During Summer Games Fest, we got to go hands on with Marvel Rivals, the literal (super)hero shooter from NetEase. The demo we played allowed us to play in two separate game modes and play with a plethora of the game’s characters for us to use. As someone who hasn’t really dabbled into the genre before, the game is surprisingly a lot of fun, and I loved being able to experiment with so many different characters.
It wasn’t the full roster as it didn’t have characters like Venom, who was revealed in the recent State of Play, but we got to play with around twenty other characters. Plus, you are able to switch between any of the characters whenever you have to respawn. Thus, if you aren’t liking how one character feels or your team needs a different type of character, it’s so easy to swap to another. While full of big named characters like Megneto, Spider-Man, and The Hulk, NetEase isn’t just sticking to the most known Marvel superheroes as the game has plenty of lesser known characters like Peni Parker, Luna Snow, and Magik for players to expand their knowledge about.
As for the game itself, it is surprisingly good looking. All the characters look like they are pulled straight out of the comic books in the game’s art style. Characters have such a wide array abilities to use such as Loki creating clones, Namor being able to summon sea creatures to aid you in battles, or being able to change between Bruce Banner and The Hulk when using him. I never found a character that I didn’t enjoy using in some capacity as they all play different and are fun in their own ways. The sheer amount of environmentally destruction you can cause in firefights is awesome to see. At one point, I caused an entire building to collapse on my opponent’s team.
In all, Marvel Rivals looks to enter a genre that seems crowded but looks to become a pillar that will stand in the genre for years to come.