Marvel Rivals Season 1 impressions — Fighting with my family

Marvel Rivals man. We’re as surprised as you are. The superhero shooter has taken the world by storm, and not that Storm. With the final days of the pre-season ending, it’s on to something new, and Marvel’s first family has arrived. Sure, it’s only the first two in Mr. Fantastic and The Invisible Woman, but with all the additional content dropping in Season 1’s Eternal Night Falls (and The Human Torch, The Thing, and a Central Park map coming at the midseason), there’s a lot to like here.

The best place to start is with the man himself, Mr. Fantastic. I’ve not played as many duelist characters so far, but he might be my favorite. We knew his stretchy qualities would be an asset, but I wasn’t sure how insane they’d go, or if it might be too strict to be effective. His kit lies perfectly in the middle, in a way that makes him a top choice but not necessarily busted.

Your punches thrown will obviously go a long way. These are slow and methodical compared to Iron Fist, quality over quantity. A good reference point is Venom’s main tentacle attack, although your fist goes further. It packs a lot of heat, taking out characters like Squirrel Girl in just four punches. Where Mr. Fantastic will have trouble is versus the likes of Storm or Iron Man; any heroes that can attack from a distance. Mr. Fantastic is a brawler, so getting in close is your best weapon.

Alongside this is an elongated grip, where you can grab an opponent and pull them in. It’s great if you’re trying to get rid of that pesky healer who’s trying to stay alive for their teammates. There’s also a dash that allows you to give your friends and yourself a shield boost, but damage enemies and get close for a finishing blow. This has a quick recharge, with two immediate uses. I find this to be one of the best abilities, and if you use them intelligently you can keep a teammate up or land the last punch that could change the tides of battle.

A passive ability that activates once you’ve built up a meter from damage and ability use is Elastic Strength, and this turns Mr. Fantastic into a tank. He swells up, along with slamming opponents like the Hulk. Increased shields and damage make this state an easy one to suggest for a team push, whether you’re trying to cap a point or control a convoy. It doesn’t last for the longest time, but learning how to build it up and properly execute once you achieve it makes it a well thought out idea, and it makes running three damage players viable if you only have one Vanguard.

Lastly, let’s talk about the Reflexive Rubber and Mr. Fantastic’s ultimate, the Braniac Bounce. Reflexive Rubber is certainly powerful, but not the win condition that some might have thought from some of the videos out there. If you see Mr. Fantastic start looking like a bearded rectangle, you probably need to stop attacking. This is because he absorbs your damage and can fling it all back as a single attack. Worst still, it’s not reflected back at the damager but where Mr. Fantastic aims it, so your projectiles might mean the end of your buddy. This ability also is able to reflect ultimates, but again, you have to have it available to use. Timing is everything, so smart Mr. Fantastic players can really do some damage with that cooldown.

Brainiac Bounce is a fine ultimate for taking space, but I don’t feel like it’s that good. It’s probably a wise decision in terms of how good of a hero Mr. Fantastic already is not to give him a godlike ult, but it’s a little bit disappointing in practice. Mr. Fantastic essentially becomes a bouncy ball with fists, smashing opponents with an AOE attack that can last a bit longer if you damage a foe. Given this ultimate puts you in the air as an easy target though, I don’t think it’s that great overall.

Sue Storm, otherwise known as The Invisible Woman, is a middling strategist. I hate to make it sound like I don’t like her, but unlike Mr. Fantastic I don’t think she’s a better pick than the Luna Snow’s or Cloak and Dagger’s out there. Worst still, I don’t think her invisibility passive is that useful, as Sue doesn’t do the damage to be useful on the flank, and I rarely get a chance to disengage for it to pop. You can do a double jump to activate your invisibility manually, but that’s the only

Using her main ability, Orb Projections, is nothing special. It is limited to ten shots before a reload, so you’ll want to make sure you hit with them. I do appreciate they both heal your teammates and hurt enemies, which is something that makes her a bit easier to use. There is an aspect of controlling space she has with two of the cooldowns, Force Physics and Psionic Vortex. Force Physics allows you to either push or pull an enemy, which can be useful in keeping a point touch from occurring or dislodging an annoying enemy on high ground. Psionic Vortex provides a bit of damage, but is an AOE orb that will discourage a foe from moving that way. All and all, these are tools that can set your team up for layups.

I don’t like the Guardian Shield at all. This makes a translucent energy shield appear in front of your teammates, and it’s quite useless beyond a bit of healing it can provide. There are rarely heroes that stand still, so anytime I place these it feels like I’ll drop one and my friends would immediately run away from its protection. It’s a good idea, but a bubble would be more useful, like what Magneto has.

Sue’s ultimate, however, is great. I didn’t understand “Invisible Boundary” at all the first time I used it, but afterwards it clicked. This ability drops an invisible, circular area wherever Sue places it, and inside it your team can hide, receive healing, and enemies are slowed down. If there was ever a great ult to hold or push a capture point, or to give you the space to push or hold a cart. It’s good even if you don’t know how to best use it, but great Invisible Woman players are going to have a field day with it.

Two new maps arrived with this update as well, which consist of the dark, vampiric Midtown and Sanctum Sanctorum, Doctor Strange’s abode. Midtown is a new convoy map, while Sanctum Sanctorum is the location for the new free-for-all mode. Starting with Midtown, it’s a cool and fun theme, featuring the likes of the Baxter Building and Avengers Tower, but the opening choke is rough. The cart has to immediately be moved into a zig-zag like turn, which is an easy spot for a first hold by the defense. If you can get past it, the way forward is much simpler with some open space, but you can lose a whole lot of time at the beginning of the match having to brute force through. There’s also not as much high ground as some of the other maps, leading to playing on the cart being the best option.

Sanctum Sanctorum lends itself to the free-for-all mode, so covering these together makes the most sense. This map is a recreation of the titular Strange home, but a bit less decorated, most likely given the fights that are about to take place. Continuing on the Strange theme, there are a bunch of portals open throughout the map, allowing you to abscond from a foe quickly. While they could still follow you, or even ding you as you pass through, these multiple pathways add some flair and fun to the map while staying on theme.

Doom Match is what you’ll be playing on this map, a twelve player free-for-all that’s a little bit different than the mode usually plays. Instead of all players fighting for the top spot, the top six to sixteen kills wins, which makes this mode a bit more friendly compared to others. While I like it, this seems more like a great place to test heroes out as opposed to a regular mode in the rotation. Also, don’t play a healer here, it’s more or less pointless as team buff abilities are greyed out and you’re already at a disadvantage given you do less damage.

Lastly, the battle pass and skins. I think there’s a lot to like here, especially with Marvel Rivals making the choice for battle passes sticking with you beyond the season. If you’re a big fan of vampire themes, this is the season for you, with all kinds of amazing ideas like Wolverine looking like Van Helsing or Iron Man in medieval armor. I’m not as partial to the looks, but it’s still cool. As for skins, both Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman have some great initial ones (and players will certainly be drawn to the option Sue has available). As a Peni main tank, I’d like to see her get a few additional unique ones as many are color variants. The game is still in its beginning phase, so I’m sure events and seasons will bring a lot more for us comic nerds to geek out over.

Overall, this is a Fantastic start (pun intended) to the first season for Marvel Rivals. Any time you can add two new characters at the same time into a hero shooter and they fit without breaking the game, you’ve done a great job. While I don’t think both are crafted equally, there’s a lot to explore between them. Midtown isn’t necessarily a lot different in terms of gameplay than its contemporaries, but the pace feels good. Throw in a fun Doom Match idea that’s a nice break in between more competitive play, and Season 1: Eternal Night Falls feels like the tip of Dracula’s fang… we’re only on the first bite of a special meal of a video game.

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