I'm getting tired of Marvel's rivals, and it's entirely Overwatch's fault

When I first played the closed alpha of Marvel RivalsI was thrilled to have a new hero shooter, but now that it's out, I'm getting tired of it quickly. Honestly, I should have seen this coming. Surveillance It was released in 2016 and I played it a lot for years. When Marvel Rivals was released, I was excited for a new game to reinvigorate my interest in the genre, But that's not what I got.

Instead of getting a replacement for Surveillance, Marvel Rivals it feels a lot more like I just bought some new skins for Surveillance. Although it is far from being a shame Surveillance to deceive, Marvel Rivals still needed to do more to differentiate itself and really keep my interest. Now, I'm not saying the game can't do this, but Marvel Rivals has a tough job if it wants to win over fans who feel like they've already played the game to death before its release.

Marvel Rivals looks like a relaunch of Overwatch with new heroes

Both games have many similarities

Probably the biggest argument in favor of Marvel Rivals'originality is your list of heroes. I'm not going to lie, I was excited to see my favorite heroes like Captain America and Spider-Man on the list, as well as weird choices like Jeff the Land Shark from the Gwenpool comics. My (admittedly diminishing) enjoyment of Marvel properties was enough to at least make me check it out Marvel Rivals despite my Surveillance fatigue.

My initial thoughts when playing Marvel Rivals was “Oh, that's just Surveillance with new characters.“A friend I tested it with initially went so far as to voice him”Surveillance but fun.” Even when I was most excited about Marvel Rivals and his roster of heroes, I still found myself inevitably comparing him to Surveillance. The more I played, the more I began to realize that although the characters had new names and looks, they weren't as different as I initially thought.

Marvel Rivals heroes look like combinations of Overwatch characters

Marvel Rivals heroes have some of the same abilities as Overwatch heroes

SurveillanceFingerprints are on every design Marvel Rivals'heroes. It's not that Rivals heroes have a complete one-on-one comparison with a Surveillance counterpart, but instead they seem almost like a mashup of several heroes. For example, Star-Lord's mobility and rapid-fire weapons are very similar to Tracer's. However, he also has an ability that Tracer does not, where he spins around firing his weapons in various directions. This move looks very similar to the ultimate ability of Surveillance's Reaper so, while it prevents Star-Lord from being a Tracer clone, most of its moveset still feels Surveillance-adjacent.

Any Surveillance the player will likely recognize even more similarities. Squirrel Girl's acorns and ability to launch herself into the air seem very Junkrat. Although the two heroes are different in some ways, Magneto's shield closely resembles Reinhardt's. Scarlet Witch's basic attack is essentially the same as Symmetra's, and Hawkeye essentially looks like a slightly reworked Hanzo. Luna Snow might be one of the most egregious examples, with her skating ability, role as a healer, and role as a musician all being very similar to Lucio (whose name even sounds like a portmanteau of Luna Snow).

Now, these similarities alone wouldn't be enough to ruin Marvel Rivals for me. Many of the skills in both games are fairly standard for this type of competitive play. And now it's like Surveillance it was completely original. Roadhog's hook was essentially just Thresh's FPS version of League of Legends. However, the similarities between the two games' heroes are only part of the issue.

Marvel Rivals has the exact same game modes and similar maps

Marvel Rivals also features ways to advance points or play King Of The Hill

I had Marvel Rivals offered a new gaming experience, the fact that its heroes felt Surveillance Frankenstein's creations wouldn't have bothered me so much. However, Rivals'two main game modes are exactly the same as Surveillance's. Both games feature a mode where an offensive team pushes a point (usually represented by some type of moving vehicle) while the defensive team tries to impede its progress. The objective in both games' mode is a best-of-three king of the hill scenario.

Not only are the objectives and mechanics the same across Surveillance and Marvel Rivalsmany of the maps also look similar. The starting area in Surveillance's Hanamura, for example, has a very similar layout to Rivals'Tokyo 2099 Map. Honestly, it's a bit shocking that if Marvel Rivals would come so close to recreating the layout of a Surveillance that they wouldn't even try to hide it by not putting it in the same country.

Again, in isolation, this could be forgiven. Both games take place in a parallel version of the real world and are inspired by real countries. Likewise, it is difficult to say what is Rivals copying Surveillance and what are just the best practices for designing a level in this type of game. Still, when combined with the similarities between the two games' heroes, Marvel Rivals looks exhaustingly familiar.

Marvel Rivals needs to differentiate itself more from Overwatch

Rivals could still change things up by adding more original content

Fortunately for Marvel Rivalsit's just beginning. It also has the support of one of the most popular and profitable IPs in the world. There is plenty of time – and probably plenty of resources – to Marvel Rivals to evolve into a game with a more unique identity. One way to do this is to give players some resources Surveillance failed to comply.

Before the release of Surveillance 2players were excited at the prospect of a PVE mode. However, all plans for this were cancelled. One Way Marvel Rivals can differentiate itself is to deliver a PVE mode to players. This could also help attract more players who are Marvel fans but don't necessarily enjoy competitive gameplay.

No matter how Marvel Rivals choose to differentiate Surveillancebut it's something the game needs to do if it wants to win me back. I will say that – although it shares some similarities with Doomfist – I found playing as Wolverine to be a refreshing experience and one that didn't just make me think Surveillance all the time. More unique heroes and perhaps some unique game modes will help a lot Marvel Rivals develop a stronger identity and maybe make me excited to play it again.