Marvel Rivals Gamescom 2024 Preview: Democracy Comes to the Marvel Universe

With a definitive release date set for December, NetEase gave media and influencers a special, early-access look at two upcoming characters that were announced during Gamescom 2024 coming to Marvel Rivals .

I have to hand it to NetEase; their experience working on Overwatch has blossomed into Marvel Rivals , which is easily my most anticipated free-to-play game in recent memory. This is compounded further after some hands-on time with Captain America and Bucky Barnes, AKA The Winter Solider, who were added to the latest build of the game.

Starting with Captain America , a new vanguard character in Marvel Rivals , he surprised me the most, as I tend to gravitate towards range or gun-based heroes. Cap was still a very solid choice during my time with the beta. Thanks to his excellent speed and dash ability, combined with his iconic shield, Captain America feels just right as a hybrid DPS tank, allowing players to carve a path forward while still holding his own in the frontline.

“Captain America also features a decent range of offensive moves in Marvel Rivals, such as the ability to throw the shield.”

His special Freedom Charge ability further augments the playing field, granting bonus health and additional movement speed to himself and allied players, making Cap a great asset in closing the distance when in a sticky situation. Outside of defensive boons, such as lifting the shield to mitigate damage, Captain America also features a decent range of offensive moves in Marvel Rivals , such as the ability to throw the shield. This can not only bounce and ricochet off targets, but a direct hit will result in taking a significant amount of HP from your enemies, making it viable to quickly demolish other tanks or high-health targets.

Acting as Captain America’s foil and adding to the Duelist category of available heroes , Bucky or The Winter Solider brings with him a mix of range and melee attacks. His hand canon is quite powerful but features only two rounds (that thankfully auto-reload), requiring the player to learn the delicate dance of balancing his other moves between quick bursts of his gun. Speaking of different abilities, The Winter Solider sports his iconic bionic arm in Marvel Rivals , which affords him the ability to dash forward, ending the animation with a Shoryuken-style uppercut that can damage and stagger targets.

“…the Winter Solider features one of my favourite new ultimate finishers in Marvel Rivals with his Kraken Impact attack.”

Additionally, The Winter Solider features one of my favourite new ultimate finishers in Marvel Rivals with his Kraken Impact attack. This launches Bucky into the air, creating an AoE circle on the ground that helps guide players to those unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of his attack.

Even those within the blast radius of the Kraken Impact attack will get marked, meaning they will die if their health drops within a specified threshold, further adding to the utility of the devasting finisher. Finally, those who get proc’d with the effect of the Kraken Impact will also be slightly replenishing The Winter Solider’s bar, which can be used to further extend the special and chain together kills for a short window.

Both Captain America and Bucky, The Winter Soldier, feel familiar yet distinct thanks to featuring moves that make them feel like hybrid classes in Marvel Rivals. They take the best elements of similar characters and make them their own, further adding to the already fantastic lineup of available heroes.

I typically stick to single-player experiences, occasionally playing the odd multiplayer shooter , while avoiding free-to-play games almost entirely, but when it comes to Marvel Rivals, I can genuinely say that launch can’t come soon enough.

Netease has managed to take Marvel Rivals, imbuing it with the best of what made Overwatch so successful while keeping things free-to-play in a package that both competitive shooter and Marvel fans should keep on their radar.