Marvel Rivals is yet another hero-shooter. Only this one has a Marvel Comics coat of paint over the top of it. Though the genre is saturated, Rivals brings new life to it with its addicting gameplay and easy to learn mechanics.
Unlike Overwatch and Valorant, Rivals takes itself less seriously. The light-hearted tone and bright colour pallet makes the game a joy to look at and even more fun to engage with.
Rivals is easy to pick up and hard to put down, giving out over 30 characters on launch means you’re bound to spend hours trying out each of them to see who fits your play style the best.
The large cast of characters come from all over the Marvel world. Space characters like Thor and The Guardians of the Galaxy are present, as well as Mutants like Wolverine and even a majority of the Avengers. The laundry list of characters means it’s more than likely your favourite is in there somewhere.
Non-stop fun
Image credit: NetEase
Rivals isn’t an original concept by any means. The game clearly borrows heavily from Overwatch and it’s not hard to see. Some of the most iconic Overwatch characters have very clear parallels in Rivals. Doctor Strange plays like Reinhadrt, Star-Lord is almost the exact same as Tracer and Black Widow has a similar kit to Widowmaker.
None of the characters in Rivals are clear rip-offs of their Overwatch counter-parts but the similarities are there. The similarities make it very easy to jump into Rivals if you’re familiar with Overwatch.
This isn’t to say some of the characters aren’t wholly original. Because over half the roster play very different to any other characters in games like Overwatch and Valorant. Characters like Wolverine and Mantis have very complex abilities and kits that makes them a joy to play and learn.
Another highlight of Rivals is its balancing model. Where other hero-shooters try to balance all the characters by making them strong but not game breaking, a majority of Rivals cast is incredibly strong. The thought process of “If every character is overpowered, then no character is overpowered” is on full display in Rivals.
A fun change Rivals has brought to the hero-shooter genre is the “team-up” moves that can completely change the tide of a match. The moves involve two or more characters using their powers together, creating one big move that can either wipe out the enemy team or greatly boost the power of your own.
Teaming up and choosing characters that work well with each other is core to winning in Rivals. But sometimes it’s just fun to play as a full team of any characters, avoiding healers at all cost.
Imperfections are perfect
Image credit: NetEase
Rivals isn’t perfect by any means. Some characters are too strong and can singlehandedly defeat an entire team by themselves. The biggest offender being Iron Fist.
Game breaking bugs and frame drops aren’t common but reports of maps not loading in properly and collision issues have increased after the game fully launched last week.
The toxic player base that follow the hero-shooter genre is sadly present in Rivals. But not in a majority of the matches. Most of the toxicity comes down to players avoiding the tank and support roles. But this isn’t usually an issue in most matches.
Rivals has been an instant success with the player numbers during its release weekend completely blowing Overwatch 2 out of the water, having more than ten times the players playing concurrently.
With more characters on the way and plenty of regular updates promised, Marvel Rivals is bound to stick around for a long time.
Featured image credit: NetEase
Fourth year Film and Journalism student
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