NetEase’s Marvel Super War is a MOBA game for people who love superheroes
It might be just another MOBA reskin, but massive Avengers team brawls are irresistable fun
Imagine yourself as Iron Man beaming repulsor rays at your enemies while the Hulk holds off the assault. That’s an experience you can finally have in a MOBA game thanks to NetEase’s new Marvel Super War.
While the game might seem like just yet another reskin of a typical MOBA game, NetEase has really succeeded in applying the MOBA formula to the Marvel Universe. After all, who doesn’t want to be in a teamfight sparring with other superheroes?
The most important aspect of the game is that the roles and abilities of the characters make sense. The Hulk and the Thing are your rock-ripped tanks, Hawkeye and Star-Lord your nimble marksmen, Groot and Mantis your support, Black Panther and Black Widow your assassins sneaking out of the jungle for an unexpected kill. Nothing feels out of place, making it a very immersive experience.
It is a feat easier said than done. Tencent previously brought superheroes into a MOBA game by introducing DC characters to Arena of Valor, the international version of Honor of Kings. But the experience doesn’t translate as well. Each Justice League member sticks out like a sore thumb among a bunch of medieval knights and mages, who are the game’s original characters. Worse, the characters’ abilities in the game don’t feel reflective of their strengths and weaknesses as portrayed in the comics.
NetEase’s Super War is definitely a step-up from that. Not only do the graphics look great, with character designs true to form, the game also effectively leverages much of Marvel’s fascinating lore.
Arena of Valor, China’s mobile League of Legends, is aiming to be the world’s go-to mobile esport
But like any other competitive multiplayer game, there isn’t really much of a story to Marvel Super War.
The rules of the game are simple: Play as a hero in a team of five going up against another team of five, try to wipe out all the defence towers in your way and tear down your enemy's team base to achieve final victory.
The setting of the arena is also full of Easter eggs that Marvel fans can feast on. For example, all the defence towers in the arena are Wakandan tech. Around the towers are jungles that house various Wakandan animal spirits or grotesque monsters like the Man-Thing.
Towers, jungles and map objectives are all common MOBA features. In this respect, it’s fair to say that Marvel Super War has very little innovation in the genre. But the integration of the superhero world into the MOBA formula is well-implemented enough to capitalize on the best of both worlds.
Many characters have to be unlocked by either grinding through the game or paying. But characters who are free to play from the get-go, including Iron Man and Quicksilver, offer plenty of value for beginning players.
The game also has some awesome skins for Marvel fans. You can play as an armoured Hulk, for example, as he appeared in the film Thor: Ragnarok or use Spider-Man’s Iron Spider armour from Avengers: Infinity War. Based on what the shop has to offer, I’d bet the game will rake in a lot of revenue just from selling cosmetics.
But even with all these great nods to Marvel fandom, the game itself needs a lot more fine-tuning before it’s balanced enough to compete with the top MOBAs on the market.
