I Wish I Loved This Wildly Popular Superhero Game More But There's One Thing Holding It Back

There are so many amazing superhero games now, covering everything from Marvel to DC. It is a great time to be a comic book fan and an avid lover of video games – if only we didn’t have to sleep so I could catch up on both without pulling my hair out – and for that I am grateful. Of course, not every comic book video game is going to be a hit, but, for the most part, they’ve been exceptional. More importantly, many of them, such as Marvel Rivals, have gone on to devour everyone’s time thanks to their engrossing hooks.

Now, typically, I’d take this time to spotlight an underappreciated Marvel game or a superhero indie that needs the attention – check out Dispatch and Henchman Story on Steam – but I actually find myself in a rather baffling position. Rather than wishing I had more time to play the lesser-known superhero games, I actually find I wish I were playing the most popular one more. The only issue is that I cannot gel with this incredibly popular game, no matter how hard I try, and it is down to one key problem I cannot overlook.

Marvel Rivals Is Too Competitive For Me

I Can’t Seem To Get Into It

I completely and utterly appreciate the love for Marvel Rivals. Not only did it garner exceptionally positive reviews at launch from both critics and fans alike, but it is also just a premium-feeling multiplayer experience that’s completely free. Its enormous and ever-growing roster of heroes and villains continues to be its highlight, but the numerous modes, maps, and varied abilities, not to mention the team-up feature, all coalesce to create what is undoubtedly the ultimate multiplayer Marvel experience. Marvel’s Avengers feels like a mistake when compared to Rivals.

However, as much as I do understand and, at times, love all of that, I have many issues with Marvel Rivals that I can’t look past. They all stem from the fact that Rivals is just too competitive for me. Many will almost undoubtedly sigh at that as, after all, Marvel Rivals is a competitive multiplayer shooter. I get it, I do, but I always find it frustrating when a game is so perfectly positioned to offer a great single-player experience, and instead tumbles down the multiplayer route. In my opinion, that is absolutely what has happened with Marvel Rivals.

I’ve been playing Marvel Rivals on and off since launch, and I’m struggling. It isn’t that I’m bad at the game as I feel I’m fairly competent at it, at least enough to have a good time. Rather, Marvel Rivals’ ridiculously large roster is overbearing, and it only continues to get worse. I posited at launch that it would inevitably become uncontrollable and impossible to play as every character, and I feel I was right. There’s little point in attempting to learn every character in Marvel Rivals, which is antithetical to the entire premise of bringing together Marvel’s greatest characters.

This issue is further compounded by the fact that Marvel Rivals’ endless buffs and nerfs continue to make certain characters unplayable, such as the period in which multiple characters just couldn’t counter fliers as they’d become too overpowered. If you’ve mained one character, and they’re unexpectedly nerfed, then you’re forced to pick from the rest of the roster, which you’ve likely not bothered to learn. The competitive nature of Marvel Rivals encourages these issues to fester and worsen over time. It is no wonder Marvel Rivals’ player count is dropping.

Marvel Rivals Would Be An Amazing Single-player Game

It Would Be The Ultimate Ultimate Alliance

All of these issues have made me contemplate just how good Marvel Rivals would be as a single-player experience. Of course, there are single-player Marvel Rivals modes, some of which are limited-time events and little more than an auto-battler mode, but these don’t quite suffice. They just take the core competitive multiplayer loop but put you against bots instead of people – which, as an aside, is an amazing inclusion that will future-proof the game for when it is inevitably taken offline.

Its huge budget, coupled with Marvel Rivals’ huge roster, would make for a killer Ultimate Alliance spiritual successor.

Instead of those modes, I envision Marvel Rivals as a successor to the Marvel’s Ultimate Alliance games, which gave you dozens of characters to play as and set you across linear levels, solving puzzles and beating up bad guys. The Ultimate Alliance series never quite lived up to its potential, nor its namesake, and I think that’s largely due to limitations and small budgets. Marvel Rivals is backed by NetEase, which is moving into the single-player market with a huge AAA Uncharted-esque game. That budget, coupled with Marvel Rivals’ huge roster, would make for a killer Ultimate Alliance spiritual successor.

Marvel Rivals Needs Overwatch 2’s Promised Single-Player Mode

A Story Mode To Keep The Non-Competitive Fans Happy

Artwork promoting the PvE exerience for Overwatch 2 showing Tracer, Reinhardt, and Mei with various heroes in the background.

Of course, this is still possible within the current Marvel Rivals framework. It could take inspiration from Overwatch 2’s canceled PvE mode, which would have seen teams partner up to complete objective-based missions against AI opponents, not unlike the severely underrated Battleborn. Players could team up and take on missions inspired by comic book stories, or even unique Marvel Rivals creations, with new stories being added during seasonal events. They could even tie into whatever upcoming Marvel movie is coming out.

Marvel Rivals Namor Phoenix King skin MVP animation screen

Let’s Face It: Marvel Rivals Should Have Made This Key Change A While Ago

Getting through the seasonal Battle Pass in Marvel Rivals has always taken a lot of progression, but new Season 3 systems makes the process easier.

A single-player mode, while perhaps not what the majority of multiplayer folks would be interested in, would also help keep player numbers up. It would usher in a new player base and would offer those who left the game a while ago a reason to come back. It isn’t dissimilar to Fortnite’s model of constantly expanding and adapting to meet the expectations of an ever-changing audience. I’m not saying a single-player mode would necessarily save Marvel Rivals – nor that it needs saving right now – but it would both improve the game and offer something new to those who want it.