Hello everyone! These are my initial thoughts on the closed alpha of Marvel Rivals. Thank you for your time!

TL;DR:
Marvel Rivals is a game that is worth looking forward to. The presentation is well executed and gives off the comic style vibe that only adds to its aesthetic. The gameplay isn’t much different from your typical hero shooter, with characters being made up into three different classes and having their own unique abilities. There are a variety of game modes to choose from including classic modes like push the payload and domination. The game also features destructible environments that can be useful for strategic attacks but can add chaos to the battles due to glitches. The aim assist feature for controllers can use some work. And lastly, for the future, I would like to see some character balancing, fairly priced cosmetics, and for the game to not be oversaturated with characters and microtransactions like most hero shooters are nowadays.

Intro
The Marvel Rivals alpha has come to a close. I really enjoyed the game and after playing the alpha I wanted to give some of my first impressions on what I thought about the game. If you didn’t know, Marvel Rivals is an upcoming free-to-play hero shooter by NetEase games. NetEase is a Chinese game development company who have made plenty of different games, mostly in the mobile variety such as Dead by Daylight mobile. However, some of their games are also available on Steam, including this new addition to their library. This is not the first time this company has worked with the Marvel IP because they also developed Marvel Super War for iOS and Android. So they do have history with Marvel characters. You don’t need to know too much Marvel lore to enjoy the game but it will probably enhance your experience if you do know some things. I’m not a huge comic fan but I do know a lot of the characters and their rivalries and motivations and those are definitely reflected in the game and in-game dialogue. Spider-Man has been my favorite super hero since I was around 4 years old but I’ve never actually read a Spider-Man comic. There are some things I have learned about him from different movies and video games and even YouTube deep dives but there are also some things about him I've just never heard before. All I'm trying to say is you don't need extensive Marvel knowledge in order to enjoy the game. I don't have a crazy amount of Marvel knowledge and I still enjoyed the game either way. Let’s begin breaking down certain aspects of the game, beginning with its presentation.

Presentation
Start Screen
And there's no better place to start than the start menu. Not really much going on right now but the neon aesthetic looks cool and just listen to the music (Let music play for a couple of seconds) Whoever made that, keep cooking man for real because opening the game up to a banger is usually a good sign.

Main Menu
Moving on to the main menu, the first thing that really catches your eye is the moving artwork that is front and center on the screen. It looks cool showing off some of the heroes you can choose from in the game. It’s an eye catcher and the fact that it’s a moving image makes it look even better in my opinion. Obviously we can already tell that these are going to change with different seasons and such, hopefully we get some really good ones in the future.

Vol.0

Straight across the top of the screen we see our different menus and other information. Starting from the top far left we see that it says Vol.0. I’m guessing that this is where the game will display what season it is currently on but I really like that it says Volume instead of season. Little details like that are cool to me as it makes the game more comic-related.

Play

Next we see the play menu where we can search for games. Right now the game modes available are: practice range, conquest, practice vs. AI, quick match, and competitive or ranked. You can also go deeper into the menu and see that the different modes are categorized and you can also play the tutorial again.

Home

After that we come back to the home screen where you can see what events are currently happening, view your daily and weekly challenges, and see a quick glimpse of your battle pass progression.

Season

The season menu is laid out so that you can check your battle pass progression and rewards. In between the reward pages there are little lore segments where you can learn a little about different heroes and such within the game. They are actually pretty interesting if you are willing to give them a listen. And from here you can also see your daily challenges. This is where the tab on the home screen will take you if you click on it.

Heroes

The heroes menu is where you can see all the current heroes in the game and what class they fall under. Here you can also see their team up abilities and who it is that they can team up with. If you go deeper into this menu you can also see an overview of the hero, showing what class they are, what their real name is, how difficult the devs think the character is to understand, a brief lore synopsis of the hero, the cosmetics for them that you own. Here, you can equip things such as skins, MVP animations, emotes and spray paints. Next, you can see the heroes abilities with descriptions and a short video showing off what the ability looks like and how it functions. There's also a suggested combo for each hero where they show off a combo that might help you in different situations. Next up, there is more lore for the characters that you can unlock and read through if you would like to know more about your favorite characters or just want to understand a certain character better. And lastly there is the achievements menu where you can complete challenges as a specific character for little rewards like sprays, units, which is the in-game currency for cosmetics, or banners.

Store

The store menu is, obviously, a store where you can buy different cosmetics for heroes and items for yourself using the units that you earn. Clearly it’s pretty bare bones right now but the game is in its alpha.

Faction

Then there’s the faction menu where you can create or join your own faction or clan with your friends or with randoms. Doing so allows you to sport a clan tag next to your name.

Tournament

And lastly that brings us to the tournament screen where you can see what tournaments are currently going on and how many factions are signed up. This is where the factions come into play because you have to be in a faction in order to enter a tournament. During the alpha, there was a tournament going on so I'm pretty sure there will be more held down the line especially if it went smoothly.

Player Menu

After that, at the top right most of the screen, is your player menu where you can see how many units you have which is this game's currency. During the alpha they were very generous with the currency; it was one of the main rewards within the battle pass. Then there is the options menu, your mailbox for different announcements, your friends list and lastly, your profile; where you can customize your banner and see all of your stats, battle history, and replays.

Menu Music

The music in the game is good, overall it has a really epic feeling that compliments the characters in the game. As I said the start menu is good, it just gives you a good feeling when you first turn the game on and the music in the menus isn’t overwhelming at all. When in combat there isn’t any music at all until near the end of the match when it starts playing tense music to get your adrenaline pumping no matter what team you're on.

Graphics

The graphics look really good and are very comic-like which I think is a great choice for the artstyle. It goes for a more Deadpool game style than it does for the Ultimate Spider-Man style which I think is a good thing. The characters and environments really pop and things are just genuinely nice to look at.

Gameplay and Characters
Combat
When in battle the game plays like your typical hero shooter the only difference being that the game is in third person pov instead of first. When in combat, everything is very nicely laid out. You have your objective at the top left of the screen, objective progress and match time at the top center of the screen, and the match kill feed at the top right. In the bottom left of the screen is a portrait of the character you are playing as, what weapon and ammo type you are currently using, and your ammo count. At the bottom center is your character's current health and bottom right is all of your abilities and the info you need to know about them; such as how long the current cooldown is on your ability and how many times you can use an ability before it goes on said cooldown. There is also an objective marker that will show you where it is that you need to go to complete your objective. Depending on what hero you are using, you may have something in the center of your screen like a charge count for an ability. But for the most part, the game leaves the center of the screen open so that the player can really focus on what is going on right in front of them. The battles are in a 6v6 format with 3 different classes of characters to choose from, and with the game being a hero shooter, who you’re playing as can change the way you go about attacking your opponents. The three different classes are Vanguard, Duelist, and Strategist. These classes will determine your character's basic role on the battlefield and how you should go about maneuvering them.

Vanguard

Vanguards are your tank characters. As your team’s front-line fighters, they have the largest health pool out of all the other characters in the game and they do high amounts of damage with a typically slower firing rate or swing rate than other characters. Most of them can also protect their teammates by holding shields in front of themselves to block incoming attacks or covering teammates with personal shields to protect them.

Duelists

Duelists are your more damage oriented characters; they make up most of the roster and are who you choose if you want to do quick damage from mid to close range and move in and out of combat engagements quickly. They have the second highest health pool and can die very quickly if they aren't careful or get too cocky within the battles. Most of their abilities are self oriented meaning they don't have any support abilities like how Vanguards can guard the team. but they make up for it by being able to defeat enemies more efficiently than the other classes.

Strategists

Strategists are the team's healers; they take on the most support-oriented role in making sure the team stays alive. They are the back line fighters; doing damage to enemies from long range while making sure the heroes fighting in the front have enough health to keep battling. They have the lowest health pool which is why they should usually try to be on the back line when it comes to fighting. But some of them can also pack a punch in battle, and can hold their own well in 1v1s. (Show Luna snow) They are the backbone of the team and one of the most important classes to include in your team if you want to get the victory.

Combat Styles

Even with the three different classes, the characters in this game can really be broken up into two combat styles: melee characters and ranged characters. Melee characters are your close quarters characters: in order to do damage, they have to get up close and either use their hands or if they have a weapon such as a sword they can use that too. Ranged characters either use guns, blasters, or some form of magic; they can be far and deal high amounts of damage to another player. This can be kind of frustrating for those who prefer melee characters because they can just get shot from a fair range away without being able to do anything about it.

Favorite Characters
Some of my favorite characters that I used when playing the alpha include: Spider-Man, Peni Parker, Magik, The Punisher, Iron Man, and Luna Snow

Spider-Man

Spider-Man is my favorite hero so you know I had to try him first, and I really like how he plays here. He is a very quick moving character and his wall crawl ability can help you get out of some sticky situations. I love that you can pull people towards you or dash at them to really catch them off guard and deal damage. His ultimate ability is useful for both himself and the team, being that he can get team wipes easily. Despite this, he can be kind of difficult to get the hang of and has a high learning curve.

Peni Parker

At first, I didn’t like Peni Parker at all, but that was just because I didn’t really understand her abilities. As a tank character, she could be a little better. Her guns can do a lot of damage to enemies and she can place mines around the battlefield that blow up when enemies get close to them they’ve saved me multiple times she is a very good damage dealer and is pretty mobile as well. But there are two things I don’t like about her though. Number 1 her Ultimate ability she runs around laying mines everywhere and attacking enemies but it just seems really weak it doesn't really seem like it does a lot of damage at all and most of the time it seems like a scare tactic more than anything. And number 2 I just wish she had some type of shield that could block damage for her allies.

Magik

I have never heard of Magik before this game and didn’t think much of her at first, but she is a serious heavy-hitter. In essence, she is a rushdown specialist using her sword; she can clear out a group of people very quickly and her dash attack launches enemies into the air for a couple of free eats. Her portal attack lets her step into a portal for a split second and when she comes back out she can do a spinning swing that can attack multiple enemies at a time, or summon a demon that will be stationary and attack for her. She has a blast that she can shoot out from her sword which is great when hitting enemies at a long range. And her ultimate transforms her into darkchild a transformation for magik that makes all of her base attacks stronger by making the range of her swings longer and increasing the amount of hits she does from a single swing of her sword. Again, I didn’t even know who Magik was when I started this game but she has quickly become one of my favorites.

The Punisher

The Punisher…(Sigh) this man is in the wrong game, he is crazy for real. He comes with an assault rifle and a shotgun that he can swap fairly quickly, he can hop in a turret to shoot at the enemies with high damage and insane rate of fire, and he can throw down smoke to obscure enemy vision so they don't know what's coming next. As his cherry-on-top ultimate, he can summon two miniguns to do crazy damage to the enemy team near and far, and it lasts for a fairly long time as well. This man is definitely a top tier character right now. I literally can't think of anything I dislike about him, other than playing against him.

Iron Man

Iron Man is a straightforward hero who can get the job done. He can fly at will and is a menace from the sky with heavy explosive blasts. His repulsors do splash damage as well so you don't even have to actually hit who you are looking at, just shoot near them. His energy beam can melt health bars, but it requires being closer to the enemy rather than high in the sky. His ultimate can absolutely disintegrate - and I mean literally - into ash when he releases one big explosive ball from his chest.

Luna Snow

I really like Luna Snow as a character. I never heard of her until this game, just like Magik, but I really like her aesthetic style and how surprisingly powerful she is. When it comes to healing, she is one of the best if not the best with how fast her healing shots go out and how much healing she does with one shot. She does a good amount of damage, even more than some heroes in the Duelists class. She can freeze enemies in place and she can heal herself with her abilities. I strongly dislike playing against her for one specific reason. Her ultimate, which lets her create a circle around herself where allies inside can be healed repeatedly or receive a damage buff which she can switch back and forth between, think the DJ guy from the other hero shooter. This is good, but it’s how long it lasts that is the problem. It lasts for too long and when she is healing while using it, your enemies are basically invincible because of how much healing it does. Other than that I think she is a fantastic character that just needs some balancing.

Characters I Dislike
Scarlet Witch

Personally I just hate characters like Scarlet Witch. You can play this character with your eyes closed and probably still be the top frag of your team. All you have to do is hover your crosshair over or near an enemy and hold the primary fire button until they are dead, and since the hit box for it is so high you can be aiming a good distance away from someone and they will still take damage. She can escape battles very easily and her ultimate ability is very strong. Personally I just don’t like her at all, because she is overpowered.

Seasonal Bonus

There is also something called a seasonal bonus that only affects certain characters and it does things like boost their damage. I’m guessing during every season different characters will have different bonuses to the way that they play which is really different. It can shake up the gameplay and change what you know about a character but I can also see how this can be bad due to people getting used to a character being the way they know just for them to lose their bonus next season and be either slightly weaker or stronger. It’s a cool idea but it may cause some issues down the line.

Controls
I played the alpha using an Xbox Series controller and I had no problems with the controls of the game. They are very straightforward and easy to understand if you’ve played any third person shooters before. Moving and shooting are fairly simple and with the UI showing what buttons do which abilities on the screen, it makes it fairly easy for the player to know what it is they are doing and be aware of their cooldowns. One thing that can take some getting used to is the way characters that can fly do so, because they can ascend and descend at will. This is different from other hero shooters with flying characters that have a fuel consumption system, but with practice that’ll become second nature. The only problem I had with the controls was with the aim assist feature. Obviously, if you're playing with mouse and keyboard, this won't affect you. However, on the default controller settings, the aim assist is set to max. This posed a problem where sometimes, when someone on the enemy team would throw out an object as one of their abilities, my camera would continuously keep trying to pull me towards that object while I would be trying to aim at something or someone else. Or, another example, I would be playing as Luna Snow and my team would all be good on health so I would try to shoot an enemy only for the camera to keep pulling my reticle towards my allies who had less than 75 HP. This can be changed in the settings for healers so that the aim assist can kick in at your own preferred HP status (<50 HP, <25 HP, etc.), but <75 HP is set as the default. Other than that, the controls are perfectly fine and feel very comfortable.

Game Modes
There were multiple different game modes within the alpha, being the practice range, conquest, practice vs. AI, and competitive.

Practice Range

The practice range is where you can test out the different heroes on your own terms and see if you like the abilities that the hero has. You can switch out different aspects of the range to make scenarios for yourself, like what character you are battling against and how to approach healing your team when being attacked. It is a great way to get comfortable with a character and I enjoy how dynamic it is.

Conquest

Unfortunately, I never actually got to play conquest because I could never find a match. So I have no clue how that game mode plays or what the objectives are. Hopefully they will fix this for their future testing.

Practice vs. AI

This mode is for when you want to practice using a certain hero but want to see what they would be like in a real battle. It has three different difficulties to choose from so that the player can test their skills in various scenarios.

Quick Match

Quick match is the easiest way to get into a game quickly, and was the bulk of my alpha experience. So far, there are only two game modes available. One mode is push the payload, where the attacking team is trying to move the objective from one side of the map to the other while the defending team is trying to stop them from making any progress. The game is over when either the attacking team completes their objective or the defending team makes the attacking team run out of time. The second mode is domination where both teams fight to control an area in the center of the map. The teams have to have control of the point for a certain amount of time in order to win. After one round, the map will change and there the same process will take place. The mode is best of three, with each location being uniquely different but still apart of the same theme.

Competitive

I’m not really into ranked modes in any game, but I'm pretty sure for this game it is the same as quick play just with a more competitive and less casual feel to it.

Overall Opinions on the Alpha Test
Overall Thoughts
I really enjoyed the alpha! I think the game has promise, with some buffs and nerfs here and there. The game could be something to really look forward to as long as they listen to player feedback. The battles can get really intense, especially when being your favorite heroes and going against other characters that make you feel like you are a part of the Marvel universe.

What I Liked
Sense Of Purpose

One thing that I really enjoy in this game is the sense of purpose I feel while I am playing the matches. In most other hero shooters, there isn’t really any story. The characters have lore but other than that when it comes to matches why is everyone fighting there is no explanation for anything that’s going on. The lore that is present in these types of games are not well incorporated - some require external searching on wiki websites, some require listening to audio logs or conduct challenges. In this game, however, each map has its own story being played out and whether you win or lose a match will determine the outcome for that mini story. On the Shibuya map, you can even talk to the character Spider-Zero in the spawn room and she will tell you why you are helping her. Little things like this really help me feel more immersed in the game’s story. I really like that we have a reason as to why we are fighting so hard.

Destructible Environments

There are destructible environments in the game that are good for flare, but they also have practical uses as well. If someone is trying to hide behind a wall, you can just get rid of the wall after a couple of shots. Or, if you want to try and flank someone, you can destroy the environment around you to help with maneuvering around and getting to hard-to-see and reach enemies. After a while the battlefield will rebuild itself and then you can destroy things all over again for an ever-dynamic battlefield.

What I Disliked
Destructible environment fail

Of course, with something so destructive, there are bound to be errors that occur. There is only one thing I will say negative about it and it only happened to me once, but I was standing somewhere in the map where the environment was gone, and when it rebuilt itself I was stuck inside of the environment. The game immediately just sent me back to the spawn room. Now, I didn’t die, and it's nice to see that there is already a fail-safe implemented, but there has to be a better way to not disrupt battles while still having the environment be dynamic.

Loading Time

Could just be a hardware limitation for me, but the loading times going into matches can take forever. The countdown to the match would be going off while I'm still looking at the loading screens. I could hear things happening in the match but I hadn’t even picked my character yet. After a couple of games, it gets noticeably better, but the first few games I miss the first 30 seconds of the battle every time.

Character Pop-in

This issue is known to happen to just me, but when I would finally load into a game, my character would be invisible to myself so I would be fumbling around. You are still able to attack people, but never knowing exactly where you would be at the time is very disorienting and it can take up to a full minute for the character to finally load in.

What I Hope To See
Role Queue

Any game that has multiple different classes of characters to choose from should always have a role queue. Feeling like you have to play as a certain class because no other person on your team wants to play as that class can be very frustrating. Getting absolutely crushed because one team is only using the strongest characters can also be very annoying. Adding a role queue would keep everyone on an even playing field and create some really intense matches. Role queue would be a very welcome addition to the game for all modes.

Balancing

Certain characters in the game really just need to be buffed or nerfed. Characters like Spider-Man do way too little damage. While other characters like Luna Snow can literally melt Spider-Man in seconds despite being in the support class. I understand that Spider-Man is a high difficulty character, but to just get one kill you have to use almost every single ability he has on one person. While characters like Scarlet WItch just have to look at or near an enemy and they are dead. Like I said before, the ultimates can last way too long as well, with how long Luna Snow’s ultimate ability lasts I just think they should cut the time back a little. Some character balancing would really make a difference and I think would make the game more fair for everyone.

Fairly Priced Cosmetics.

I understand that this will be a free to play game and the company has to make money somehow, but I really hope that they don’t try to do any $50 skin bundles that include almost nothing within them. Battle passes and microtransactions are becoming a real problem in modern gaming and things like skin bundles for $30 - $60 dollars and battle passes that you have to put your entire free time into don't help with that. Bundles for like $10 dollars are reasonable. And please, if a player only wants one thing out of the bundle, and not the entire bundle, please let them just buy the one thing.

Avoid Oversaturation

Lastly, don't oversaturate the game. Nowadays, I return to a hero shooter that I once enjoyed and become overwhelmed with how much has changed within the game. Having a lot of characters is a good thing because it gives players a wide variety to choose from, but sometimes too many characters can be overwhelming. There doesn’t have to be new characters all the time, new maps and modes are welcome. But one thing with a lot of modern hero shooters is they just keep adding character after character then you have to try and remember what these new characters can do, how they mesh with other characters, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. Things like this make it tough for new and returning players to continue playing the game.

Final Thoughts
Finally, I think Marvel Rivals is a game worth looking forward to. It has some things to iron out but every modern game release nowadays does. I’ll be looking forward to the game's full release and will be playing when that time comes. I also look forward to future tests they will be conducting and will hope to be included in them. Thanks for reading!

Recentemente, depois de muito esforço, consegui aproveitar ao máximo o Alpha teste de Marvel Rivals, um novo hero shooter que está para ser lançado. Sendo um Alpha honestamente era meio impossível não fazer comparações ou dizer que o game está tosco em alguns sentidos, e realmente está. Por falar nisso, desde os primeiros minutos de seu trailer de revelação, a comparação com Overwatch foi inevitável, e isso não se deve somente pelo fato de ser um hero shooter 6v6, mas também pelo seu estilo visual, interface, etc, que é totalmente idêntico ao jogo da Blizzard.

Em minha experiência geral com o game, pude ver algo extremamente promissor, apesar de ele ser da NetEase, que tem um histórico meio neutro em seus desenvolvimentos com games como, por exemplo, Cyber Hunter e Lost Light, que são jogos que eu já tinha testado antes no passado. Ambos igualmente eram promissores, porém, por escolhas criativas e outros problemas, se tornaram algo mais negativo que positivo.

Uma coisa que já dá para notar nesse Alpha também é a falta de balanceamento entre algumas classes, com algumas parecendo quebradas demais. Fora o fator fidelidade, onde alguns personagens recebem kits de habilidades e classes que não combinam nem um pouco com eles. Um grande exemplo disso é o Rocket Raccoon, que passa a ser um suporte, porém, ao mesmo tempo que é um suporte, também dá muito dano. Homem-Aranha, que é um personagem que tem um dos kits mais fiéis de todos, simplesmente não se dá bem contra nada ou parece descolado demais se comparado com outros personagens. Outros parecem básicos demais, como, por exemplo, o Magneto, que, apesar de cumprir bem o papel dele como um tanque no jogo, sinto que ele está muito cru ainda. Outros fatores mais básicos que precisam ser revistos são também em relação à seleção de personagens, principalmente em modos competitivos, onde, simplesmente por não ter um "pick obrigatório", todo mundo basicamente resolve pegar o que quer, que, na maioria esmagadora das vezes, vai ser um DPS, fazendo com que o time fique completamente fraco. Além disso, também acontece de maneira contrária, onde, se o time inimigo souber buildar de maneira correta, o time se torna muito chato e impossível de ser derrotado. Inclusive, além dos picks obrigatórios, seria intrigante não ter a opção de selecionar dois tanques na partida, que, basicamente falando, foi o meta nesse Alpha e se tornou algo muito quebrado e vai continuar sendo se continuar dessa forma.

Mas enfim, Marvel Rivals tem muito potencial no espaço dos hero shooters, isso é inegável. Tudo que precisam fazer é trabalhar direitinho no game e balancear. Vai ter um beta aí vindo pela frente e tenho certeza que vai dar tudo certo, ou assim eu espero...

The alpha test has so far been very strong, one of the strongest alpha playtest's I've ever participated in actually.

The characters all feel unique, fluid and true to their comic counterparts. The only part of this game so far I have problems with so far is the destructible environments have far too quick of a regeneration time and can obscure the vision quite badly and potentially ruin the flow of the combat.

I also find the way they've rolled out the keys to be quite bizarre, but as of now we have a strong game in our hands and I'm looking forward to the full release where they can add more modes as well as fixing some minor issues with comp.