Marvel Rivals is hard game to talk about because almost no matter what you say about it, the thought process always ends up back at “but how does it compare to Overwatch?” While the two games certainly have their differences (Rivals’ focus on destructible environments, team synergy bonuses and every character being played in the third person being the main trio), the similar art style, game modes, and character abilities mean these two games are almost constantly being compared.
As someone who has played plenty of Rivals in its various forms of beta and hundreds (if not thousands of hours) of Overwatch, the most recent heroes shown off have been refreshingly unique compared to some of the class mirrors we’ve seen previously. Starlord’s backline infiltration and duel pistols are extremely Tracer-coded, Doctor Strange and his shield act extremely similarly to Rheinhart, and The Punisher’s kit is almost identical to different parts of Soldier 76 and Bastion.
Thankfully though newer and weirder Marvel characters added to the game have been toying around with hero shooter mechanics in fun ways. Jeff The Land Shark in particular(a personal comic book favourite side character is an interesting take on an infiltration unit (and extremely cute). The two newest characters added to the multiversal mayhem, Captain America and The Winter Soldier also thankfully feel plenty unique.
From what we have played at Gamescom, Steve Rodger’s in particular felt like like the most well-rounded of any of the melee brawlers in the game so far. His shield bash to get in close, paired with a sprint to close longer distances makes him feel much more capable of staying in the face of retreating enemies. While *THAWANG*-ing his shield off the heads of enemies feels immensely satisfying. What’s more, is that his shield also makes him much more serviceable than other melee heroes like Spider-Man and Black Panther currently in the game.
While Bucky Barnes’ doesn’t feel as finely tuned, he’s an interesting archetype to have in the game thanks to his extremely powerful pistol that needs to be reloaded once every two shots and an ability-defusing blast he can send out. Although we still don’t quite understand what happened to his metal arm it now seems to have Bionicle Commando (2009) grappling powers and why it looks quite so… organic.
Over the past several months of playtest, betas and convention show exhibits Marvel Rivals has built a steady head of steam when it comes to building community faith that NetEase Games can deliver a well-balanced hero shooter. However, it remains to be seen if the post-launch support will be just as convincing and how the game’s monetization will affect the experience.
We don’t have too much longer to wait though as Marvel Rivals is slated for release on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC on December 6th of this year.
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replyLexi Luddy posted a new article, Bucky and Cap round out Marvel Rivals' expansive roster in impressive fashion
