Marvel Rivals dropped a new trailer at Gamescom 2024, revealing new information about the upcoming hero shooter. It’s already shaping up to be something special, with the beta offering enjoyable and tight gameplay, taking the clear Overwatch inspiration and making it Marvel. The latest trailer revealed two new heroes coming to the game at launch: Captain America and Winter Soldier.
Alongside the new character reveals, NetEase announced that the full title will be released on December 6th across console and PC. In addition to the new heroes and the release date, NetEase confirmed that all heroes will be free to play and unlocked at launch, letting players use whichever hero they like best rather than locking them behind microtransactions and paywalls. It’s wise to keep microtransactions locked to cosmetics without altering the playing experience for anyone.
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During a special Gamescom media preview period, I was able to go hands-on with both Captain America and Winter Soldier. Both are highly requested characters in Marvel Rivals, with Captain America being a tank-like Vanguard class character, while Winter Soldier is a damage-dealing Duelist powerhouse. Let’s dive deep into both character kits below.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Cap is a two-star difficulty Vanguard character focused on keeping the team safe while smacking enemies. His combat kit is enormous and honestly feels more like a four or five-star difficulty. His kit is not difficult to understand, but the sheer number of moves and the ways they can play into each other is vast. His normal attack is the Sentinel Strike, punching enemies with every second hit, enabling a shield toss that can ricochet between enemies. He has a dash action in Leading Dash, allowing him to run faster.
Jumping during a Leading Dash sends Cap high into the air, leading into the Super-Solder Slam, a ground pound that closes the distance and knocks back enemies while damaging them. His Liberty Rush is a slight charge forward, hitting enemies in his path with the shield. Vibranium Energy Saw is Cap’s trusty shield throw, dealing damage and bouncing between enemies grouped closely.
The lynchpin of Cap’s kit in Marvel Rivals is Living Legend, raising the shield to deflect incoming projectiles in random directions. The trailer showcased Cap using it to deflect incoming ultimates from enemies, and doing so in the game feels incredible. Bringing the shield up as Spider-Man or Magneto go to use their ult, sending it either back or careening off to the side, is so satisfying, defending the team and wasting the enemy’s ult.
Captain America’s ultimate is Freedom Charge, as Cap gets bonus health and movement boosts, doing the same for any allies caught in the path he leaves as he charges in. He also teamed up with Thor, granting Cap a movement boost and adding electricity damage to his shield.
Many of Cap’s moves play into one another, making him really fun to play and with a high skill ceiling. Charging forward with Leading Dash while using Living Legend to deflect incoming projectiles feels ripped from Captain America movies or comics. Using Leading Dash to close, leaping into the air, and finishing the assault with Super-Soldier Slam are all seamlessly combined. Captain America will be a mainstay for players, as being able to knock back projectiles, ults, and buffing allies while having a solid damage output makes Cap a great addition to the roster.
WINTER SOLDIER
Bucky Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier, has a much simpler kit than Cap’s, but in its simplicity comes a deadliness that can shred enemies. Bucky’s standard attack is a two-shot Roterstern, a blaster that pops off explosive rounds. The bullets deal a lot of damage, especially with headshots, but also pass through enemies to damage anyone behind them. His Trooper’s Fist ability makes Bucky charge forward, grabbing enemies and sending them upwards at the end.
Bucky’s iconic metal arm seems to have Venom-like tendrils and electricity, adding several abilities to his kit. The Tainted Voltage ability charges up an electrical punch that sends out a ball of damage, giving him a ranged attack that also slows enemies hit by it. Bionic Hook brings out the Scorpion in him, charging up and launching a hook that grabs enemies and pulls them to him. Bucky’s passive reloads Roterstern automatically when using bionic arm abilities. He teams up with Rocket Raccoon, granting him the same Infinite Ammo and Faster Firing that Punisher receives.
The coolest part of the Winter Soldier’s kit is his ult, the Kraken Impact. When charged, Bucky leaps into the air and crashes down in an area. Enemies take damage and also get marked for Culling. If they pass a certain damage threshold in a short amount of time, they die and instantly recharge Kraken Impact.
The trailer showcases Winter Soldier doing this multiple times, killing many enemies back to back. Pulling this off in the game is ridiculously satisfying, and I came into clutch more than a few times in the final payload push. I wiped teams several times, clinching victory in the final moments. Kraken Impact decimates enemies when used at the right time with the proper support.
Marvel Rivals seems to be making all the right moves to become a massive hit on launch. Free to play with free and unlocked characters, addicting and fun gameplay, and a roster of iconic heroes and villains – it has much going for it. If NetEase can nail the microtransactions and keep a steady stream of new events and characters to play with, this could be the new king of hero shooters.
Marvel Rivals is set to launch on December 6th on PS5, Xbox Series, and PC.
