Years ago, I thought of how interesting it’d be to have a comic property come to life via an Overwatch clone. Turns out, NetEase is creating just that in the reveal of Marvel Rivals. Marvel Rivals appears to be taking heavy inspiration from the once much beloved Overwatch series. There are clear analogs to Overwatch characters. The most apparent being:
- Iron man – Pharah
- Hulk – D.Va.
- Luna Snow – Lucio
There are certainly some clear distinctions which work to set it apart from it’s deep inspirations:
- 6v6. A welcome addition for those that still harken back to Overwatch 1 days.
- Team-up attacks that appear to be more interconnected than just finding optimal ultimates to pair like in Overwatch. Ironically enough this is something that The Avengers game should have done more of.
- The game is also in third person, which I feel does make sense to better highlight the Marvel characters.https://youtu.be/DA4iVv4MARE?si=C9jBcsYSU8jgmRUO
Going off of the trailer, the known (yet not official) roster appears to be:
- Black Panther
- Doctor Strange
- Groot
- Hulk
- Iron Man
- Loki
- Luna Snow
- Magik
- Magneto
- Mantis
- Namor
- Peni Parker
- Rocket Raccoon
- Scarlet Witch
- Spider-Man
- Storm
- Star-Lord
- Punisher
One big omission for Rivals is that it appears to be skipping consoles. At least, for the time being. Steam and Epic are the only stores noted in the trailer and on their official website.
The story appears to straddle the usual lines of comic book shenanigans. Their official site lays the story out as:
The merciless clash between tyrannical dictator Doctor Doom and his future counterpart from the year 2099 has forced countless universes to collide in the Timestream Entanglement, creating new worlds and crises unknown.
Now, Super Heroes and Villains from across the multiverse must fight together and against one another as disparate groups each seek to best both Dooms before one achieves domination of these realities. Familiar faces become newfound foes while former enemies become the greatest of allies in Marvel Rivals!
The hero shooter genre could always use some new blood, and I hope that NetEase finds a way to bring Marvel into the fold. The only remaining question, as it always is, is what the monetization end of things look like. A free-to-play game comes with a lot of baggage, so let’s hope those get detailed out prior to launch.
Closed beta test sign ups are currently being accepted via their official page: Marvel Rivals – The Super Hero Team-based PVP Shooter