities for each other. Rocket Racoon can ride on Groot’s shoulders. Venom grants Spider-Man and Peni Parker a close-range symbiote attack, while Magneto gets a huge frickin’ sword from Scarlet Witch. Sometimes they’re inspired by comic books, other times it’s just cool, but it’s a neat feature that adds to the group dynamic.
Hopefully more heroes can benefit from at least one Team-Up as the live service game evolves and adds even more heroes.
The Rating
Marvel Rivals is rated T for Teen, with Violence and In-Game Purchases. Combat is the only focus, with costumed heroes blasting each other with arrows, bullets, claws, and more. There’s no blood, barely any hit-reaction, and defeated players quickly disappear to respawn.
The Takeaway
Marvel Rivals’ biggest sin is also something genre fans can appreciate: it doesn’t rock the boat. The simple team-based gameplay may feel overly familiar for Overwatch or Paladins veterans, but that’s also part of its appeal. The gorgeous style and production value, huge assortment of heroes, and respect for the popular IP should keep Marvel Rivals at the top of a competitive group of games.
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