Marvel Rivals Closed Beta Impressions | Impressive, Messy, Addictive (PS5)

A Marvel Hero Shooter feels like something which should already exist. The idea makes too much sense – let’s take some of the most popular superheroes and villains in all of fiction and have them fight each other in sprawling arenas. Well, enter Marvel Rivals, a new 6v6 third-person Hero Shooter by NetEase Games. They’ve previously held a Closed Alpha Test and, in late July, they held their first Closed Beta Test. 

Between a litany of technical hiccups, strange balance decisions and a lack of tangibility to some of the character’s kits, there are a lot of things that need tightening up before Marvel Rivals can hope of taking on a Hero Shooter juggernaut like Overwatch. Despite that, though, I have a lot of hope because, at the end of the day, Marvel Rivals is incredibly fun and, in some ways, a childhood dream come true.

Here’s our preview of Marvel Rivals. 

Hero Design | Suit Up

At the core of any great Hero Shooter is, well, the Heroes and Marvel Rivals has a monumental leg up over the completion as its roster is comprised of some of the most popular superheroes in all of pop culture. From household names like Iron Man, Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk, to more underground heroes like Magick or Adam Warlock who get nerds like me excited, the potential for a Marvel Hero Shooter is perhaps the most enticing thing about this game. 

Most of the Marvel Rivals Heroes are a Frankenstein creation of stitched-together kits from other hero shooters, especially Overwatch, and when you’ve noticed it on one Hero, it is very hard to ignore the similarities on others. Storm is like a flying sniper-esque version of Lucio while Hulk’s ability to bounce back and forth with Banner feels like an exact rip of baby D. VA and her mech. Scarlet Witch is Moira if she finally decided to abandon healing for good whereas Star-Lord is a chimeric combination of Tracer, Soldier, and Pharah all wrapped into one character. 

An Unusual Roster

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, of course, but it is noticeable. Marvel Rivals is wearing its inspirations proudly and you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t agree with that. Fortunately, each Hero is remixed enough that they have their own identity, their spot in your memory outside of who influenced them. Whether each kit feels like the Hero they’re based on is a mixed bag but, overall, I was able to set aside any lore-conflicting aspects because, at the end of the day, we need Tanks and we need Healers for this to be a proper Hero Shooter, even if the Hulk being able to spawn shields is a bit odd. 

Although, with so much source material to draw from, there is still a well of creativity and new ideas. Jeff the Land Shark was added partway through the CBT as a new Strategist and, aside from being very cute and lovable, he has a kit which feels unique and special. While all the Heroes feel fun, I’m hoping for way more Jeffs and far fewer Punishers in the official release of Marvel Rivals.

In-and-Out, Nice and Easy

Gameplay | Chaos in the Multiverse

Marvel Rivals lacks the tactical precision seen in some other hero shooters. While there is an element of strategy – which mainly revolves around countering your opponent’s picks and choosing a robust composition of heroes which work well together – it often quickly devolves into a cacophony of noise and sounds, the battlefield alight with gunfire and web shooters. Some players may recoil from this chaos while others, such as myself, will embrace it. 

Combat is a blur as you scramble to better your opponents at each major chokehold and checkpoint, clashing in messy, disorderly conflicts which can last for a moment or can stretch on for upwards of a minute. What Marvel Rivals lacks in clarity it more than makes up for in sheer spectacle as both a spectator and a player. And, even despite the lack of tight strategy, there’s still room for plenty of hero moments, where a single ultimate at the right time can change the fate of the match. Whether you bounce off this style of play or not is up to your personal preference but there will be plenty of people, especially those who don’t want to obsess over the competitive scene, who will fall in love.

Watch Out for the Debris

The two biggest aspects of gameplay that Marvel and NetEase have crowed about in the marketing material are the team-up attacks and environmental destruction and, honestly, both are rather excellent. By pairing certain Heroes together in the same team – Adam Warlock and Starlord, Luna and Namor, Hulk and Iron Man – you can unlock new combo attacks or powerful passive buffs. While the potency of these Team-Up effects varies wildly, they do a fantastic job of keeping the game fresh.

As for environmental destruction, while it isn’t as universal as some may have hoped for, it’s still something you need to consider. If you know the ins and outs of a map, you can exploit the brittle domain to your advantage, whether that’s knocking out the floor below a Punisher turret or sneaking in behind a group of enemies after breaking down a random side wall. Honestly, this would feel a lot more impactful if the map design was more fluid and built around the concept of breaking and entering, so I hope to see future maps expand on this. 

Team-Up Attacks

The biggest flaw with the gameplay is the lack of tangible feedback. Ranged attackers feel less impacted, with their greatest obstacle being a total absence of recoil which, in most cases, actually leads to the Heroes being far easier to play. The issue here isn’t that the lack of recoil makes them easier to play but that it limits most ranged Heroes, significantly lowering their potential skill ceiling and robbing them of a sense of satisfaction.

Compared to ranged Heroes, melee ones have it way worse. Not only do melee attacks in Marvel Rivals feel weightless and lack impact but they’re also just incredibly weak across the board: in no world should the Incredible Hulk be out-damaged blow-for-blow by globs of water from a tiny shark (no hate to Jeff, though, we all love Jeff). These issues all compound in Hero kits which feel fun and work well within the confines of a hero shooter but sometimes buckle under the weight of balance.

At the end of the day, Marvel Rivals is fun. It isn’t precise, it isn’t particularly tactile, but it is fun in a scrappy brawl kind of way. Whether that means breaking out the floor underneath a Punisher’s turret to send him plummeting below or scrambling to get into the air so you can deal with an enemy Iron Man, Marvel Rivals has that special memorable magic, the kind that has you replayable your best feats and worse failures hours after you’ve put down the controller. It certainly has its flaws but, in the hero shooter genre, there’s nothing else like it.

Charged the Point

Art and Design | Golden Age

Lastly, let’s talk about presentation which, fortunately, is one of Marvel Rivals’ best aspects. 

All of the Heroes look spectacular, pulled straight from the pages of your favourite comic. Whether it be the frenzied feral energy of Venom, the stark metamorphosis between Bruce Banner and the Hulk, the technical marvel of Iron Man’s suits, or the godly aura of Thor, Hela and Loki, NetEase have absolutely nailed the designs and personalities of each Hero in the roster.

Every second you spend in the world of Marvel Rivals feels like a celebration of everything which has come before. It doesn’t shy away from its inspirations and, instead, proudly wears them on its sleeve, delivering a game awash with vibrant, saturated colours and a sharp, whimsical sense of style that Marvel properties have rarely seen. Even though the gameplay may not be to everyone’s tastes, few Marvel fans will shy away from applauding the superb presentation on offer here in Marvel Rivals. 

Multiversal Mania

Is It Just Marvel Overwatch?

We’ve mentioned Overwatch a few times in this preview. Not only is it the most popular hero shooter in the entire world but, since its initial reveal, Marvel Rivals has been under constant scrutiny and comparison to Blizzard’s 2016 Game of the Year winner. So, is Marvel Rivals just Overwatch with a Marvel skin? Kind of, but slapping that label on it feels extremely reductive to both properties. 

One of the reasons why Overwatch managed to achieve such a chokehold on the industry is that, in a lot of cases, it was the best at what it was trying to achieve. Not only did it have tight, responsive gunplay for nearly every character on the roster but it also had incredible feedback, leading to an immense sense of satisfaction and growth as you improved with specific heroes. And it was all wrapped up in that fabled Blizzard polish, leading to a sterling final product which captured hearts and changed an industry. 

New Overwatch?

In contrast, Marvel Rivals is far less refined and a whole lot more chaotic, lacking that signature Blizzard charm in almost every single aspect: melee feels weak and sloppy, arenas quickly become awash with blinding colours and particle effects, and matches often quickly devolve from tight, strategic affairs to panicked scrambles for dominance. It’s also less technically refined, with frame drops and stutters being common when there are a lot of effects on screen (which there often are). On a purely objective level, Overwatch trounces Marvel Rivals so, if you were hoping for something innovative, you’ll walk away disappointed.

However, people underestimate how much players want a new Overwatch which isn’t actually Overwatch. Many a moon has passed since Overwatch’s glory days, it’s almost been a full decade since the original game launched and, over eight years and a horribly botched transitional sequel, a current of resentment has risen considerably within the community. The strength of the gunplay or the charisma of its characters matters far less when players simply aren’t having fun. The Overwatch people fondly remember is gone. 

Thwip, Thwip!

To many, including myself, there’s a pull to Rivals that current Overwatch just lacks. Yes, it’s messy, yes, it’s unpolished, and yes, it’s certainly got a lot of catching up to do if it wants to really compete with Blizzard’s golden goose. And yet, all those trepidations just wash away when you get your hands on it. When you’re successfully swinging into the enemy’s backline as Spider-Man or pulling back a game from the brink of defeat with Adam Warlock, it feels like stepping back to those glory days. 

There are an uncountable number of ways that NetEase can mess this up, even with the most important foundation in place. In particular, given NetEase’s history with microtransactions and its lack of generosity, many are concerned about how Marvel Rivals will tackle monetisation, especially when you’re talking about some of pop culture’s most iconic characters.

After playing this beta thoroughly, though, I have hope. I am incredibly excited for Marvel Rivals.