Netease boasts that its Overwatch-like Marvel Rivals doesn't require you to unlock heroes, unlike Overwatch 2

Marvel Rivals, Netease’s free-to-play Overwatch knockoff featuring superheroes from the Marvelverse, is set to launch on December 6th. And in a “duh, get this one too, Overwatch!” vein, they also announced that all of their heroes will be unlocked for everyone right away (man). Oh my god, wait, isn’t that DC? To be honest, I’ve only seen one Avengers movie, two Captain Americas, and Thor: Ragnarok (without seeing the other Thors). I don’t remember any of that at all. Anyway, yeah, Marvel Rivals.

The game's big middle finger to Overwatch is that not only is every hero immediately free to play, but any hero released later will also be free to play. On the one hand, I think that's a good thing, because there's no barrier to trying out new fire. But on the other hand, I think there's value in locking new heroes behind at least some progression. It's not like spending money in real life or anything, it's just the feeling of working to unlock new fire. I don't know, I just found it pretty exciting when I unlocked a new character with my hard-earned Overwatch Coins. And in a weird way, it felt like I'd passed some basic tests: by mastering the simple free characters, I'd graduated to the more complex new version.

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Captain America and the Winter Soldier are also joining the cast, which surprised me a little because I thought they were the same thing. However, I agree with some of the coaches on The Voice who put on Beautiful Day 12 years ago with the Marvelverse.

Otherwise yes, my thoughts on Marvel Rivals are as follows: I think this game is coming back too late. I wouldn't say hero FPS games are dead, but I believe that the specific shooter genre of Marvel Rivals is no longer in demand – even if it looks good.

It could be DC or whatever, but I hope Square Enix gives us another Guardians Of The Galaxy adventure one day. Now that game? That game was good.


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