It had already made headlines this summer, with a beta phase, keys distributed drop by drop during the campaign – so many requests poured in – and gameplay that couldn't be more promising. Then it played the communication card to excess, with announcements of new characters galore and contextual videos to make people salivate. Since December 6, it has finally been available and in the end, everyone is talking about it: it's Marvel Rivals, the hero shooter developed by the Chinese studio NetEase.
Obviously, the game was going to generate some anticipation, given the license it is based on and the promises and possibilities that it can generate. The figures prove it: it only took 72 hours for Marvel Rivals, deployed on Playstation 5, Xbox Series and PC via Steam, to reach the symbolic mark of 10 million players. But it was still necessary to offer something up to par, and capable of renewing a genre of game that has never managed to take off since Overwatch, nor seen a better representative in its current state. It is not the recent example of Concord, with its resounding flop or the other recent attempts, like XDefiant or The Finals, with their strong start before falling, that will prove the opposite.
https://x.com/MarvelRivals/status/1865909229070016851
Overwatch-like? Yes. Copy confirms, uh… no
NetEase did not seek to revolutionize the product and it is clear that the first minutes spent on Marvel Rivals, especially for former players of the Activision/Blizzard license, will inevitably recall those spent sanding down Overwatch. The latter serving as a reference, we quickly realize that the 33 (yes, 33!) characters available at the start of the game are all inspired by one or two heroes available or already played in the past. Understand by this that we are not going into completely unknown territory. The same goes for the roles, namely Tank, DPS and support. Same thing for the maps, some of which seem to be a perfect copy-paste of environments already seen in Overwatch. The genre analogy is total, since we find ourselves with the same game modes – domination, conquest – and the same interface, with the Marvel skin added. At first glance, we could stop there and assimilate Marvel Rivals to a pure and simple copy of Overwatch, with the superhero skin added.
But… that’s where we’re wrong. If NetEase was largely inspired by the model, the Chinese studio sought, thanks to the monster playground offered by this new license, to bring elements of renewal and new blood, as easy to understand and apply as they are interesting to develop over time. And what could be criticized about Marvel Rivals this summer, during the beta with only two maps available at that time, is less so now: the game has its own DA and a DA that is truly stamped Marvel this time.
Expert in construction
The new maps go in this direction, with in no particular order the base of Hydra, the secret and occult society that Captain America fights in the comics, the kingdom of Wakanda, the fiefdom of Black Panther or even the world of Knull, the king of the symbiotes. These maps have been worked on, down to the last detail, with numerous references to the Marvel universe - the same goes for certain cutscenes of characters that are a total homage to the MCU, to have a real personality, a choice reinforced by the fact that these same maps are dynamic, both by the game and by the players themselves.
Some walls or doors appear randomly, completely changing your approach to an area, when it is not you who remodels a sector as you wish, because the latter turns out to be neither more nor less destructible. Breaking down walls lets off steam and is enjoyable. Breaking down walls to give yourself a window of opportunity that didn't exist 5 minutes before is even better.
This changes the game, especially for characters who are less comfortable in certain spaces. Because yes, if with 33 superheroes and villains, there is plenty to do, there is plenty of choice and a more than wide range of skills to draw (sniper, melee expert, zoner, HP bag, etc.), you will still have to make choices based on what you will have in front of you and the map in which you will fight. This is good, you can change superheroes after each death or better, by returning to your “spawn” (the point from which you start the game or the place where you leave after a death) and therefore completely relaunch your way of playing according to the events or the evolution of the game. Knowing that, for the sake of consistency and all the better, two players cannot play the same character in a game.
A true love for the Marvel universe
The advantage, when you have the Marvel license behind you, is to be able to offer colorful and ultra-popular characters with the public. Playing Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, or even more recently Wolverine, is still something else than playing heroes 100% invented for the needs of a game. There is necessarily a part of affect and a different approach on the part of the player. Where NetEase has succeeded in its tour de force on this subject, it is first and foremost by imposing a third-person gameplay. Playing superheroes and seeing them is still better, right away, and it allows everyone to enjoy the skins and the graphic work brought by the teams to this or that superhero. And in terms of readability, it is clearly better than the first-person view of Overwatch.
If the superheroes do not have the exact look of the comics or their film version, they are faithful to their universes and benefit from skins that will inevitably encourage players to do everything to obtain them. NetEase didn't just put popular characters: the roster was chosen in a clever way, by distributing villains (Hela, Magneto), iconic heroes (the Avengers, some X-Men), characters recently highlighted, in comics as in other productions like Marvel Snap (Luna Snow, Squirrel Girl). Result, between discovering characters, reuniting with others and inevitably waiting for the next additions to come, Marvel Rivals offers a completely crazy potential at this level. Potential reinforced by the efforts and work of developers on adapting the skills, abilities or powers of this or that superhero in the game.
Unsurprisingly, it will be logical to move in the air and to favor the combat at a distance with Iron Man for example. To see the Punisher bring out the heavy artillery and to be not very mobile in return. Or to favor the remote spots to take advantage of the gameplay of Black Widow, sniper with cold blood and murderous precision. Besides, hero shooter requires that each character has at least three specific abilities – some like Moon Knight have more – and an ultimate ability, synonymous with big damage and deaths on the battlefield. But what also makes the difference is that some characters who correspond to a specific class are ultimately played differently. Some DPS have tank abilities for example. Others have support skills and therefore healing skills. And we'll let you guess who is who.
Avengers… team up!
The other big plus of Marvel Rivals is the character associations. Some heroes can collaborate together and respecting the Marvel lore requires (again!), the interactions are logical. We will therefore not be surprised to see Groot and Rocket Racoon team up to develop a bonus skill. In this specific case, Rocket can ride on one of Groot's shoulders to reduce the damage taken. When Scarlet Witch and Magneto team up, the former allows the latter to summon an enchanted sword for example.
This kind of combination – about fifteen at launch for the moment – is not to be neglected because it brings a real plus to the games and the way to play them. Not to mention the interactions that the players will discover themselves, like moving behind a magnetic screen from Magneto or placing a portal from Dr Strange at a specific location and using the turret of the Punisher at its entrance, to water the enemy lines at a specific location on the map. And again, we are only talking about simple examples seen in game.
Hell is other people (and balancing too)
The table seems perfect for Marvel Rivals, it is not in detail. And it is often on the roster side that the shoe pinches. If in terms of fan service, we are well served, it is not the same for the balancing, with characters really left behind, regardless of their ease or not to be played. We are thinking of Wolverine currently, who in view of his popularity, would have deserved to be more powerful and charismatic if we stick to his basic skin. Or a Venom much too "broken" (but more stylish than in his cinema version eh). Even, again, to some heroes whose skills were reduced between the beta and the final release, like Iron Man, whose ultimate ability is a little less effective than a few months ago.
We can also deplore the choice of spawns after a death, and the fact of having to sometimes cross the entire map to join your team and resume the fight. Obviously, we can't recommend enough that you try the Marvel Rivals adventure with friends, because the choices of online players are selfish and not everyone is ready to play the game of a good composition to go to the front, knowing that at this stage of the game, having two supports with healing seems to be the best possible strategy. But apart from these two pitfalls glimpsed over several hours of play, it's hard to find other flaws in Marvel Rivals to date. Despite classic game modes, the replayability is enormous, the games are never the same and we definitely want to go back, every time. On the one hand, we can always deplore the absence of a story mode, but this is compensated on the other hand by a hyper-in-depth explanation of the lore and a refined, clear interface rich in information, without being too intrusive.
A stronger economic model
It is obviously in time and over time that we will judge Marvel Rivals. What is certain is that in addition to a solid base and aggressive communication, the teams have given themselves the means to attract a maximum number of players thanks to an economic model that is more than advantageous for them. The battle pass, for season 0, is priced at 5 euros for its Deluxe version, therefore paid (compared to 10 euros for the next seasons). The rewards are cosmetic, meaning that they do not interfere in any way with your gameplay.
Regardless of the season, you will have the opportunity to complete your Battle Pass, in its paid version (thank you!) and you don't even have to spend money to unlock the premium version, you can do it via the gems acquired during the game, which will inevitably take you a little more time. Another good point for Marvel Rivals… which is definitely not lacking in them. Fan of Marvel or not, it would be a shame to miss out. The train is here, it's up to you to get on it. And find ourselves in the lead car.
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