Are you tired of playing the same old copy-and-paste hero shooters that have been hitting Steam lately? Well, does the popular video game developing company, NetEase, and their partner in this project, Marvel Entertainment, have a surprise for you; Another hero shooter! But, this time it has Marvel characters in it. See, it’s different!
Marvel Rivals is the newest third-person shooter game to hit the video game industry and so far it’s been leaving its competition in the dust. The free game came out this December on both PC and console, racking up an impressive 20 million players in just a few weeks. With well-liked characters in all-new outfits and interesting kits to play around with, it’s no wonder it became such a huge hit.
I’ve had experience with other hero shooters, such as Overwatch and Valorant (don't make fun of me, please), and while they’re fun to play for a little while, they slowly start to get old. The expensive battle passes and skins didn’t help, either. It seems that Marvel Rivals noticed the growing frustration with some key FPS features, such as the money grabs and annoying gameplay, and then made adjustments. This is a huge step up for fans of the genre such as myself who rarely see any player feedback taken into consideration.
Speaking of money, the prices for cosmetics are fairly reasonable. Both Overwatch and Valorant are infamous for their pricey outfits and skins. In both games, the only way to pay for add-ons is with real-life money. However, Marvel Rivals has an in-game currency that can be earned through quests and achievements. So, instead of paying for a $60 skin pack from Overwatch, you can either just play the game for a while or buy $15-20 dollars worth of in-game currency. This sounds like a lot, but compared to other games that don’t even have the option of getting it for free through gameplay, it’s a lot better than nothing.
Another great quality of Marvel Rivals is the character design and overall graphics. In 2024 especially, the hero shooter genre has seen some truly awful takes on character design (Concord, yikes…). So, while some people might consider their job slightly easier because they’re taking inspiration from beloved superheroes, I’d argue that makes it harder for them to appease everyone. If they ruined a fan-favorite character’s outfit, there would be some pushback from the community. That said, overall they did an amazing job adapting these heroes into Marvel Rivals. There are some exceptions to that though, such as poor Wolverine who, in my opinion, looks a little off but not horrifying (his shoes look like velcro boots, it’s kind of funny).
On the topic of characters, another one of my favorite aspects about this new game is who they choose to be a part of their roster. Of course, they added in the main cast of the MCU as they’re the most popular but they also gave some lesser-known characters a chance in the spotlight as well. Magik, Psylocke, Cloak and Dagger, and Jeff the Land Shark are all examples of heroes that new players probably haven't heard of. This is exciting for me because I was a fan of Magik and Jeff before I played Marvel Rivals and seeing these characters get more attention instead of the same old faces on all the movie posters was fun.
Lastly, the representation of the source material was cool for Marvel fans to sort through. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a super fan I just read comics here and there and watched the movies. However, more dedicated fans of the superheroes have noticed many references to the comics. For example, Moon Knight mentions that “Dracula owes [him] money”. This is from an edited version of a 1998 Solo Avengers comic panel that quickly became a meme in the community. The developers care about respecting long-time Marvel fans and aren’t afraid to put some fun easter eggs, such as the one above, in there for laughs.
Even though Marvel Rivals is only a month old, it’s quickly taken over the hero shooter genre and kept its players entertained, something other games in the same style are struggling to accomplish. Although it has a few problems to straighten out, the video game shows great potential. You can find Marvel Rivals available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.