AlthoughMarvelRivalsmight not have the same massive player count it started with, the latest competitor in the hero shooter genre is still going strong with no signs of slowing down. Gearing up forMarvel Rivals’second season starting on April 11th, NetEase has already announced the first character celebrating its start will be the Vanguard, Emma Frost. Adding another great character to the pool of Vanguards is just whatMarvel Rivalsneeds to get more players swapping over to the role, but her design has one glaring problem.
Marvel Rivalsis a unique entry in the hero shooter genre, as it doesn’t lean nearly as heavily into the competitive scene as the other popular options on the market. Compared to games likeOverwatch,Valorant, andRainbow Six Siege, whichare practically dominated by their competitive player bases,Marvel Rivalsoffers a fresh perspective on the genre. While this greater focus on gorgeously designed characters andcomic-accurate storiesis excellent for regular gameplay, it’s already starting to cause problems that I can’t help but notice more with each hero.
Marvel Rivals Has A Growing Problem With Character Similarity
Causing Problems With Quick Decision-Making
Marvel Rivalsdid a great job differentiating its characters on release, with each hero and villain looking unique in their design and being easily identifiable from a distance. With the addition of Sue Storm, however, it becomes harder to tell the difference between heroes from a distance, even if both their outfits work well on their own. While it was bad enough to have Sue Storm looking shockingly similar to Dagger already inMarvel Rivals, theaddition of Emma Frost inMarvel Rivalsjust made identifying characters even worse.
It becomes harder to tell the difference between heroes from a distance, even if both their outfits work well on their own,
I’ve had more than a few instances already where, in the heat of the moment, I’ve mistaken one character for the other, which caused me to miss out on an easy kill or even resulted in my death. Although it gets easier to tell the characters apart over time and with more experience,it still feels like a poor choice to introduce several characters with strikingly similar designs, especially so close to each other.
Given that blue isn’t even a color as closely tied to the character,NetEase could have at least changed the trim of Emma Frost’s outfit to a color like gold or even white to help her stand out from the other two heroes. It even seems the developers were clearly aware of this problem before release and still decided to stick with the decision, as Reddit userInformal-Cod4035noticed a character interaction that makes a joke out of the similarities.
Easily Identifiable Characters Are A Necessity For Competitive Games
Even More Casual Games Benefit From Identifiable Characters
Even ifMarvel Rivalsprides itself on not being a hyper-balanced e-sports game,the existence of its competitive mode alone is more than enough reason to take some of these complaints seriously. While mistaking Sue Storm and Dagger doesn’t make too much of a difference given their shared role as specialists, Emma Frost’s role as a powerful tank capable of performing melee takedowns could result in mistaking her for the other two, a deadly one.
Marvel Rivals Season 2: All Character & System Changes
Season 2 is bringing numerous changes to Marvel Rivals, which will impact both the short-term and long-term success of the rising hero shooter.
I would still prefer thatMarvel Rivalsstick to a more casual experience, with competitive just being an addition for those who want the extra challenge, but these kinds of choices affect casual players just as much. In the heat of chaotic combat or quick-making at the end of a round, identifying heroes can significantly impactthe outcome of a match. Not to mention, the size of Emma Frost’s model seems notably smaller than that of atraditional vanguard inMarvel Rivals, which could give her an unfair advantage by having a smaller hitbox.
Future Characters Might Have A Hard Time Breaking The Trend
A Problem With Deep Roots In Marvel Comics
WithMarvel Revealsconfirming that season 3 onwards willrelease one character each month, it won’t be long before this problem needs to be addressed in future design choices. Even with character additions like Emma Frost, it’s hard to blame NetEase solely, asMarvel Comics has always had a problem with characters looking strikingly similar to each other over the years. This issue is made even worse by the noticeable lack of diversity in its popular female heroes, although unique outfits can help reduce the issue by a wide margin.
The silhouette and personality of a well-designed character can help shine through most outfits they’re placed in.
While it can be argued that skins for heroes could cause the same problem of making it harder to tell characters apart, the silhouette and personality of a well-designed character can help shine through most outfits they’re wearing,MarvelRivalshas already done a great job so far with having characters' weapons and movements identifying the character beneath them, even if their design alone would be much more difficult to recognize at first glance. This design style could also be used to help differentiate future characters, adding simple accessories or gadgets to set them apart from the rest.
Every New Marvel Rivals Skin Revealed In Season 2 Trailer
The new Hellfire Gala theme for Season 2 in Marvel Rivals has arrived, and with it we have seen glimpses of new costumes coming to the game.
WithDazzler being the next character rumoredas an upcoming addition toMarvel Rivalsbased on her comic collaborations and in-game references,the identifiable hero problem could easily get significantly worse. Asanother white-blonde woman sporting a white and blue outfit, NetEase will likely have to take some liberties to make her stand out against the current cast of heroes or simply use one of her alternate comic designs.
