I came into Marvel Rivals sceptical. The hero shooter space has been dominated by Overwatch for nearly a decade, and every challenger has either faded quietly or never landed the punch it promised. When NetEase announced a Marvel-skinned competitor, my initial reaction was eye-roll. My reaction after 40 hours of play is considerably more complicated — and considerably more positive.
Fawaz Sheikh has been playing competitive shooters since the original Counter-Strike days. I've seen trends come and go. What I can tell you about Marvel Rivals is that it does several things genuinely well — and a few things that will frustrate you if you go in expecting perfection.
What Marvel Rivals actually is
For anyone unfamiliar: Marvel Rivals is a 6v6 hero shooter where each character is drawn from the Marvel universe — Spider-Man, Iron Man, Black Panther, Magneto, and a growing roster of others. Each has unique abilities, an ultimate, and a role (duelist, vanguard, strategist). The objective modes are familiar — payload, domination, hybrid. If you've played Overwatch, the DNA is obvious. But the execution has enough personality to feel distinct.
The most immediately striking thing is the visual fidelity. This game looks exceptional. Characters are rendered with a level of detail that makes Overwatch 2 look dated by comparison. Environments are destructible in ways that actually affect gameplay — walls break, cover disappears, flanking routes open up mid-fight. It creates a chaos that feels chaotic in the right way.
The gameplay loop
Moment to moment, Marvel Rivals is fast and satisfying. Movement feels good across almost every hero. Spider-Man in particular is a joy to pilot — the web-swinging has genuine momentum and skill expression that rewards practice. Hulk is a tank fantasy done right: slow, unstoppable, terrifying to face. The roster variety is genuinely impressive for a launch-window game.
Team synergies — called "Team-Up" abilities — are the most interesting addition. Certain character combinations unlock bonus abilities. Iron Man and War Machine together enable a combo that's devastating when coordinated. It adds a layer of team composition strategy that Overwatch never quite had. Whether the meta allows those synergies to breathe is another question — more on that shortly.
"Marvel Rivals doesn't just borrow the hero shooter template — it adds enough Marvel-specific creativity to justify its own existence. That's more than most challengers have managed."
Where it struggles
Balance is the elephant in the room. Some heroes at launch are clearly overtuned and the ranked experience reflects this — you see the same five characters in almost every game. This is a solvable problem through patches, and NetEase has been responsive, but if you're playing ranked right now you'll encounter a narrower meta than the roster size suggests.
The ranked system itself needs work. Matchmaking in the middle tiers feels inconsistent — skill gaps within matches are sometimes baffling. This improves at higher ranks but the climb to get there can be frustrating in ways that feel unfair rather than challenging.
Communication tools are also underbaked. Voice chat exists but the ping system isn't as evolved as it should be for a game launching in 2024. Coordinating without voice comms — which most casual players won't use — is harder than it needs to be.
Fawaz Sheikh's verdict
Marvel Rivals is a better game than it had any right to be, and a more flawed game than its highlights suggest. If you go in for casual play, enjoying the Marvel characters and fast-paced action, you'll have a great time. If you're going deep on ranked, brace for frustration while the balance matures.
I'm going to keep playing it. The core is strong enough to earn that. But I'd recommend managing expectations — this is a promising version 1.0, not a finished product.
For more from Fawaz Sheikh on gaming and culture, check out the main site. Also read Fawaz Sheikh on solo travel and building a fitness habit.