Don’t get me wrong, I love playing it casually with some buddies. Because of that, and the fact that it is free, I do recommend Marvel Rivals. But do not go into it thinking you are going to get a fair competitive experience in the slightest.

Even the 1 star, easiest characters to play, have mechanics to them that are not clearly explained. Some of them are fun and unique, but they need to be explained better. This is most noticeable in the support roll characters as most of the better healing characters have all their heals through abilities that, again, I do not believe are explained well enough to make someone play the character effectively.

Because of the 3rd person camera choice, the game has very strange and, in most cases, infuriating aim mechanics. For example, on several occasions I have watched a Hawkeye spam shots into a wall about 1 to 1 ½in from my character, and because he was aiming to the right of me, hit every shot and killed me.

Several characters are crazy strong as well, borderline overpowered. It would be amazing if there was a pick/ban system, oh wait, there is one! Its just locked behind a higher elo. And don’t even think about trying to grind through the competitive ranks solo! Playing with randoms is always a mixed bag, and it has always been better in any competitive game to have a team if you want to really grind for a high rank. But the lack of role queue, or even a preferred roll queue system makes this a nightmare to do alone. Most everyone wants to lock in a damage character and even if you manage to find someone who is willing to select an alternate roll, they go into it not knowing what to do at all. Me included! Maybe this will get better as the game goes on, but having to read a wall of confusing text, some of which may or may not matter because of the “Team Up” mechanic, and to understand all of it within a 30 second window is impossible.

I have not had a great time as far as the competition side of this game goes. If you want to play a competitive hero shooter, just play Overwatch. Don’t waist your time on this… YET! This game has huge potential for its competitive scene. With a few tweaks to the information provided in the hero overview, the addition of at least a preferred role queue for the competitive game mode and tightening up the aiming mechanics, I can see Marvel Rivals surpassing Overwatch, Valorant, and really any other hero shooter. As of writing this review, however, it feels like a game trying to hard to make itself different from the rest of the hero shooter genre causing it to be an overly complicated, buggy, and overall ridiculous competitive experience.

[h1] Welcome to my Ted Talk on Marvel Rivals! [/h1] [h2] This game needs work…. [/h2] Don’t get me wrong, I love playing it casually with some buddies. Because of that, and the fact that it is free, I do recommend Marvel Rivals. But do not go into it thinking you are going to get a fair competitive experience in the slightest. Even the 1 star, easiest characters to play, have mechanics to them that are not clearly explained. Some of them are fun and unique, but they need to be explained better. This is most noticeable in the support roll characters as most of the better healing characters have all their heals through abilities that, again, I do not believe are explained well enough to make someone play the character effectively. Because of the 3rd person camera choice, the game has very strange and, in most cases, infuriating aim mechanics. For example, on several occasions I have watched a Hawkeye spam shots into a wall about 1 to 1 ½in from my character, and because he was aiming to the right of me, hit every shot and killed me. Several characters are crazy strong as well, borderline overpowered. It would be amazing if there was a pick/ban system, oh wait, there is one! Its just locked behind a higher elo. And don’t even think about trying to grind through the competitive ranks solo! Playing with randoms is always a mixed bag, and it has always been better in any competitive game to have a team if you want to really grind for a high rank. But the lack of role queue, or even a preferred roll queue system makes this a nightmare to do alone. Most everyone wants to lock in a damage character and even if you manage to find someone who is willing to select an alternate roll, they go into it not knowing what to do at all. Me included! Maybe this will get better as the game goes on, but having to read a wall of confusing text, some of which may or may not matter because of the “Team Up” mechanic, and to understand all of it within a 30 second window is impossible. I have not had a great time as far as the competition side of this game goes. If you want to play a competitive hero shooter, just play Overwatch. Don’t waist your time on this… YET! This game has huge potential for its competitive scene. With a few tweaks to the information provided in the hero overview, the addition of at least a preferred role queue for the competitive game mode and tightening up the aiming mechanics, I can see Marvel Rivals surpassing Overwatch, Valorant, and really any other hero shooter. As of writing this review, however, it feels like a game trying to hard to make itself different from the rest of the hero shooter genre causing it to be an overly complicated, buggy, and overall ridiculous competitive experience.