Marvel Rivals is NetEase’s take on the superhero, free-to-play genre. It was released on December 6th while being beta for almost 3 or 4 months. Almost immediately on its official release it shot up steam’s charts as one of the most played games at a consistent 400,000+ players playing every week.
Recently NetEase released a trailer showcasing the season Battle Pass of the game, called Eternal Night Falls featuring a new protagonist ‘Dracula’ while Doctor Doom takes a much needed break.
A lot of Amazing Skins
The trailer showcased lots of skins featuring a mixture between cowboy and 1800 high fashion aesthetic with a lot of red and black combinations. Wolverine for example, sports a cowboy hat, a dark brown utility jacket, boots and has blood red claws. Iron Man has an interesting skin where his armour looks kind of like a mixture between his suit and old suits of armour that we find in mansions.
Rocket Raccoon on the other hand, has a sort of bandit look but his gadgets have a gold and black combination matching the cowboy aesthetic. A lot of other characters received a red and black color change that weren’t showcased but are obtainable in game when the season launches.
The battle pass also features sprays, emotes, nameplates as well as unique MVP animations that players can grind for. Moreover if players buy the battle pass but cannot finish it on time have nothing to fear as they will not expire. Meaning they can come back anytime and claim the prices they paid for.
New Maps And Game modes Are Also Coming
Along with these amazing skins, NetEase have also teased the new maps that are going to be released with the season 1 update, which is the Sanctum Sanctorum, Midtown and Central Park. One new game mode is being added which is called ‘Doom Watch’.
The “Dooms Watch” game mode is a 8-12 player free for all, aimed at those who like to play solo and wanna test how well they are pure combat with no objectives. The mode has a time limit with the top 50% of the players given a victory at the end.
The introduction of 3 new maps was a much needed update as the current maps are locked to certain game modes which hurts the experience as players are likely to encounter the same map on multiple matches. While we have seen Sanctum Sanctorum as the home of Doctor Strange from the movies it will be interesting to see NetEase’s rendition of it, very little is known about the other two at this time.
These Studios Gotta Start Taking Notes
Other than the fact that NetEase has single handedly managed to release a free to play title to such success, they have also managed to keep a player base engaged for a noticeable amount of time despite the lack of map variety and game mode variety. This is mostly due to the fun and engaging gameplay that the game offers with each hero requiring a unique playstyle.
They have also kept adding in weekly updates that bring in balance changes and have tweaked progression systems to smooth out the gameplay experience overall. The weekly updates also feature new community challenges that give notable rewards and of course there are the limited time modes which change up the meta for a fresh experience.
Conclusion
With this new update however more additions are set to arrive mid-season such as the Human Torch And The Thing are coming as playable characters along with the other two maps. While the previous year showcased how NOT to do live-service games, NetEase and Embark Studios have blown it out of the water with their attempts.
Marvel Rivals have secured their spot in the live service market and while the haters may say it’s just an Overwatch clone they cannot deny the consistent player base that plays every day and the enjoyment that the game undoubtedly provides. Marvel Rivals will hopefully bring out more amazing seasons carrying forward the storyline and adding more and more iconic superheroes for players to enjoy in the future.