Marvel Rivals delivers guaranteed destruction with a roster of iconic characters
8.28.2024
By Francisco Dominguez, Contributor
My Marvel Rivals Gamescom preview gave me all three of these elements. We already know about its take on the superhero fantasy from our Summer Games Fest outing, but this time I was able to see how its 6v6 PvP matches embrace a giddy sense of vandalism thanks to a destruction system that guarantees skirmishes get their very own dramatic set-piece. I saw it firsthand in what quickly became my favorite personal superhero moment so far.
During a match on the Yggsgard map, my team destroyed a pillar in a hectic firefight. Sight lines opened up across the Asgardian hallway. The room now a free-for-all, Doctor Strange could no longer float behind cover, so he retreated to safety. Projectiles flew everywhere: a menace to everyone except me.
This was because I was playing one of Marvel’s crankiest and (more importantly) tiniest characters: Rocket Racoon. The crumbling stub that remained of the toppled pillar sufficed to cover me and only me. Shots that’d give Tony Stark a second hole in the chest barely grazed my furry ears as I safely healed my teammates, unloaded my machine gun into the Hulk (then a coup de grâce for the vestigial Bruce Banner), and helped secure the room for my team, going far beyond my traditional role as a supporting Strategist to save the day with the help of a perfectly sized lump of rock.
It was a fun, dynamic, and organic moment that felt like it turned the tide of the match. I was surprised afterward when Thaddeus Sasser, director at NetEase Games, said that finding the fun equal to such destructive spectacle didn’t come easily. Smashing up stuff is fun; what could go wrong? But as always, wanton violence has repercussions. At one stage, they tested big chunks that stayed on the map rather than vanishing as they do now, which caused all manner of difficulties. Pieces of debris would clip into each other unrealistically or trap heroes helplessly in the rubble.
NetEase’s goal—honed by constant interaction—is to create drama like the moment I experienced through intentional decisions. “You don't want to destroy the whole map because the flat map is going to be totally boring and not well designed, because sight lines will be crazy,” Sasser says. “It's very intentional. Where we place the destruction, we look at the data: where is the combat happening? Where are the shots going? And how can we make a spectacle out of it and make sure the gameplay is impactful?”
Marvel Rivals' superheroes frequently take to the skies and exploit verticality, which provides another source of spectacle for this dazzling shooter. Doctor Strange and Spiderman zip around mid-air, and Magik and Rocket’s traversal abilities include wall-climbs and aerial teleports. Sasser says this is thanks to the shift to third-person, opening options that’d make Overwatch players sick with envy, and perhaps a bit of motion sickness too.
“Can you imagine trying to play Spider-Man in first-person, with the rolling and the swinging?" he says. "[In third-person] faster movement, especially movement where the character animates through the moveset, is going to be much easier. In third-person it's going to be less nauseating.”
Sasser explains that this verticality helped produce Marvel Rivals’ multi-tiered maps, with the team paying particular consideration to how the maps are bounded at elevated levels so ground-borne heroes don’t spend every moment scanning the skies. The addition of elevated platforms and bridges means more opportunities for destruction—the irresistible chance to blow up the platform above to force an enemy to drop down into your ambush.
Sword and shield
Next round, I switched to Magik, an advanced duelist character who had me feeling I’d switched to another game entirely; Rocket’s third-person shooter mode swapped for a DPS-oriented melee hack-and-slash. Magik’s weighty damage output and powerful but challenging moves—which depend on teleports, dashes, and cat-and-mouse hunting patterns—make her an excellent pick to assassinate opposing support heroes. Using her lifesteal attacks to their fullest potential and managing her low health bar would take more time than my session allowed.
Fortunately, her ultimate, which transforms her into Darkchild form, was simpler to master. It dramatically beefs up her attacks, expands her range, and nearly enabled a teamkill I’d be bragging about until the game is out in December with her Eldritch Whirl AOE attack. That is, if I’d pulled it off; I couldn’t quite get there. The power went to my head before I realized (too late) that her damage resistance hadn’t improved commensurately with her vastly increased output. Braggable teamkills will have to wait.
Marvel Rivals' newest characters: Captain America and Bucky Barnes
Finally, after that experience, I opted for a Vanguard tank character and picked up the newly added Captain America. His reassuringly beefy health bar is paired with a sprint move to get away from foes when he's outmatched. It worked well, uncharacteristic as it felt to get the stoic Cap out of the fight the moment the odds turned against him. Not that it happened often, as his shield already gives impressive ranged attacks, not to mention its defensive capabilities. Aimed correctly, the Living Legend move can deflect any projectile, even rebounding Iron Man’s devastating pulse cannon ultimate right back at him.
“Captain America is kind of like a speedy tank, which is a neat idea, right?” Sasser says, explaining his unique role. “He can be the first onto a point and distract the enemy and keep them occupied. He's got enough agility, enough help, to get back off of that, get back to his team and get healed, and then move with them to the point. So he's really good for a team leader.”
The Captain lived up to his reputation and led me to victory thanks to his Freedom Charge ultimate shielding teammates behind his vibranium shield—a tactic I’ve made a mental note to combo with Magik’s ultimate next time I play.
I didn’t have time to see what Bucky had to offer, but Sasser gave me the lowdown on what I’d missed: “Bucky is much more about the mechanical arm. We've got Punisher. He's already the one-man army with all the guns. So part of the focus of Bucky is the combination of gunplay and armplay; he'll get in there, and you can do the grapple when you can blast somebody, you can do the energy blast or the dive, all the different tactics you've got with him. And you can do the shift sprint and strike and knock somebody up and shoot. There's all kinds of fun combos you do with him.”
The pair add even more variety to an already broad roster, with more reveals promised before the game releases (and hopefully a few more deep cuts from Marvel’s back catalog). Sassler tells me players can look forward to an ongoing narrative that continues over the seasons. In true comic book fashion, characters will change, as will their alliances—with their Team Up special moves shifting in turn. It’s set to be a smashing good time, and I’m itching to be back wrecking the scenery and hunting for my elusive first teamkill all over again.
Marvel Rivals comes out on the Epic Games Store on December 6.