It’s rare for me to play a competitive multiplayer game, generally speaking. These days, I am often locked into World of Warcraft thanks to the Player Vs Environment (PVE) aspect. Going up against other players used to be something I did back when I was younger, when my reflexes were quicker and I had the time to train myself in the art of griefing my opponents. Alas, I once thought that day was gone, but thanks to the hero shooter genre, I might have a fighting chance of returning into the fray with Marvel Rivals. But for how long?
After playing around with this Marvel-based hero shooter for a few hours, I felt the game was rather good; but, let’s be honest here, the game jumps over the bar by a few inches. There is nothing jaw dropping about it, but, on the other hand, there is also nothing absolutely terrible about it; it’s well-balanced, as all things should be. It passes what should be seen as a minimal viable product to the point where it plays like every single hero-based shooter out there, and there really isn’t much for me to say that hasn’t been said before about any game within this genre.
This leaves me wondering what I can actually say without seeming completely apathetic, because it is a good game, just not a great or amazing one. Rivals has one goal, and it does succeed with it. There is a unique art style that enables the game to run on a variety of hardware configurations without much trouble. It has a large cast of characters that I recognize, and some I don’t, which makes me look at the comics (thanks vertical integration). Rivals also has banter, skins, spray paint tags; almost everything we have come to enjoy out of the hero-based shooter genre. It is as impressive as a “paint by numbers” kit done by Bob Ross, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. Do I have to break down what this game is as if you’ve never played it before? Fine, I’ll do it, but I won’t be happy.
Marvelous Presentation
This genre has been around for at least ten years now, and any gaming enthusiast looking to dive in will find me saying one phrase as the elevator pitch: it’s Marvel’s Overwatch, with enough changes to the character abilities and concepts that should dissuade the teacher from claiming NetEase copied Blizzard’s homework. Rivals ultimately plays it safe; it doesn’t need to go off and see the principal after class.
Marvel Rivals is based on an existing franchise, which makes the characters recognizable and easy to distinguish. You have The Punisher, Rocket Racoon, Spider-Man, Venom, and even a few lesser-known characters like Luna Snow and Magik. The roster is packed with a ton of characters with more coming, such as Thor and Jeff the Land Shark.
Each character fits a paradigm within the genre’s role-based system, and they each also have their own loadout and abilities that are unique to that character. Additionally, each character has some sort of skill rating which tells you at a glance who has the strictest learning curve. The Punisher, my favorite, has a 1-star rating, which means anyone could pick him up and be effective on the battlefield, so that should tell you about my own skills. More seasoned players might find solace in the more difficult characters to manage, like Spider-Man whose playstyle requires a bit more finesse but is rewarding when you punch Loki in the face without him noticing. I actually align with J. Jonah Jameson when he says that Spider-Man is a menace this one time.
Gameplay wise, there are the same types of mechanics you’ll find in the other titles, like pushing the payload and king-of-the-hill style point capture modes. Honestly, if it isn’t broken, then don’t fix it. I don’t think the game really needs to change up the modes, and it actually does itself a favor by remaining familiar. As I said, this isn’t new ground we are embarking on here.
Level Design
Level design will be what pulls players in, and it actually has an element of surprise to it. Yes, everything still shares that bright hue of other shooters while maintaining its sense of identity. Where exactly am I, level wise? I don’t know for sure, but it looks stylish and fun to look at. There is this softness that these games have, almost like a playground, that openly welcomes players to fight in.
One element that I have liked is the way the tides can turn, thanks to destructible elements. One button will highlight areas that can be destroyed so that you can create flanking areas and regain lost ground. It doesn’t happen often, however, as players seem to rush to the zone without waiting for the rest of their party, forcing them to come play calvary. Breakable walls don’t matter in these cases.
I kind of feel like I am short-changing some folks on my thoughts, here, because I really don’t have many, and that’s because Marvel Rivals just doesn’t feel that massively different from other shooters in the genre besides the characters and the style. Rivals is stylish with tons of unique takes on characters that makes each one stand out amongst the crowd. You really can’t confuse one character for another, which is great. I also really enjoy the third person camera, but there is still something tingling in the back of my mind.
Truth is, a lot more could be done with this genre, and Rivals is playing it safe. I don’t blame the developers on this because you have to find a way to get people into the game. The more people jump into the game, the more money will be spent. Have I neglected to highlight that Rivals is a NetEase game enough times? I’m not saying that this will spiral into a micro-transaction fest, but when you have a comic book series, there will be endless cosmetics to buy or earn for each hero.
Unbridled enjoyment of the game will not be found within the discomfort of my words, here. Honestly, the enjoyment you will have is within the moment-to-moment gameplay. Forming a team that works together to overcome the opposition is the reason you play this kind of game. Advancing through ranks and becoming a top-tier player is where the enjoyment comes from. Yes, it’s very basic, but it does what it needs to do in order to make the dopamine triggering effect go wild.
With games like Marvel Rivals, whose lifeblood is its player base, there needs to be caution. As I said, it doesn’t push the player base. It doesn’t go beyond what this genre could have. It has to maintain a level of rudimentary design that keeps players happy, which it does, but will it be enough to pull the players away from the games they are already playing? How will the reactions be when the first set of cosmetics drop? How about battle passes and other add-ons? See, these are questions that I have when I really don’t have many other things to think about. When the game just doesn’t do anything to stand out further than, “We have a land shark,” then what is there, really?