Move over, Overwatch 2! There’s a new kid on the block. The Marvel Rivals release date has been revealed! For those who don’t yet know, Marvel Rivals is a new player vs. player (PVP) superhero shooter with actual, well-renowned superheroes! The free-to-play game is set to release on December 6, 2024, and will feature an entire cast of Marvel characters from the comics and Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
After an overall positive reception during the closed beta testing, fans are eagerly awaiting the hero shooter and have recently seen new characters added to the roster, the Winter Soldier and Captain America, who were both revealed during the opening night of Gamescom 2024. Let’s break down what we learned in the trailer.
There’s a Story?
During the trailer at Gamescom, we are introduced to Black Panther. The camera is focused on his legs walking along a flowery field of what we can maybe assume are the purple heart-shaped herbs of his civilization, and what gives the Black Panther his power. In the background, we see a purple aura on the horizon with planets off in the distance in the dark sky. The camera switches to a rear view of Black Panther who kneels before, who we assume to be Bast, the Panther Goddess that’s shown in the sky. He is most likely on the ancestral plane. While this entire scene transpires, T’challa (Black Panther) is narrating:
“Among the stars, Wakanda found a new home. And… a new hope. The source of Vibranium. The foundation of an Empire.”
The scene transitions to a small spaceship (assumingly Tchala’s) departing from a giant space station that resembles the helmet of the Black Panther. In the next frame, the ship is preparing to land somewhere when suddenly, It’s attacked by the Winter Soldier, who shoots tendrils from his robotic arm to ground the ship or destroy it. His attack is suddenly interrupted by Captain America’s shield, severing the tendrils. The two have a very brief exchange of dialogue that’s actually kind of funny, and then they clash.
Captain America: “Snap out of it, Bucky!”
Winter Soldier: “….No…”
We don’t know exactly what these characters are trying to do, but how dare Steve rudely interject himself like that? All jokes aside, that’s all we get story-wise until the very end of the Marvel Rivals trailer where we see a giant Dr. Doom playing with gigantic chess pieces. It seems vibranium will somehow play a huge part in the narrative and Doctor Doom will be the antagonist of the upcoming game.
Captain America and Winter Soldier Gameplay
Captain America and Winter Soldier’s playstyles in Marvel Rivals are featured in the video. Bucky (Winter Soldier) carries a revolver as his basic weapon and a grappling hook that can pull foes to him for a close shot or a gnarly uppercut from his metal arm. Speaking of his metal arm, it features a powerful ground-slam attack that can be triggered while in the air.
He uses this move a lot, jumping up and spamming it from foe to foe. We see a brief combo of Bucky using his hook to pull a character off the stage in mid-air, and then using his slam ability to make it back to the stage without falling. The character looks fun to play and shows off some fun tactical combinations. Captain America uses (you guessed it) his vibranium shield which can be thrown and can ricochet from one foe to another.
He can use his shield to lead the charge for his team, blocking projectiles in what seems to be an ability rush that can also bash his foes. Steve (Captain America) also has a slam ability that works similarly to Bucky’s, but we don’t see him spamming it. Instead, after he slams, he uses his shield to deflect a powerful energy projectile (from Iron Man) in another direction that destroys an entire structure and blows Iron Man away. Steve also looks fun to play and shows players that sometimes the best offense is a great defense.
All Heros are Unlocked and Free to Play!
Perhaps the best news from the video is that every hero is not placed behind a paywall. While this may seem strange for a free-to-play game (FTP), it’s not completely unheard of, as other FTP titles do the same. The game SMITE is one example of how FTP games can focus on selling cosmetics to support their game’s live service and continued development. It works. And it seems that Marvel Rivals will do just that.
Honestly, why wouldn’t they capitalize on that opportunity? Marvel Rivals has hundreds of thousands of comics to choose from featuring different suits, armor, and weapons for every Marvel character. If there is a particular costume or weapon that you want to see your favorite hero with, it’s probably a safe bet to assume that eventually, they will add it to the game. The player base is bound to buy up those cosmetic items, but this is way better than putting playable characters behind a paywall a.k.a. pay-to-win.
Conclusion
Marvel Rivals has been scheduled to release on December 6, 2024. We were shown a trailer at Gamescom that gave us three takeaways. The first is that the PVP hero shooter might feature a story focused on a war for vibranium, but that remains to be confirmed. The second is that Captain America and the Winter Soldier have some awesome abilities in their toolkits that feature deadly combos and large-scale destruction. Finally, the game is free-to-play but all the characters will be unlocked and playable. This leaves us free to assume that the live service will be fully supported by an entire library of cosmetics from the movies and comics that players can purchase through micro-transactions.
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