Seriously, no, Marvel Rivals? Who the heck’s this for anyway? Can y’all imagine the collective hamsters stopping on the wheels in all our noggins when we heard of this? It’s like, Why?! Why would Marvel, after the horrid experimental abomination that was Square Enix’s Marvel’s Avengers, do this? They were doin’ so well, too, with the other fantastic announcement of Marvel 1943: Rise Of Hyrda. It’s the one by Amy Hennig, the lady with a knack for character-focused, narrative-heavy, awesome single-player games.
But, anyway, we’re gonna ramble on about this new **Begin Sarcasm** highly original idea, with wholly unique mechanics and never-seen-before art style! **End Sarcasm**. Because another hero shooter is just what the people want, right? NOT!!!
What is Marvel Rivals?Â
So, the thing about the superhero genre of games is that it’s going through a rough patch. Exhibit A: the colossal failure of Suicide Squad: Kills The Justice League. If that wasn’t enough, it was followed up with the most recent tone-deaf move in recent memory, of WB Games moronically embracing the live-service model. Now, it’s like Marvel Games is following suit in that trajectory. It’s obvious most mainstream M-SHE-U is nothing but a bunch of epic failures at the box office; don’t deny it.
Marvel’s trying its hand at gaming now. That’s a case of the right idea but horrendously wrong execution ‘cause Marvel Rivals ain’t the way to do it. Now, then, What the heck is Marvel Rivals, exactly? Well, we’ll tell y’all, dear readers. Ya’ ready? Here it is! Behold! The next iteration of Marvel’s fabulous roster of characters teaming up and duking it out. Is it a new Marvel Vs. Capcom game? Be still our hearts, and bless you kind souls for having good taste and giving us a heartfelt flashback, but sadly no. This is not a fighting game.
Then? What is it? Well, here’s the thing: it’s a 6 vs. 6 multiplayer-only shooter with a battle-royale style format…. Yeah, we’ll let the crickets do their job of shock value and disappointment here.
And Why It’s DOA For Us? Microtransaction Hellhole And Pay-To-Win Equals Epic Fail
Now, here’s why we think this game’s a dud-on-arrival. Simply put: the multiplayer hero shooter genre is crowded as hell. There’s no competing with established giants like Valorant, Paladins, Apex Legends, Team Fortress 2, and Titanfall 2. There are tons of others, too. Like what exactly was going on in the minds of the executives? No, really, it should be a case study for the shrinks to see what the thinking process of these business bigwigs is.
But, anyway, so far from the all-style-zero-substance reveal of the game, let’s just say we’re fat from impressed. It’s got no legs to stand on other than the Marvel branding, which isn’t worth much unless it’s Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 or Insomniac’s Wolverine. Both are single-player titles. Go figure. Now, our cynicism might seem unwarranted or extreme, but hey, we’re only human. Also, you’re entitled to your opinion, too. Don’t worry, we ain’t snowflakes; we can take criticism as much as we can dish it out, too.
Now, Marvel Rivals is, by design, in our eyes at least, destined to fail. The fact that it’s free-to-play means it’ll have its honeymoon phase. Ya know, how a kid immediately takes to a new toy? That’s how we’re seeing it go down. After a while, the monetization will kick in. Suddenly, free-to-play, becomes pay-to-win. After all, the devs aren’t gonna just run these servers without a steady revenue stream.
Is There A Chance For Marvel Rival’s Success With Galacta?
You hear almost every day how these niche mobile titles get announced; people try’em out, right? Then, they fade into obscurity, and eventually, a shutdown announcement follows. That’s the route we see Marvel Rivals taking. Of course, we could be wrong; like we said, we’re human. But, the fact that such time, resources, and money could have been spent elsewhere to make a decent single-player experience on Marvel properties. It just baffles the mind and makes us wanna punch a tree.
Seriously, how hard is it to have a Marvel Ultimate Alliance-style game with a bigger budget but no live-service monstrosities? Or a new X-Men Legends co-op beat’em up brawler with action RPG elements and a top-notch story? With such templates available, all we get is a 6 vs. 6 hero shooter. One that’s gimmicky as hell and is clearly designed to appeal to kids. Yeah, we’re gonna take a hard pass on this one. We will say, though, the character art is kinda nice.
We like the colorful comic-booky aesthetic; but even then, the devs have fumbled up. No, really, right at the end of the trailer for the game, did y’all see what we saw? Fem-Galactus… Galacta this is the devourer of worlds, the one-and-only entity in the entire Marvel lore without a variant. Now, he’s a she, and in the form of anime-girl, too. Look we love anime; we even have a love of awesome non-Japanese animated series. But Marvel Rivals just triggered our inner geek with that move.
Final Thoughts On Marvel Rivals
Well, that’s our incoherent rambling for today about a game that’s probably gotten more publicity out of us than it deserves. The irony is not lost on us, folks, believe us. But yeah, that’s Marvel Rivals in a nutshell. We’re sure the defenders will come out of the woodwork and the crowd that says wait after you’ve played the game before passing judgment. Well, guess what? We’re not gonna spend another second on this one cause we’ve already said our piece. It’s not for us. But if you’re one of the few, it’s appealing to, by all means, have at it. We believe there are much better games to play out there.
Take, for instance, our incredible list of games like Helldivers 2. Every single one of our selections is a top-tier grade A, dope-as-heck, awesometacular title that’ll keep you entertained for hours. Well, that’s gonna do it for now but be sure to leave your own thoughts in the comments section below, too. We’d love to hear your counterarguments as well. Welp, until next time, take care, everyone, stay safe, and happy gaming!
