A Great Marvel Fantasy Wrapped Around a Borrowed Blueprint - Marvel Rivals Review
Let's get this out of the way right now: Marvel Rivals is Overwatch with a Marvel skin on it. That is not a theory, that is not a hot take, it is just what it is. Six versus six, hero shooter, tank-healer-DPS structure, the whole thing. NetEase looked at Blizzard's blueprint, rebuilt it in the Marvel universe, and shipped it. Knowing that going in sets the right expectations.
And here is the thing though, playing as actual Marvel characters does carry real weight. Jumping into a match as Magneto, Doctor Strange or Spider-Man and actually feeling their powers translate into a shooter format is genuinely satisfying. Some characters have mechanics that go beyond anything you would find in a straight Overwatch clone. A few of them feel like the developers actually thought about what makes that specific hero unique and built around it, which is the kind of creative effort that deserves credit.
The game also features Team-Up abilities, where combining specific heroes on the same squad unlocks shared power mechanics, and that layer adds some real strategic texture when it clicks.
That said, the shooting itself is not quite there yet. The gunplay can feel clunky, movement does not always respond the way you want it to, and there are moments where the whole thing feels less like a polished console shooter and more like a mobile game that got ported up. The UI behavior, some of the animation transitions, the way certain menus and systems operate, it has that mobile game energy underneath the surface and it does pull you out of it occasionally.
The maps are set across destructible environments inspired by locations from the Marvel universe, which is a cool concept on paper, but in practice several of them feel like they still need another pass. More polish, better flow, and frankly just more variety in what the modes ask you to do would go a long way. Right now the game modes are thin for a live service title, and that is probably the most legitimate criticism you can level at it.
None of that stops it from being fun, though. Spending time in the Marvel universe, even through a slightly rough-around-the-edges hero shooter, has its own pull. The game hit 40 million players by early 2025, and that number did not come from nowhere. People are staying because the foundation works, the IP delivers, and the potential is visible.
Overwatch is still the better game. More refined, tighter mechanics, better map and mode variety after years of iteration. Marvel Rivals is not beating it right now. But as a first entry for this franchise, it is a stronger start than most expected from a free-to-play hero shooter built around licensed characters. If NetEase keeps the pace up and addresses the rough edges, this could turn into something genuinely competitive.
For now, it earns its fun. Just do not go in expecting perfection.
14/20
