Phoenix is in Marvel Rivals, which implies I’d lastly put Overwatch 2 on the shelf for a bit and get again into NetEase’s hero shooter recreation. Not out of some deep admiration for Phoenix, thoughts you. The one issues I learn about her are what I gleaned from Wikipedia after NetEase introduced her for Marvel Rivals season 3 and one necessary truth from her character trailer: She really strikes like a traditional human — effectively, mutant — and that was thrilling, one thing I couldn’t say for Rivals prior thus far.
For the reason that recreation launched in December 2024, Marvel Rivals gamers have periodically complained on Reddit about how sluggish character motion velocity is, or appears to be. Some mentioned it felt like strolling in sluggish movement; others mentioned it was only a perspective trick, that in fact video games like Overwatch appeared sooner, for the reason that digital camera is first particular person and appears extra dynamic. I agreed with the previous and lamented the sluggish strides and glacial assault tempo that plagued each hero in Rivals, step by step taking part in much less and fewer because the perceived challenge grew an increasing number of annoying.
Now that Overwatch 2 has its third-person Stadium mode, and after seeing how Phoenix appeared to maneuver extra rapidly, I made a decision to see if my principle about the remainder of Rivals being so sluggish was proper. It was. Form of.
The follow enviornment in each video games consists of areas with distance measurements to assist calculate harm drop-off ranges, which additionally doubles as the right place to check motion velocity. After messing round with a number of characters, I confirmed that Rivals characters take roughly half of a stride longer to journey 5 meters in comparison with Overwatch 2 characters. That feels like an issue, however Rivals’ distance scaling can be a bit completely different. 5 meters in Rivals is about 11.5 inches, the place the identical distance is roughly 10 inches in Overwatch 2.
“Why does this matter?” you is likely to be asking. The reply is that it means Rivals characters transfer about as quick as most Overwatch 2 characters, and even sooner, since they’re technically overlaying an extended distance within the same-ish variety of steps. It’s not a velocity challenge. It’s a method challenge.
Cloak and Dagger, Namor, Spider-Man, and the remaining transfer as in the event that they’re auditioning for a task in Baywatch, loping dramatically down the battlefield in massive, rangey steps. Prolonged pauses punctuate assault combos for everybody who isn’t the martial arts professional Iron Fist, turning what ought to be high-energy battles into one thing that wouldn’t be misplaced in a ballet. Most assault sounds and animations are muted, too. Winter Soldier’s swanky pistol feels like a popgun with a silencer on it, and Scarlet Witch’s life absorption has, effectively, no life to it. All that is elegant in an understated approach, certain — nevertheless it’s not very tremendous.
Phoenix adjustments all of that. A searing whoosh sound accompanies her assaults, with a small explosion after three consecutive hits on the identical enemy. Her different offensive ability detonates a good greater explosion. She zooms round in flaming-bird kind to rapidly relocate, and might even mix this with a second mobility ability, one which doesn’t have an obscenely prolonged cooldown timer. When she dodges or adjustments course, she’s transferring rapidly as an alternative of leaning lazily to at least one aspect as if she will’t be bothered, and there’s a quickness to her motion animations that provides a way of urgency, even when she’s not really transferring sooner. (She isn’t. Cloak and Dagger cowl the identical distance in fewer steps.)
Principally, NetEase lastly discovered a mixture of favor and performance that isn’t boring and doesn’t make you are feeling such as you’re swimming via pudding. Phoenix performs and strikes such as you’d count on a educated fighter to maneuver, so although she is probably not basically completely different from different characters, her fights really feel thrilling. And that’s sufficient for me.
