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 sport. Not out of some deep admiration for Phoenix, thoughts you. The one issues I find out 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 truly strikes like a standard human — effectively, mutant — and that was thrilling, one thing I couldn’t say for Rivals prior so far.
For the reason that sport launched in December 2024, Marvel Rivals gamers have periodically complained on Reddit about how gradual character motion velocity is, or appears to be. Some stated it felt like strolling in gradual movement; others stated it was only a perspective trick, that after all video games like Overwatch appeared sooner, because the digital camera is first particular person and appears extra dynamic. I agreed with the previous and lamented the gradual strides and glacial assault tempo that plagued each hero in Rivals, step by step taking part in much less and fewer because the perceived subject 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 shortly, I made a decision to see if my idea about the remainder of Rivals being so gradual was proper. It was. Sort of.
The apply area in each video games consists of areas with distance measurements to assist calculate injury 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 appears like an issue, however Rivals’ distance scaling can be a bit totally 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 perhaps 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 subject. It’s a method subject.
Cloak and Dagger, Namor, Spider-Man, and the remaining transfer as in the event that they’re auditioning for a job in Baywatch, loping dramatically down the battlefield in huge, rangey steps. Prolonged pauses punctuate assault combos for everybody who isn’t the martial arts professional Iron Fist, turning what needs 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 appears 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 means, positive — however it’s not very tremendous.
Phoenix modifications 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 larger explosion. She zooms round in flaming-bird kind to shortly 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 modifications route, she’s shifting shortly as an alternative of leaning lazily to at least one aspect as if she will be able to’t be bothered, and there’s a quickness to her motion animations that provides a way of urgency, even when she’s not truly shifting 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’re feeling such as you’re swimming by means of pudding. Phoenix performs and strikes such as you’d anticipate a educated fighter to maneuver, so despite the fact that she might not be essentially totally different from different characters, her fights really feel thrilling. And that’s sufficient for me.
