NetEase Games and Marvel Games Reveal Marvel Rivals

Fans of the Marvel universe will have a new video game to check out soon with the arrival of Marvel Rivals. A super hero team-based shooter (think Overwatch), Marvel Rivals will feature a cast spanning the Marvel multiverse, with new heroes and villains being added over multiple seasons. The complete launch roster will include Black Panther, Spider-Man, Magik, Magneto, Doctor Strange, Groot, Hulk, Iron Man, Loki, Mantis, Namor, Peni Parker, Rocket Raccoon, Scarlet Witch, Storm, Star-Lord, The Punisher, and Luna Snow. For those unfamiliar with Luna Snow, the character first appeared in the video game Marvel Future Fight. 

An alpha for Marvel Rivals is slated to take place in May. The game's storyline will center on Doctor Doom, and it will feature not one, but two different versions of the villain. A war has broken out between Doom and Doom 2099, which causes something called the "Timestream Entanglement." As a result, heroes and villains spanning the Marvel multiverse will have to work together to stop both Dooms, which leads to unpredictable alliances. In theory, this means later seasons could add some alternate takes on familiar faces, like Hulk 2099 or Spider-Man Noir, though nothing has been announced just yet. A trailer for the game can be found below. 

Marvel Heroes in a Team-Based Shooter

With so many characters showing up in Marvel Rivals, different groups will have different strategies for preventing either Doom from taking over all of reality. That's what has led to the conflict between these heroes, and the justification for them beating up one another. In a press release, Marvel Games boss Jay Ong talked about the project, and why it will fit well within the team-based shooter genre. 

"Marvel Rivals is one of our most ambitious game development projects. Since the conceptualization of the game and throughout our collaboration, our Marvel team has poured our hearts and souls into this project, and we are thrilled to work with the incredible team at NetEase Games to help deliver the ultimate Super Hero team-based PVP shooter," said Ong.

Marvel Rivals Gameplay

The gameplay in Marvel Rivals will center around a 6v6 format, and players can expect familiar locations from the Marvel Universe, with both Asgard and Tokyo 2099 cited as examples. These environments will be destructible, and players will be able to use that to their advantage to create "makeshift weapons." As can be seen in the trailer above, there will be a Team-Up mechanic, where players on the same team will be able to work together to take down foes. Some of these examples will include Rocket being able to ride on Groot's back, and Hulk being able to use Gamma energy to give Iron Man a boost in power. At this time, there's still a lot we don't know about Marvel Rivals, but with the alpha kicking off in May, we should learn a lot more in the coming weeks! 

Are you interested in checking out Marvel Rivals? Which characters would you like to see show up? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!