Marvel Games has had far more hits than misses in the last few years. For every disappointment like Marvel’s Avengers, there have been three excellent Spider-Man games surrounding it. Now Marvel Rivals is taking the hero shooter world by storm, drawing in over 10 million players and getting ready to release its first full-length season of post-launch content.
But Marvel Games is only just getting started. Along with regular Marvel Rivals updates, Marvel has a bevy of gaming projects on the horizon, including Insomniac’s Wolverine, EA Motive’s Iron Man, Cliffhanger Games’ Black Panther, and Skydance’s Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra. And while it probably won’t be 100% comparable to those upcoming singleplayer experiences, Marvel Rivals offers some effective introductions for the heroes about to take the spotlight.
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Marvel Rivals Offers a Great Introduction to Marvel Games’ Upcoming Slate
Marvel Rivals Offers a General Understanding of Heroes’ Powers
Captain America, Black Panther, Wolverine, and Iron Man are all set to star in upcoming Marvel video games. While most Marvel fans will already have a good idea of what each of these iconic heroes is capable of via their reading of the comics, playing past games, or watching various MCU or X-Men movies, Marvel Rivals does a great job of showcasing their unique abilities in a bit more detail.
By playing Marvel Rivals, fans quickly learn that Iron Man’s ability set revolves around ranged attacks and flight, that Wolverine is all about leaping into combat and dishing out swift attacks, that Captain America charges into battle and uses his shield to block and deflect, and that Black Panther’s fighting style sees him dash into the fray, pick off targets strategically, and dash back to safety.
Though Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, EA Motive’s Iron Man, Cliffhanger Games’ Black Panther, and Insomniac’s Wolverine are all tailored around their respective heroes and will thus likely have more in-depth combat mechanics for each character, Marvel Rivals does a good job of preparing fans for the type of gameplay experience they can probably expect from each one.
Marvel Rivals Offers Some Lore Background with a Twist
Marvel Rivals also offers a good foundation for each hero’s comic book lore. While fans of the MCU and Fox’s X-Men movies will, again, have a solid understanding of these heroes’ origins and personalities already, some portrayals differ a little from the comic source material, which the upcoming Marvel Games slate might lean more into.
Marvel Rivals‘ character-specific lore pages offer some extra insight into Wolverine, Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Panther, often diving a bit deeper into their comic origins and motivations. Additionally, Marvel Rivals has a wealth of pre-match character interactions, whereby heroes talk among themselves, often referencing key moments of comic lore and key relationships with one another, such as how this version of Iron Man views his dynamic with Peter Parker.
However, Marvel Rivals does throw a few curveballs with some of its in-game lore, as some versions of its heroes are actually multiversal variants, such as Captain America, who comes from the 2099 universe. Regardless, Marvel Rivals still provides a strong foundational understanding of these heroes’ lore ahead of Marvel Games’ upcoming slate.
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