With time, it has grown increasingly clearer that the hero shooter space isn’t one where too many games are likely to find success. Since Overwatch took the world by storm in 2016, multiple games have tried and failed to replicate its success, and even the last couple of years alone have brought with them plenty of high profile examples of similar failures. Earlier this year, Concord unfortunately proved to be probably the biggest first party slipup in PlayStation history. Meanwhile, Overwatch 2 clearly has a healthy and thriving player base, so it is at least a successful game on that front- but Blizzard’s follow-up hero shooter has provoked widespread criticism and backlash for a multitude of reasons, and it wouldn’t be unfair to call it a disappointing sequel in the slightest.
And yet, as we bid adieu to 2024, the year is signing off on a high note with yet another major critical and commercial success- and the game is a hero shooter. NetEase Games’ Marvel Rivals released just recently, and on the back of sustained hype and anticipation over several weeks and months, the free to play multiplayer title has not only attracted a massive audience of over 10 million players in just three days, the majority of that audience also seems ecstatic about how the game itself has turned out. At a time when it feels like the hero shooter genre and the Marvel license had both lost a significant chunk of the staggering popularity they both enjoyed until not that long ago, Marvel Rivals has come along and proven that genuine quality can trumps fatigue.
And why exactly is that? Well, the most obvious – and most important – factor is just that- genuine quality. First and foremost, Marvel Rivals is a great game, and deserving of praise for a number of reasons. At its core, regardless of which character you’re playing as, the game feels fun, thanks to tight movement and solid balancing, while the variety exhibited across a massive roster makes things that much more impressive. There’s 33 different Marvel characters to play as, with the roster touting solid variety and representing a large number of beloved heroes and villains, from the most prominent names out there to a handful of deep cuts that some fans will appreciate.
Crucially enough, the majority of that roster is a blast to play as. Obviously, with as many as 33 characters offered, not all of them are going to be equally enjoyable, while personal tastes will also come into play, but it’s impressive just how well Marvel Rivals manages to make each of its characters feel fleshed out. Experimenting with different characters in the early hours is a ton of fun, and it’s just as satisfying to find characters that you like and then begin the process of mastering them- because, as you’d want with any hero shooter, the skill ceiling is pretty high here.
Obviously, you have to acknowledge the elephant in the room and admit that Marvel Rivals isn’t exactly the most original game in the world. In fact, fans of Overwatch’s 6v6 affairs will find a lot of similarities here. The map design, the different archetypes that the characters fall into, the way specific heroes play, even a lot of the UI- Marvel Rivals clearly isn’t shy about how heavily it borrows from Blizzard Entertainment’s trailblazing hero shooter. Of course, NetEase’s outing does throw in its own wrinkles, whether that’s the excellent ways it uses the Marvel license (more on that in a bit) to how it sprinkles in elements of environment destructibility, to its meta-progression, or more- but there’s no denying that there’s a lot of overlap here.
Funnily enough, however, I think that might be exactly what works so well in Marvel Rivals’ favour. As the general discontent over Overwatch 2 and its changes has shown, it clearly did not scratch that classic Overwatch itch the way fans wanted it to, so it’s not surprising that Marvel Rivals, a game that does just that, has drawn such a massive audience right out the gate. And of course, the fact that the game uses the Marvel IP does help. We’re all collectively feeling plenty of Marvel fatigue, yes, but the IP is still absolutely massive, and the prospect of a multiplayer game that lets players battle with and against each other while playing as a variety of different beloved Marvel characters was always going to have immense appeal.
More importantly, Marvel Rivals doesn’t waste its license. It brings all characters in its roster to life spectacularly, and feels like exactly the sort of Marvel MOBA that many have doubtless been dreaming about for years. Touting top notch production values, a gorgeous and eye catching art style, and authentic and comprehensive adaptation of the source material, Rivals does a great job of making good on its promise (so far, at least). Running through a map and watching Captain America and the Hulk trading blows on the ground while Adam Warlock and Doctor Strange float up above and engage in a magical duel, you can’t help but have a smile plastered across your face.
There are other factors at play, too- chief among them being the fact that Marvel Rivals is a free to play game. Being a paid release was one of several grave mistakes that Concord made earlier this year, so it’s always a relief to see other games not making that mistake. A well-made hero shooter using the Marvel license was always going to attract players in droves if it was a free to play experience, and clearly, NetEase was well aware of that fact- so props to them for making that decision. On top of that, the game also adopts some audience-friendly practices such as having battle passes that don’t expire, which is always a great way to help build an audience. Admittedly, in-game pricing is not that much different from what we see in Overwatch 2, so the jury’s still out on that front.
Of course, it’s also worth stressing the fact that it’s still early days for Marvel Rivals. This is a live service game, which means even though it may have got off to an impressive start – which it clearly has – it’s going to be judged on how it takes forward from here. There’s been no shortage of games that have managed to bungle successful starts with a series of poor post-launch decisions or disappointing support, so there’s still a lot of work left ahead for NetEase Games. The developer is, of course, promising a seasonal model, with each season also bringing new content in the form of heroes, maps, battle passes, and more. Hopefully, that support will be able to help the game maintain strong momentum as it forges ahead.
In the here and now, NetEase deserves credit for having developed a legitimately enjoyable hero shooter that may not be the most unique or original experience, but delivers plenty of fun, and does it all with a great Marvel wrapper. If it can continue to move from strength to strength in the months ahead, Marvel Rivals could easily become another long-running hero shooter success story.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
