Adminsince then Overwatch Now that the hero shooter genre has become mainstream, it seems like every company is trying to get a piece of the pie. Marvel Rivalsthe newest live service hero shooter game Diavolo Immortal Developer.
I was recently invited to take part in the closed beta for the game, which ran from July 23 to August 5. It features a ton of Marvel Comics characters, rival Why would Disney executives choose to Overwatch(I’ll be mentioning this game a lot, so please be prepared.) But the twist here is rival If you don’t mind it being an imitation of other better games in the genre, it’s pretty fun.
what Marvel Rivals
Credit: NetEase Games
Let’s start with the basics. Marvel Rivals is a 6v6 third-person multiplayer hero shooter game. Battleborn or HugeLike other games in the genre, players can choose from over 20 Marvel Comics characters. These characters are divided into three classes: Vanguard, Duelist, and Strategist. Vanguard is your quintessential tank; a powerful build that absorbs and deals a ton of damage. This is one of the smaller groups in the game, which consists of Hulk, Thor, Venom, Groot, Penny Parker, and surprisingly, Doctor Strange and Magneto.
Duelists are assault type characters that focus on combat and mobility. This group has the most characters. The most common characters I saw while playing were Black Panther, Iron Man, Magik, Punisher, Spider-Man, and Storm.
Finally, there are the strategists. They are the typical support characters who provide health and buffs to teammates and debuffs to enemies. In the closed alpha test, there were only four support characters: Loki, Luna Snow, Mantis, and Rocket Raccoon. However, in this closed beta, Adam Warlock and Jeff the Shark have been added to the roster.
Credit: NetEase Games
Choose your team of heroes and villains and lead this colorful cast of characters into three game modes: Convoy, Convergence, and Domination. Overwatch It is perfectly consistent, but the dominance call of duty and battlefield. In a convoy, you defend or attack objectives as they move along a set path to an endpoint.
Convergence is a King of the Hill-like best of 2 vs 3 battle where teams fight for control of a single point of control, and Domination, which I don’t have much to say about since not enough people came to play it. Reportedly Teams compete for control of multiple points on the map.
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play Marvel Rivals
Credit: NetEase Games
I enjoyed playing the beta because it was so polished. It helps that NetEase had the template laid out for them, because Rivals is an unabashed amalgamation of everything they’ve done before. Even the maps feel like Overwatch, but I haven’t played that game in over six years. So imagine the feeling of deja vu I had as soon as I booted up Rivals, like I’d somehow downloaded the wrong game.
However, the game falters when it comes to hero kits. The weapons and ability sets in the game are not suited to the characters and can be unappealing. For example, Magneto is a tank class with a telekinetic shield and a mind-controlled rock, but it feels out of place with his character and is boring to play. Bruce Banner transforms into the Hulk, but once transformed, his abilities are limited to destruction and firing gamma rays.
Some characters fit the hero kit well – Iron Man being a duelist/assault class hero with rockets and ion beams makes sense, as does the Punisher with his guns and Spider-Man with his swings and punches – but Doctor Strange as a SHIELD character is not true to character and the gameplay is boring.
Inconsistent hero kits feel like a compromise aimed at multiplayer balance, but it comes at the expense of fun and character fidelity. NetEase is clearly walking a tightrope between creating a game that will appeal to new players while staying true to the characters they’re throwing into their sandbox. It can be fun, but it doesn’t make for an interesting gameplay experience.
Credit: NetEase Games
Distinguishing Features Marvel Rivals Team-up abilities allow certain character combinations to garner in-game benefits, for example, when Rocket Raccoon and Punisher get “Ammo Overload” together, Punisher gets infinite ammo within Rocket’s attack buff and faster fire rate.
But some of the team-ups are inconsistent. Black Panther and Magik, who barely interact in the comics, gain portal-traveling powers, which Doctor Strange already has. Magneto and Scarlet Witch make sense as father-daughter mutants, and the Guardians of the Galaxy characters have logical team-ups. But pairings like Thor/Storm (lightning powers) and Namor/Luna Snow/Jeff the Shark (water powers) are only marginally logical.
So far I’ve played about 10 hours. Marvel RivalsWhile it boasts polished gameplay and engaging team-up mechanics, it’s fair to say that too often the balance of hero kits and characters gets in the way of fun and authenticity.
As of this writing, the beta is over, but if you like a good hero shooter that’s casual and doesn’t require you to think too hard about how to play it correctly, be sure to check this one out. NetEase has not yet announced an official release date, but rumors are pointing to a release sometime next year.
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