Marvel Rivals’ Debut Trailer Puts the “Hero” Back Into Hero Shooters

NetEase Games and Marvel Games have just revealed Marvel Rivals: a new team-based PvP shooter that sees teams of Marvel’s greatest heroes and villains battle for superiority.

“We are overjoyed to bring Marvel Rivals to players around the world. says
Marvel Rivals Producer, Stephen Wu, via a press release statement. “We have always loved
Marvel’s universe and its characters, and we are so excited to develop this game. This is the game we want to make, and we feel very lucky to be the team who made all of this come true.”

Marvel Rivals‘ core gameplay sees two teams of 6 players compete across a variety of Marvel-themed battlefields. While the game’s full roster hasn’t been confirmed yet, players will be able to choose between legendary characters from various Marvel series such as X-Men, Spider-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, and many more. So, if you’ve ever wanted to see how Doctor Strange would fare against Magneto or what would happen if Storm battled Hulk, you’ll soon have the chance to do so.

While the ability to play as, with, and against those iconic characters is certainly one of Rival‘s biggest draws, those legendary figures are more than just familiar faces. See, Marvel Rivals emphasizes the unique qualities and abilities of its various playable characters through a robust synergy system that lets you create devastating “Team-Up Skills.”

For instance, you may be able to use Hulk’s Gamma energy to lend extra power to Iron Man’s armor or have Rocket Raccoon ride Groot to victory. That mechanic should help keep the game’s competitive “meta” fresh. Yes, each character is blessed with incredible individual abilities, but Rivals will encourage you to consider both your skills and the powerful possibilities enabled by your team’s overall composition.

However, you will need to be mindful of how you use all those lasers, rockets, and various superhuman abilities. Throughout each match, those powers will start to alter the game’s battlefields in a variety of ways. Some of those alterations will be slightly more cosmetic while others will enable new offensive and defensive options that will encourage you to constantly consider new strategies on the fly.

Best of all, Rivals isn’t just throwing all these characters into battle for the fun of it (although that would be a perfectly valid excuse). The game is actually built around a rather intriguing storyline that sees Doctor Doom come face-to-face with a version of himself from the year 2099. Rather than team up, the two Dooms begin a battle for superiority across the multiverse. Rival‘s various heroes and villains are not only sucked into the cosmic chaos of that ongoing conflict but ultimately must confront the two Dooms to prevent them from establishing dominion over…well, everything.

It’s a fascinating set-up that not only enables some unique team possibilities (could heroes and villains prove to be even more powerful when fighting alongside each other?) but lends some necessary narrative weight to the core gameplay. It’s also a story that figures to evolve as the game does across a variety of post-launch updates that also include new characters, new battlefields, and all the dynamic possibilities that come with both.

Marvel Rivals will be available for Windows PC via Steam and the Epic Store. You can sign up for the game’s upcoming Closed Alpha period (which is scheduled to begin in May) via this website.