Marvel Rivals preview: I love Marvel but this is confusing

Doctor Strange is fighting a shark and I have no idea what killed me.

Marvel Rivals / NetEase Games / Marvel

I feel for the people running the Marvel Rivals booth at this year’s Gamescom.

They have to listen to the same looping two-minute trailer from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., blasted over loudspeakers. By the end of the day, the cacophony of explosions, gunfire, and Captain America repeatedly shouting, “Snap out of it, Bucky!” must sound like a bewildering layer of white noise. After playing Marvel Rivals, I know how they feel.

In NetEase Games’ six-on-six PvP shooter, players clash on fantastical battlefields from across the Marvel universe. While all 25 characters are generously unlocked from the start, their unique skills are so outrageously powerful just one of them alone would be enough to wreak havoc. 

Marvel Rivals / NetEase

With 12 simultaneous S-tier Marvel heroes and villains cavorting around reeling off spells, shouting catchphrases, and unleashing their ultimate moves, it’s chaos. In other words, I have no idea what’s going on.

The story I get. Here, a bust-up between tyrannical dictator Doctor Doom and his future self clashes universes together in something called a ‘Timestream Entanglement’, which is forcing heroes and villains from across the multiverse to form unlikely alliances and rivalries in a bid to stop both Dooms.

What’s confusing is the breakneck pace of the game combined with screen-obscuring special abilities, of which multiple are usually happening at once. In my first match, I play as Thor, who can tap into his divine power and rain down lightning on foes, as well as wind up his mighty hammer, Mjölnir, before letting go to slingshot himself across levels. Suddenly, a burst of red hits me, and I’m dead.

Next, I play as Spider-Man, who handles unlike anyone else. Swinging around arenas on his signature weblines feels great, as does scaling a wall and sniping enemies with sticky globs of webbing. Suddenly, a burst of blue hits me, and I’m dead.

Marvel Rivals / NetEase Games / Marvel

You could call it a skill issue. PvP shooters do require practice, and this is my first time with Marvel Rivals. But they also demand readability. Stages are too small, characters too powerful, to understand at a glance what’s happening. 

25 characters with roughly seven abilities each makes for around 175 moves, which is a lot to get your head around. That’s not to say you won’t, just that it takes longer to click than the likes of Overwatch, Valorant, or Apex Legends.

To its credit, the heroes and villains of Marvel Rivals are brilliantly done, with recognizable silhouettes and distinctive color schemes. NetEase captures their essential characters while applying its own unique spin to avoid being derivative. 

• Read more: Marvel Rivals cast: All voice actors and characters
  

Magneto, for instance, comes decked out in chunky silver power armor and wields a ring of metal shrapnel, which forms a sort of halo behind him. It’s a refreshing change to the usual red and purple getup.

Then there’s Thor, looking nothing like blonde-haired Chris Hemsworth’s portrayal in the MCU. Here he has a big white beard, looking more like his father, Odin. Rocket Racoon, meanwhile, cuts a meaner figure with devious red eyes and a faux hawk.

Marvel Rivals / NetEase Games / Marvel

Some surprise additions rarely seen beyond the comics make the cut. You can play as the little-known Jeff the Land Shark, who’s able to heal teammates as well as morph into a massive-mouthed beast and swallow enemies whole; Peni Parker has her state-of-the-art mech called SP//dr; and Luna Snow is basically a pop star with ice powers. It’s good to see the devs give underappreciated characters their time to shine.

More established ones like Hulk don’t play as you’d expect, either. You actually start off as Bruce Banner, who comes equipped with a weak gamma-ray gun and grenades, but can turn into Hero Hulk when your meter’s full and unleash Hulk smashes, gamma-ray bursts, and a radioactive bubble that freezes people in place. And that’s not all.

By accumulating gamma energy over multiple transformations, you can turn into Monster Hulk. Now unreasonable with rage like his classic primal self, attacks double in damage. A new one unlocks called World Breaker which sees you grab and violently smash the nearest enemy. When either Hulk loses their health, you revert to Bruce Banner. It’s clear NetEase games thought long and hard about how best to realize each character. 

To break it down, there are three core classes: vanguard (tank), duelist (attacker), and strategist (defender). That’s straightforward enough, but many of the characters’ movesets need thorough explanations to ‘get.’ Doctor Strange, for instance, has the Eye of Agamotto, which involves you separating nearby enemies’ souls from their bodies, then dealing damage to these souls to transfer the damage to their physical bodies. 

Marvel Rivals / NetEase Games / Marvel

It’s just slightly too complex to intuitively comprehend in the heat of the moment unless you’ve fully researched the character beforehand and practiced their moves. Pick-up-and-play Marvel Rivals is not - jump in cold and you’re going to die. 

It’s like a more complex, slightly messier Overwatch, but where it differs is team-up abilities. For instance, the Gamma Boost move is accessible only to Hulk, who charges Doctor Strange and Iron Man with gamma radiation. Ammo Overload is a move solely for The Punisher and Rocket Raccoon, which sees Rocket throw a device to give The Punisher unlimited ammo.

Ragnarok Rebirth is another, seeing Hela resurrect siblings Thor and Loki when they fall on the battlefield or grant bonus health if they’re still alive. It incentivizes people to pick characters that complement and co-exist with each other. There are ten team-up moves in total.

Bear in mind that I didn’t manage to use or witness a single team-up ability during my demo, as it’s difficult enough to understand what’s going on.

• Read more: Marvel Rivals release date, Captain America announced at Gamescom 2024

Marvel Rivals is flashy fun, with a vast roster combining familiar and cult characters from the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, X-Men, and more. It’s not immediately accessible, but it does make you want to keep coming back for more.

Marvel Rivals launches on all platforms on Dec. 6, 2024.