Marvel Rivals Devs on Overwatch Comparisons: Rivals to Be Faster Paced, More Accessible to New Players

If you’ve seen hero shooter Marvel Rivals in action, chances are you’ve seen how closely it resembles Overwatch in a lot of things. Be it in the color palette, levels and even the hero abilities.

Was this intentional? Is this the developers at NetEase paying homage to the granddaddy of the hero shooter genre? We’re just as curious as you are, and this is something we asked the developers in our exclusive interview.

(Note: The answers provided were by NetEase as a whole, wasn’t attributed to just one individual)

MP1st: First thing off, let’s get it out of the way: Marvel Rivals will forever be compared to Overwatch. How does the dev team take that?

NetEase: We are honored to be compared with some of the best games out there in this genre and we feel we offer an experience that builds on some familiar gameplay elements and creates something unique with the opportunity to play as your favorite Marvel characters. Marvel Rivals will be faster paced and much more accessible to new players. This game features abilities-heavy gameplay and we put the hero in the hero shooter genre. We want Marvel Rivals to be best in class.

As someone who’s played the game a lot, I can’t say I disagree with NetEase’s statement. Marvel Rivals definitely feels much faster than Overwatch, and I mean that in a good way. Speaking of which, go read my hands-on preview of the beta here, where I state, “In terms of gameplay and the overall impact of the game, Marvel Rivals’ closed beta proves the developers are on the right track.”

Marvel Rivals will be released this December 5 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

Stay tuned to our full interview hitting the site soon.

More Marvel Rivals Reading:

• Marvel Rivals to Feature 3:1 Split Between “Greatest Hits” Heroes and Lesser Known Characters; Team Ups to Be Rotational
• No Marvel Rivals Beta “Planned for Now” According to NetEase
• Marvel Rivals Adds Psylocke to the Roster and Here’s Our First Look; Moon Knight Teased Too

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