Marvel Rivals is the latest game to feature the “Star-Spangled Man with a Plan” and in it it’s clear as day how synonymous and iconic the vibranium shield is to Captain America. Enhanced via a Super-Soldier Serum, Steve Rogers is a red, white, and blue defender of freedom who hurls a nearly indestructible shield. A “man out of time,” Steve fought in World War 2 before being inadvertently frozen in ice until the modern generation, where he became an Avenger and embraced contemporary ideologies and technology. Interestingly, Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra will examine the character in its titular war-torn era.
No gameplay has been revealed yet for Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, though its stunningly life-like cinematics demonstrate that its graphics will be impressive. However, what Captain America’s gameplay might look like isn’t necessarily ambiguous if he already wields the round vibranium shield—distinct as it is from the ordinary kite shield he originally had equipped— and can ricochet it between Hydra soldiers. That said, while in-game combat with the shield needs to be exhilarating as it’ll likely be what delineates him most from Marvel 1943’s three other playable characters, Captain America’s attacks shouldn’t be restricted to it.
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Captain America’s Shield is Overpowered and It No Doubt Should Be in Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra
Tony Stark is still charismatic, intelligent, and hilarious even when he’s not in an Iron Man suit, and Steve Rogers is still compassionate and morally righteous even when he isn’t carrying a shield. Nonetheless, both Iron Man and Captain America are far more interesting when they have their iconic gear. Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra has already given a small glimpse of what Captain America’s combat style may look like, and unsurprisingly it has him bouncing the shield off enemies and catching it in midair or using it in close-quarters combat to cut an enemy down.
The shield is even wielded in both shots of Captain America and Black Panther’s heated encounter. Now, it’s obviously expected that Captain America would hoist his shield aloft seeing as it’s such an overpowered tool. But, if given a chance, it would be neat if a shield throw could result in it being lodged in a wall or object with Steve then having a move set independent of it until players wrench it free.
Captain America Must Be Worthy of the Shield, But Not Beholden to It
In the encounter between Steve Rogers and Azzuri that was revealed, antagonistic dialogue illustrates that Black Panther does not find Captain America worthy of the shield. This infers that Azzuri knows it’s made of vibranium.
Assuming that this is their first meeting in Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra’s canon, Azzuri must not know Steve is a good man. Of course, Skydance may be flipping the script and not portraying Captain America as the traditional, squeaky-clean do-gooder that he normally is, but that is yet to be seen. Either way, it would be spectacular if Captain America’s gameplay incorporated attacks that didn’t require the shield to be his safety net.
The only glaring and immediate issue with such gameplay is if players choose to leave the shield where it is in the environment and progress onward it would break immersion to enter a cutscene and have the shield suddenly reappear on Steve’s back or arm.
Indeed, each playable character in Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra seems to have their combat playstyle boiled down to their equipment: Gabriel wielding a rifle suggests that he’ll be a marksman archetype; Nanali wielding what appears to be a retractable baton suggests she’ll have melee combat and maybe dabble in stealth as she’s a Wakandan spy; Black Panther might exclusively revolve around stealth mechanics considering how his scenes in the story trailer depict him; and Captain America may be fully offensive with the shield doing all the work for him. If so, Steve’s story will have quite a lot of heavy lifting to do to prove to Azzuri that he is the right man to wield it.
- ESRB
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t
- Developer(s)
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Skydance New Media
- Publisher(s)
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Skydance New Media
- Franchise
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Marvel
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 5