REVIEW – A new hero shooter, or characters with different abilities fight in teams to compete with Blizzard Entertainment’s mostly unrivaled Overwatch. This time, however, it’s not a paid title (Sony’s Concord was a very short-lived attempt), but a free-to-play title backed by Chinese tech giant NetEase… but is it any good?

Perhaps the problem with the game is that its monetization is a bit aggressive on the one hand, and on the other hand it doesn’t seem to dare to be completely unique.

It treads familiar paths and is afraid to stray from them… and maybe that’s the problem

One thing that can be said about Marvel Rivals is that it’s easy to get used to the gameplay, but you have to work hard to get truly professional results. There are some very good ones among the character skills, and it must also be acknowledged that NetEase has boldly reached into the company’s history. There is a huge character roster (starting with thirty-three from the beginning), which is perhaps too large. However, it has potential, be they good guys or villains. The story isn’t going to carry the whole thing on its back (Dr. Doom and his 2099 self wreaking havoc together, and everyone trying to pull together in the two conflicting worlds). The way the gallery slowly unfolds as the battle progresses is a good idea, but it could have been a little longer than the four-page mini-comics. At the moment, it seems that NetEase can’t really provide a coherent, consistent background for the many characters, so it can only feel like a fan mashup. Perhaps more behind-the-scenes content was needed. Overwatch is overly present in its gameplay, from the roles to the game modes (Convergence, Convoy, Domination, aka Hybrid, Escort, Control…) to the gameplay itself. Marvel Rivals divides the 33 characters into three roles.

Maybe the characters are a bit like what we’ve seen in Overwatch (Hawkeye = Hanzo…), but it’s strange that the characters could have been made into something completely unique, and the gameplay could have bravely taken on something new, but then it didn’t quite reach the same level. OK, it’s not as much of a rip-off as Final Combat (the Chinese Team Fortress 2 clone, which was a blatant rip-off), but Marvel Rivals still manages to go beyond Overwatch: it’s not as simple as who has what abilities. For example, Hulk starts out as Bruce Banner with a laser pistol, and the more pissed off he gets, the more he reveals what he can do. As such, this game can get in front of Blizzard’s title, and that’s a good thing. Maybe that’s the power of Marvel Rivals: if you can actually learn what a complex character can do, and use it in a relatively useful way, well, that’s going to be very satisfying. But it takes patience and a bit of MOBA thinking (like Valve’s Deadlock).

Being free saves it from shutting down in a short time

There are bugs with balancing (and Jeff has become quite a meme, perhaps not coincidentally… and Doctor Strange’s portals, now those two characters stand out). Watch out for Venom or the aforementioned Jeff, they’ll suddenly appear out of nowhere, and like we said about balance, an acorn does the same damage as a headshot, which doesn’t make much sense. Punisher’s submachine gun seems a bit OP, but Loki’s copies are easily recognizable. It should be added that the game has been out for less than a week and will change over time (No Man’s Sky is a prime example). It won’t be easy, as it started out with a lot of characters, just as Overwatch reached 42 characters in eight years.

Perhaps fewer but more elaborate characters would have been a better idea, as would elaborating on the special abilities of the characters (Captain America after jumping into the air with no control). There are many minor annoyances (the monetization is one of them… but it’s probably not as bad as what Diablo Immortal showed, and NetEase had a hand in that), and maybe it should be stated that the game shouldn’t be about “playing around” with NetEase’s stupidity, but about learning who can do what. The current state of the game cannot be praised highly enough, but it should be emphasized: it is in a good state.

It’s not that bad, but there’s still room for improvement…

Marvel Rivals is a 7/10 title, but it’s also a bit of a kind-hearted 7. If you’re a fan of Marvel, give it an 8/10. No major complaints about performance on console. It’s a free-to-play game, and NetEase’s PR people are already beating their chests about how many people have signed up for it. Okay, it’s a live service title. Let’s see where it is in a year. At least it will outlive Concord. Let’s say they didn’t charge more than 15k for Marvel Rivals…

-V-

Publisher: NetEase
Developer: NetEase
Style: hero shooter
Release: Date: December 6, 2024