Marvel Rivals is good, right? More confused and unbalanced than its inspiration, Overwatch, but that means it’s also wilder, less regimented, and probably a lot of fun. It helps that Marvel Rivals is full of recognizable characters from the comics, and the NAME development team is already adding more to that lineup with the arrival of Season 1 – Empire of Eternal Night, with recent characters Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman representing the Fantastic Four in a fan-friendly release. Seriously, expect a lot of Mr Fantastic fan art in the next few months, between this and Pedro Pascale.
The first, and perhaps the most significant, recent feature in Season 1 – Empire of Eternal Night is the recent Battle Pass, titled Darkhold. This book of the damned is completely evil, so each recent character skin gives them a darker vibe than usual. Wolverine definitely has a bit of a Van Helsing vibe to him, and Moon Knight’s outfit looks more eclipse than usual. As the main character of Rocket Racoon, I’m certainly looking forward to getting his Steampunk outfit.
If you don’t want to pimp your current character, you may be planning to play as one of the recent ones. Dueling-class Mister Fantastic adds a Dhalsim-esque stretch of melee combat to the mix, with his limbs shooting out to strike enemies around him while also being able to inflate himself to take more damage. His specialty is that he repeatedly jumps up and down in a controlled area, looking as if it would cause absolute chaos.
It’s also worth thinking about Mr. Fantastic’s partner. Sue Storm appears – does it disappear? – as the Invisible Woman, a Strategist-class character who carries shocking explosions and shields against her opponents. He can fire single blasts or employ a powerful push to push enemies out of the way or bounce them off a map that already looks very annoying. Her special ability can hide an area from view, preventing outside characters from seeing inside while keeping those inside.
Once you’ve established who you’ll be playing as, there will be two recent maps to explore. The first of them is Sanctum Sanctorum, where Dr. Strange’s mystical house appears, where you can make a terrible mess. While walking through the corridors, players can expect a variety of strange and unusual sights, as well as get acquainted with a number of fan-irritating works of art, the first of which is a portrait of Doctor Strange and his dog Bats.
The second recent map is Midtown. In the Empire of Eternal Night, Dracula and his cohorts were attacking New York, and here, recognizable Marvel landmarks like the Baxter Building seemed to have a difficult time dealing with it. There’s plenty of destruction to be had, all capped off by a cheeky upside-down A on the Avengers building, where the horizontal line flashes and looks like a “V.” For a vampire, right?
Marvel Rivals Season 1 – Empire of the Eternal Night launches on January 10 on all platforms to coincide with the game’s launch on GeForce Now, so you can enjoy Marvel’s darker side wherever you are!
