When it comes to superheroes, Marvel Comics is without a doubt the most popular purveyor of costumed characters. Unfortunately, ever since the company was bought by Disney the quality of storytelling coming out of this long running franchise has decreased dramatically. I stopped watching the movies years ago and the only comics I dare to read are collections from the silver age. I’m not holding my breath for a return to form from Marvel Comics anytime soon, but the topic of today’s review could very well be the first step towards actual improvements for the entire Marvel brand.

Marvel Rivals is a free-to-play third-person hero shooter developed and published by NetEase Games that has taken the internet by storm. While I did say I don’t really seek out new Marvel media these days, the $0 price tag combined with the amount of friends wanting to play convinced me to give the game a try and boy do I have a lot to say about the experience. Keep in mind that the game is live service so some content discussed and critiques made may not hold up in the future.

Marvel Rivals’ premise involves the Fantastic Four’s archenemy, Dr. Doom, going to war with his future self and destroying the space-time continuum, creating a tangled mess of crazy new timelines for the heroes and villains of Marvel Comics to clean up. There’s no story mode in the game itself, but the background lore does a decent job of explaining why you might see mortal enemies working together or longtime allies pitted against one another because of all the timeline shenanigans. There are also smaller plot lines happening in the background of each map that further contextualize each team’s goals which is pretty rare in a game like this, but a welcome addition nonetheless.

One of Marvel Rivals biggest points of discussion online which contributed to its massive success is the visuals. The game’s comic book roots are on full display with bright colors and highly stylized character designs. The cast of playable characters in particular is darn near perfect with the only character design I took any serious issue with being Namor, which took more inspiration from the most recent Black Panther movie than the comics. There’s also something to be said about the sexualization of certain characters, particularly the female ones, but the worst offenders are often relegated to alternate costumes so players aren’t forced to use those designs if they don’t want to.

The other half of Marvel Rivals’s runaway success is the gameplay. Every character is categorized into one of three roles: Vanguards who have lots of health and shields to protect their teammates, Duelists who can deal lots of damage to take down their opponents, and Strategists who provide healing and other buffs to keep teammates alive. Every character is perfectly functional on their own, but characters also receive additional abilities or buffs when paired with specific characters like Hulk’s gamma radiation empowering Iron Man and Doctor Strange’s attacks. Each match sees two teams of six players trying to attack or defend an objective which usually involves controlling a specific area of the map or escorting a vehicle to a set destination. A less common feature the game utilizes is the destructible environments which can create new paths or vantage points for both teams in real time. Marvel Rivals is so engaging because it gives players the freedom to use weird team compositions, manipulate the terrain to their advantage, and find creative strategies.

The biggest complaints I see about Marvel Rivals usually come from people saying the game is too derivative of other hero shooters which, in a market flooded with hero shooters, is understandable. The other side of this argument points out that with so many hero shooters trying to stand out by reinventing the wheel with crazy new mechanics, it’s nice to have a game like Marvel Rivals that goes back to basics and does it well. I don’t think either side is completely right or wrong on this issue, but me and my friends have gotten plenty of fun out of the game so far and that’s enough to keep me playing.

I don’t have too much to say about Marvel Rivals from the Catholic perspective. Being light on story doesn’t give me much of a moral to analyze and unfortunately famous Catholic superheroes like Daredevil and Nightcrawler aren’t playable, but hopefully they will be in the future. For now let me just warn you that despite being a free-to-play game there are still loads of micro transactions preying on impulse shoppers. Always exercise the virtue of temperance when faced with predatory monetization. Your wallet will thank you.

From familiar superheroes returning to their comic book roots to gameplay mechanics laser-focused on what makes hero shooters fun, Marvel Rivals is a textbook example of how going back to basics can go a long way.  It’s not the greatest thing since sliced bread, but it’s also pretty hard to be cynical when you’re playing as your favorite superheroes alongside your friends. Seeing as the game is completely free-to-play, I would definitely recommend anyone interested in Marvel Rivals to give it a try with a few friends. Excelsior!

About TheGoodHoms