NetEase Games recently released a trailer for the upcoming six-vs-six online multiplayer game Marvel Rivals, and despite it being less than two minutes long, there’s a lot to unpack from what was shown.
We’re going to dive deeper into Marvel Rivals and looking at 10 things you might have missed from the trailer, so let’s get started.
10 things you might have missed from the Marvel Rivals trailer
10) More than a few Overwatch similarities
As soon as the trailer dropped, people instantly noticed similarities between Marvel Rivals and Blizzard’s five-vs-five multiplayer shooter Overwatch. There are immediately noticeable similarities, but some comparisons are a little more subtle.
The first glimpse of gameplay we get is of Doctor Strange heading up a team featuring himself, Bruce Banner, Black Panther, and more. If you look at the bottom of the screen, you can see the HUD with all the buttons you need to press to access certain abilities as well as your character’s health bar, powers, and length of the cooldown.
The structure of the HUD is very similar to Overwatch‘s, even down to the font. This could be a coincidence or an homage by NetEast games, but there’s no denying how there must have been at least a little inspiration taken from the Blizzard game during the development of Marvel Rivals.
9) Destructible environments
During the trailer, we see various abilities being used by the Marvel heroes, with some causing damage to the environment as well as to other players. Statues, walls, bridges, and more can collapse during a match, adding to the mayhem and the fun.
I love destructible environments in games. It makes everything a little more chaotic, and it looks like Marvel Rivals will be implementing this mechanic on every map.
8) Two-player Team-Up abilities
It’s hard to miss the graphics that appear during the trailer to show when a two-player Team-Up happens, but it’s a little trickier to spot how these Team-Ups work. We see a few Team-Ups, such as Rocket Raccoon with Groot and Namor with Luna Snow. Each Team-Up has a different, powerful effect that can take down numerous enemies at a time or act as a strong support ability. An example of this is the Iron Man and Hulk Team-Up, where Hulk hurls his gamma radiation at Iron Man, who absorbs it in his suit and then uses it to create a powerful gamma laser blast that can cause critical damage.
7) Multiple universes
According to the official Marvel Rivals website, the standalone story of the game revolves around multiple universes opening up due to a feud between Doctor Doom and the 2099 universe version of himself. The different universes are hinted at during the trailer, such as when Spider-Man is fighting on a map that has Loki murals and banners dotted around, suggesting this is a universe where he succeeded in becoming ruler. We also see a new group of heroes emerge from another universe at the end of the trailer, which could be how new heroes are introduced.
6) Bruce Banner-Hulk transformation
When looking at certain heroes in particular during the trailer, there are a lot of features to examine. Bruce Banner is the first character we see use an ability as he transforms from his human self into his Hulk form.
When he’s Bruce Banner, his health is 200 and he only has a small pistol as a weapon. After transforming, his health is a much more significant 900, becoming a tank of sorts. This is reminiscent of the tank character D.Va from Overwatch, who only has 150 health and a pistol when out of her mech. When she enters her mech, she will have 650 health and more abilities.
The Overwatch similarities just keep on coming.
5) Luna Snow’s healing area
Luna Snow is a relatively new character in the Marvel world who has ice powers, but her abilities in Marvel Rivals seem to focus on healing and support. We see her Team-Up with Namor in the trailer, but there’s also a scene where she seems to have a circle around her depicting an area of healing.
It’s hard not to see the similarities to the Overwatch hero Lucio, who also has a healing area around him. Even Luna’s HUD, which displays her healing power, is very similar to Lucio’s, with a yellow plus indicator to show when she is using her healing skill.
4) Loki’s cloning and shapeshifting
Thor’s brother and God of mischief Loki gets some interesting-looking skills that are displayed in the trailer, including an ability that allows him to clone himself and use that clone to fool the enemy team. He can also teleport to his clone to launch surprise attacks on enemies.
Loki’s ultimate power is a shapeshifting ability that lets him take the form of enemy teammates and use their skills against them, the same ultimate Echo from Overwatch has. Sorry about all the Overwatch comparisons—it’s kind of hard to avoid them.
3) Doctor Strange’s time control
Doctor Strange is seen using the Eye of Agamotto to freeze time around him, forcing the enemy team to stop. This seems to be his ultimate ability, and it’s reminiscent of Mei’s ultimate in Overwatch where she will throw out her robot Snowball to create a mini blizzard that will freeze all enemies caught within it.
It makes sense for Doctor Strange to have this skill due to the all-powerful Eye of Agamotto that he has possession of, but it’s still hard not to see the resemblance to Mei’s ultimate.
2) A classic Avengers movie reference
We later see Hulk unleashing what could be his ultimate ability, where he grabs a member of the enemy team and smashes them into the ground multiple times. The enemy he just so happens to do this with is Loki, referencing the scene from the 2012 Avengers movie when Hulk smashes Loki rather brutally into the ground over and over again. We love a good movie reference, and I’m sure players will be trying to recreate it when Marvel Rivals releases.
1) Galacta
At the end of the trailer, we see a woman opening up another universe to let in a new bunch of heroes while announcing the winning team of the game. This character is Galacta, the daughter of the well-known Marvel villain Galactus.
Galacta isn’t a huge presence in the Marvel world, only appearing in two comics, and is considered a non-canon character. Her inclusion in Marvel Rivals might be the start of something more for Galacta, though, so here’s hoping she gets her chance to shine.
