Marvel Rivals is putting the hero in hero shooter with literal superheroes. Unlike traditional hero shooters like Overwatch, this time, you will be playing from a third-person perspective to get a better look at your hero in battle. Any new multiplayer game will come with a ton of questions, especially if superheroes are involved. There is a small plot, but the main focus will no doubt be on pure PvP action. If you’re in the market for a new team-based hero shooter, let’s unmask as many details as we can on Marvel Rivals to figure out if it could be your next obsession.
Release date speculation
There is no official release date for Marvel Rivals as of this writing. What we do know is that there will be a closed alpha test you can sign up for sometime in May. That may suggest the game could come out in full before the year is up, but we will have to wait and see.
Platforms
Marvel Rivals is only confirmed to be a PC title via Steam or the Epic Games store. That said, an FAQ on the game’s official Discord states that “The game’s first stop will be on Steam. However, we’re actively exploring potential releases on other platforms. Keep an eye out for further announcements as our universe expands!” While not a confirmation, this does suggest that the team is at least considering bringing Marvel Rivals to consoles.
Trailers
The announcement trailer is a montage of footage and gameplay of various characters in Marvel Rivals. We get an idea of the flow of gameplay, what heroes we can expect to see, and what unique mechanics and systems will be brought to the table.
The “plot” for the game is that Doctor Doom has teamed up with another version of himself from 2099 and has forced all the Marvel universes to collide in the Timestream Entanglement. It’s essentially just a loose justification for why all these heroes and villains are fighting it out in various iconic Marvel locations.
Gameplay
This is a 6v6 hero shooter, only played from a third-person perspective. The UI is very reminiscent of Overwatch, with health and shields at the bottom and a number of special abilities at the bottom right. Depending on the character, they will be mainly melee-focused or have ranged attacks. Only two game modes are confirmed so far: Control and Escort. These are takes on the king of the hill and payload-style game types, respectively.
Environmental destruction was shown off, which could create interesting changes to the flow of maps.
There are also team-up attacks in which two characters partner up to unleash devastating attacks. One example shown was Hulk infusing Iron Man so he could shoot a massive energy beam or Rocket Racoon hopping on Groot’s back to attack as one.
Roster
Here are all the confirmed characters for Marvel Rivals so far:
- Rocket Racoon
- Star-Lord
- Black Panther
- Iron Man
- Doctor Strange
- Scarlet Witch
- Namor
- Magneto
- Magik
- Storm
- Peni Parker
- Luna Snow
- Loki
- Bruce Banner/Hulk
- Spider-Man
- Groot
- Mantis
- Punisher
- Magneto
- Galactus
Preorder
There are no preorders for Marvel Rivals, partly because there’s no release date but also because the game will be free-to-play. Unless you can purchase some special edition before launch with cosmetics or other extras, there’s no need to put money down early.
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