Marvel Rivals’ third-person perspective helps alleviate some of the hero shooter genre’s problems
Unlike many games in the hero shooter genre, the upcoming Marvel Rivals has players controlling iconic Marvel characters from a third-person perspective, rather than the typical first-person camera angle While this may seem like a small difference, a larger field of view goes a long way towards making the game less confusing.
Marvel Rivals’ third-person camera makes understanding fights easier
A lot of it boils down to spatial awareness. Being able to see both the characters and their immediate surroundings helps players read what is going on and make more informed decisions. Many Overwatch 2 and Apex Legends players have led their characters (and their teams) to disadvantageous positions because they did not know where their allies and enemies were. Make no mistake; Marvel Rivals is still a very hectic game, but I found that being able to see more of the battlefield can be very helpful in grasping the situation.
Speaking of the battlefield, the third-person camera assists Marvel Rivals’ combat in many ways. Offensive abilities can be more easily avoided, healing can be provided more efficiently, and technical moves such as Doctor Strange’s Pentagram of Farallah portals and Spider-Man’s Web Swing can be executed more precisely at a moment’s notice. There are downsides to implementing a third-person camera over a first-person one – overall accuracy is reduced, and wall peeking is a big issue. Still, I feel that these problems are pretty much offset by the advantages provided in the midst of combat.
Marvel Rivals’ cosmetics benefit greatly from a third-person perspective
Cosmetics (more specifically skins) are an integral part of the hero shooter genre that allows players to customize their characters and show them off to their allies and enemies. But while other players can see these skins in a first-person game like Apex Legends, the player equipped with the cosmetics doesn’t get to enjoy their skins as much as they’d like to. Sure, they can look at their characters’ models at the end game screen or by performing emotes, but for the most part, the only parts of their characters they’ll be seeing are their hands and weapons. This results in a strange disconnect between first-person games and their paid cosmetics as the more expensive skins cannot seen for the majority of playtime.
Being a third-person hero shooter game, Marvel Rivals allows players to see their characters’ equipped skins at almost all times. Considering the game will have purchasable skins when it launches, I can see the third-person perspective becoming an incentive for players to buy skins for their favorite characters as well as any related content, like a possible battle pass.
Marvel Rivals certainly wears its influences on its shoulders, but it does so in such a way that makes sense within the context of the Marvel IP. The third-person camera may have seemed like a weird choice initially, but it seems to working well based on the now concluded closed alpha test and currently ongoing beta test.
