Marvel Rivals Review – Civil War

Hero shooters have come and gone, and few have competed against Blizzard’s Overwatch 2, the de facto market leader. The likes of Valorant have carved their own market, but the sheer number of failures – Battleborn, Concord, Dirty Bomb, LawBreakers – is pretty significant. Conveniently enough, even the superhero genre hasn’t exactly been bursting at the seams with quality offerings over the years, outside of Insomniac’s Spider-Man series.

Enter Marvel Rivals, developed by NetEase Games and featuring a massive roster of recognizable heroes and villains. Instead of trying to do its own thing with the hero shooter formula, its gameplay loop competes directly with Overwatch 2. The kicker? In many ways, it’s a lot more fun, embracing a competitive shooter format that rewards teamwork and explosive solo play alike while presenting some fun new mechanics.

There are some flaws and evils that will become necessary after a point, but we finally have a worthwhile competitor to Blizzard’s juggernaut. A worthwhile hero shooter to compete against Overwatch 2, launching in the same week as Path of Exile 2, a competitor that trounces Diablo 4? Christmas must have come early.

"As for the character designs, there’s no two ways about it – they’re incredible. It reminds me of Marvel’s 2003 Tsunami imprint, except, well, better in almost every way."

There is some semblance of a narrative and evolving plot to Marvel Rivals, and thankfully, it accommodates all of the established superhero lore while not requiring much attention. Long story short, present-day Doctor Doom meets Doom 2099, and they get into it. Timestreams are disrupted, new locations that defy established canon are created (see Wakanda becoming an Intergalactic Empire), and somehow, Galacta, the daughter of Galactus is involved. Things can only play out one way – heroes and villains, interspersed on both sides, beating the tar out of each other.

It’s kitschy and over-the-top, and much like Overwatch, there isn’t much in-game reason for these all-powerful beings to keep grinding out the same objectives in match after match. Nevertheless, the background story for each leverages comic book lore in some pretty cool ways. Tokyo 2099, for example, sees the Master Weaver trying to take advantage of the Timestream Entanglement created by the Dooms for the sake of the Web of Life and Destiny.

Spider-Zero, his Disciple, wants to stop him, so you naturally have two opposing sides. Fulfil the latter’s goal, and the victory screen sees her triumphantly sealing the rift, thwarting her master’s plan. Win for the Maser Weaver, and he’ll menacingly drop in, looming over Spider-Zero with the outcome unknown. A small touch but it does more to reinforce the conflicts taking place as opposed to a simple “Victory” or “Defeat.”

As for the character designs, there’s no two ways about it – they’re incredible. It reminds me of Marvel’s 2003 Tsunami imprint, except, well, better in almost every way. They animate fluidly and offer so many extra details – Psylocke’s scarf, for example, radiates butterflies at the tail-end, in line with her motif. Best of all, they act almost as close as you’d expect to their comic book brethren. Granted, not all of their voice lines are on point when interacting, but hearing Rocket Raccoon compliment Star-Lord on getting a kill in the most deadpan manner or Punisher commenting on how weird things are with some of the objectives is genuinely fun. I’d like to see more variety, though, especially for Galacta, whose voice lines have already overstayed their welcome.

"The Team-Up Attacks are also great – unleashing the Symbiote with Peni or Peter Parker or going ham with the Punisher with Rocket providing back-up encourages picking certain heroes for synergies, even if they’re not always the best overall."

Marvel Rivals features the same role alignment as Overwatch – you have Strategists, who support allies with healing and other buffs; Vanguards, who tank damage and take space; and Duelists, the damage dealers. While there are certainly far more Duelists than other classes, there’s still a nice variety of playstyles available. Thor is a Vanguard who focuses more on melee attacks and throwing his hammer while charging up his thunder powers to unleash ranged bursts. With enough hammer charges, you can fly a reasonable distance with Mjolnir to close in on targets above ground.

It’s a completely different playstyle from Peni Parker, who works better at defense and zone control, deploying mines and a station to provide health and shields. However, she also has a fair bit of mobility and crowd-control abilities, which can come in handy for shutting down some Ultimates.

The list goes on, whether it’s Rocket flexing between damage, healing and amplifying allies or shifting between Cloak and Dagger to deliver healing or blinding abilities. The number of options with the Duelists is also pretty hefty. Despite both being flankers, Psylocke and Spider-Man fulfil completely different purposes. The same goes for Winter Soldier and Punisher, though they’re both technically hitscan and Wolverine and Iron Fist, who prefer up-close melee encounters.

Balance-wise, it’s a testament to the developer that things toe the line between feeling utterly broken and just right. Sometimes, it can feel like the opposition never dies with the amount of healing on the field. Meanwhile, you could get almost instantly deleted from a shot by Hawkeye or even just a few hits from Hela. It’s pretty easy to steamroll and spawn trap teams, and it feels like some characters could use a bit of toning down.

Nevertheless, they’re all tremendously fun to play, even if aiming some melee attacks with characters like Venom can take getting used to. The Team-Up Attacks are also great – unleashing the Symbiote with Peni or Peter Parker or going ham with the Punisher with Rocket providing back-up encourages picking certain heroes for synergies, even if they’re not always the best overall.

"As for the maps, I found most of them enjoyable, with Hydra’s base perhaps standing out the most due to its transformative properties. Though they can feel rudimentary, the environmental damage occasionally spices things up, and the aesthetics are pretty good."

Of course, the greater issue is the lack of a role queue in any mode. Conquest feels more like Team Deathmatch/Kill Confirmed, so a more free-flowing composition makes more sense. However, Quickplay often comprises five Duelists – if you’re lucky, the sixth person will take on a Strategist or Vanguard role. Better teamwork almost always wins the day, but when you lose out simply because of no healing, it can feel frustrating. It may not be what many want to hear, especially given the controversy over role lock in Overwatch, but it’s a necessary evil.

As for the maps, I found most of them enjoyable, with Hydra’s base perhaps standing out the most due to its transformative properties. Though they can feel rudimentary, the environmental damage occasionally spices things up, and the aesthetics are pretty good. Otherwise, each presents a pretty solid mix of high-ground opportunities and flanking routes while still being relatively easy to navigate. The only map that felt a bit underwhelming was Klyntar – its symbiotic properties weren’t exactly super-impressive, especially compared to the other environmental factors.

Marvel Rivals could use more maps and modes, though. Even as a free-to-play title, only one map for Conquest – a pretty fun mode when you embrace the chaos – feels limiting. There’s also no Ranked Play, and while it’s not uncommon for developers to roll it out later, its absence in light of the rest of the offerings is felt all the more.

Performance-wise, on PC, things feel solid for the most part, though there was some stuttering at one point, and I experienced at least one crash. Connection quality is otherwise on point, with pretty much no lag.

"Marvel Rivals is well worth jumping into. It’s familiar enough for fans of the hero shooter genre to dive into while offering more than enough to set it apart in gameplay."

The only other demerit against the title is how it handles cosmetics. Additional outfits or skins must be purchased with real money or earned from the battle pass. You can pay about $5 for the Luxury battle pass, which grants some genuinely great-looking skins, but there’s also a free tier for spending in-game currency to unlock Units used to purchase cosmetics and bundles. However, you can also spend money on Lattices and convert them into Units. All this is fine and dandy, but like Helldivers 2, you must unlock a certain number of options from the Battle Pass before getting to the latter tiers where the Units lay.

You can unlock sprays, avatars and KO Prompts by gaining Proficiency with characters. Otherwise, it’s slim pickings for those who want to get Credits straightforwardly and unlock skins or emotes. The current offerings being so slim is a separate issue but worth pointing out.

Regardless of everything, however, Marvel Rivals is well worth jumping into. It’s familiar enough for fans of the hero shooter genre to dive into while offering more than enough to set it apart in gameplay. There’s always a long road to consider with such titles, especially as balance changes and new heroes shake up the meta, but even with the sheer anarchy that matches can devolve into, it’s a fun time.

This game was reviewed on PC.