Season 1 of Marvel Rivals will launch soon, with the Fantastic Four added to the free-to-play hero shooter so they can defeat Dracula, who has flooded the Earth with eternal night. Launching on January 10 at 1:00 PT / 4:00 ET / 9:00 GMT, NetEase developers are paving the way in the classic way, rebalancing the character lineup to simultaneously gain the adulation of some groups of players while plunging others into apoplectic rage.
Do you enjoy going crazy as Hela, the goddess of death? Was that it? You who shot me with crows on Klyntar last night? How do you feel about 25 points less than your basic health? Yes, that’s what I was thinking. Fuck you too.
Hela is one of many people who have become weakened. NetEase’s Thanos-style finger snap made the Incredible Hulk less awesome: according to the full patch notes, it reduces the Unbreakable Guard’s gamma shield value for Hero Hulk from 250 to 200. Somewhat counterintuitively, HawkEye underwent a rework to make it less effective with bow – “reduced medium to long range damage, reduced unsafe combat radius, and slightly improved resistance in close combat for the Archer of Vengeance.
Black Panther’s survivability has also been reduced: the patch reduces “the bonus health granted to self after refreshing Vibration Signs with Spirit Rip from 40 to 30, and the upper limit of bonus health granted from 120 to 75.”
For every loser, there is, of course, at least one winner. Black Widow “very much needed some optimization based on the launch experience of her abilities, as well as a slight increase in the threat of her ultimate ability.” Her Edge Dancer, Fleet Foot, and Electro-Plasma Explosion skills have been enhanced.
In other news, Sea King Namor is better at throwing eggs, and the Squirrel Tsunami has undergone a sinister evolution. Tsunami’s component squirrels will now “rush toward the nearest enemy upon reflection, rather than jumping randomly,” although the tsunami’s overall health has been halved. The laws of chance will no longer protect you from the attack of crazy nutcrackers. These are truly terrible times.
You can read the full patch notes Here. Again, this is all a warm-up for Season 1, which introduces the noble stretchy Mr. Fantastic, the clear lady Invisible Woman, the bouncing Fireboy Human Torch, and the grumpy rocker The Thing. They will appear as part of the plot of the season in which Dr. Doom and Dracula conspired turn off the sunprobably Mr. Burns was not available for recruitment at that time. The leaks also suggest that Robonemesis Ultron will also be included in the lineup.
Here is a summary of the press release:
Darkness covers New York as the Time Stream Entanglement leaves Doctor Strange trapped in the Tangled Astral Plane, scattering the pages of the Darkhold. Dracula and Doctor Doom disrupt the moon’s orbit, plunging the city into eternal night and unleashing an army of vampire creatures. With the world on the brink, the Fantastic Four join forces with iconic Marvel heroes in an epic battle to break the mystical darkness through science. Battle Dracula with the Fantastic Four in Marvel Rivals!
Marvel Rivals continues to take Steam by storm, ranking sixth in terms of games at the time of this article’s publication. Our Ed Thorn was ambivalent in his review of the Season 0 premiere, summing it up as “like Overwatch if Overwatch were too complicated and frequented by Comic Con.” He greatly liked the skill and presentation, but argued that the proliferation of somewhat interchangeable hero designs transformed matches into “somewhat shapeless blenders”. Are you still playing?
