Each character has unique abilities which can be modified to a ridiculous degree, from Jeff summoning Namor’s whales to The Punisher’s shots ricocheting all over the place. Players can equip different blessings across multiple categories to enhance stats and unlock other passive benefits. You can also swap out different abilities for more powerful variants and enhance traits.

Further adding to all this is the presence of seven – yes, seven – difficulty levels, with the highest being Nightmare 4. It also seems that the Nightmare levels are endless, with the hero stats screen denoting waves reached and time spent rather than clears and best time.

Regardless, for its first-ever PvE mode, this is a substantial amount of content to experience. Stay tuned for more details when it goes live this week for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC players.

These heroes also receive new abilities, including a perma-Awakened state for Thor, unlimited Darkchild form for Magick, Jeff charging through hordes, and more. One ability not mentioned is Punisher’s turret acting autonomously while he’s free to gun down enemies separately. Though there are five heroes, only four are playable during a match.

A proper trailer is coming soon, and we may get to see Scarlet Witch, the so-called Queen of the Dead (at least in the Marvel Zombies series), in action. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.

Marvel Rivals is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Season 4: Heart of the Dragon is currently live, with Daredevil recently added as a new Duelist.

The Punisher

The Punisher has had some of the cooler storylines in Marvel, including that one time he repurposed a War Machine suit for his mass-killing needs. Unfortunately, he hasn’t really had much presence in video games – his last title was the awful The Punisher: No Mercy in 2009. Despite this, we think Frank Castle could slot into a pretty good DOOM clone, ripping and tearing his way through a criminal underworld as the “heroes” debate the finer points of his morality.