Marvel Rivals Review

    What's everybody's favorite game? Maybe something typical like Fortnite or Minecraft, but a newer, rising star has entered the scene. I am of course talking about Marvel Rivals. Marvel Rivals is a 6v6 team-based hero shooter based in the Marvel universe, available on PC, Xbox, PS4, and PS5. Released on December 7, 2024, Rivals is just over a year old and has several gameplay mechanics and events with much more to come.

   With 47 characters and more every month, Marvel Rivals has multiple ways to be played. Its character roster has three categories: Vanguard, Duelist, and Strategist. Your vanguards are your tanks. Some that absorb damage like Magneto and Doctor Strange, some deal relenting damage like Hulk and Thor, and others push the enemy team back like Captain America and Venom. The duelists are the big damage dealers. There are sniper-like characters like Black Widow and Hawkeye, sustained and constant damage dealers like Scarlet Witch and Moon Knight, brawlers such as Daredevil and Wolverine, and ones that apply pressure to the enemy like Iron Man and Spider-Man. Lastly, strategists heal and empower the team, with heroes with a lot of healing abilities like Gambit and Luna Snow, those who apply shielding and protection like Loki and Invisible Woman, and characters that give damage boosters like Rocket Raccoon and Ultron. Want to play a character but you don’t like their role? Deadpool is all three!

   Marvel Rivals also adds more unique gameplay elements that hero shooters don’t have. Starting out small, it has destructible terrain. Basically what this means is that if there is a wall in your way, instead of walking around it like in other games, you can smash straight through it! More notably, Rivals has a team-up game mechanic. This mechanic has two parts to this: the anchor and recipient. The anchor is who activates the team-up and gets a slight boost depending on their roll: vanguards get extra health, duelists get a damage boost, and strategy get a healing boost. The recipients get an additional ability. For example, when Iron Man and Squirrel Girl use their team-up, Squirrel Girl gets an added ability where she launches a heat seeking rocket propelled squirrel at the enemy. No, I did not make that up, and yes, the squirrel survives.

   I’ve neglected to mention that this is in fact a free-to-play game. However, there are in-game purchases. Skins, skin bundles, emojis, name banners, and several other cosmetics. The vast majority of these cost in-game currency, which can be earned by playing the game and completing missions or using real world money. They add new cosmetics every week with events sprinkled throughout. The events can range from extra missions to limited time game modes. All events are free to participate in but there is a premium option that costs money for more rewards.

   At the time of writing this Season 7 is on its way releasing on March 20th. Marvel Rivals have new seasons every month, with a new character every season. This helps keep the game fresh, keep the story progressing, and alert the public to more unknown Marvel characters. Yes, Marvel Rivals does indeed have a story and lore. Marvel Rivals roster already has some pretty unknown characters. Of course we all know who the Avengers are, but do you know who Luna Snow is? How about Angela? Magik? Psylocke? I’ve already mentioned Squirrel Girl but not many people know about her. These characters are worth your time learning about and appreciating them. 

   Marvel Rivals has been out for a little over a year now and is growing at an exponential rate. It has even sparked revival in other hero 

shooters such as Overwatch. It is highly 

addictive with its fast paced game play and beautiful design. I myself have logged more than 200 hours into this game and have yet to get tired of it. The only downside of the game is that if you play on PC you will need a beefier PC to enjoy the game because it runs on Unreal Enigine 5. All that aside I highly suggest Marvel Rivals as your next game to try out. Ingnite the Battle!