Image: Blizzard / Marvel Games / Kotaku
Marvel Rivals is the newest hero shooter on the block, following closely in Overwatch’s footsteps. It takes inspiration from Blizzard’s game in plenty of ways, from general game modes to its style of monetization. Another way it takes inspiration is in its characters.
Some hero abilities in Marvel Rivals are clearly taken right from Overwatch characters. Many characters are pretty conceptually similar as well. For instance, Hulk comes to mind as a very similar concept to D. Va, both heroes have a “transformation” to make them immensely more powerful. That can be useful to keep in mind if you’re coming into Rivals fresh from Overwatch and want to roll with characters that feel familiar.
Luckily for you, we’ve put together a collection of five characters so similar to Overwatch characters that many will find themselves right at home when jumping in.
Image: Blizzard / Marvel Games / Kotaku
Yes, if you can believe it, the two characters with “Widow” in their name play incredibly similar. Black Widow’s sniper will be incredibly familiar to Widowmaker veterans, and she has a movement ability to help get her into the perfect sniper position. Their close-quarters combat varies a bit, and they have different Ultimates, but Black Widow is an easy main for former Widowmaker players.
Image: Blizzard / Marvel Games / Kotaku
Another obvious Avengers parallel, Hawkeye and Hanzo are natural counterparts. Their abilities differ a bit, though. Hawkeye’s slashing abilities are unique to his kit, and his Ultimate is something completely new. However, the similarity in their main bow and arrow shots is undeniable. Hanzo mains should absolutely be running to try Hawkeye as their first character in Marvel Rivals.
Screenshot: Blizzard / Marvel Games / Kotaku
Squirrel Girl is already proving to be a force to be reckoned with in Marvel Rivals, just like her very similar counterpart, Junkrat. Squirrel Girl’s primary fire grenade launcher is similar to Junkrat’s. And the similarities go far beyond the main weapon. She has a traversal ability to bounce on her tail to give her extra height, not too dissimilar from Junkrat. In addition, her secondary fire helps stun people. While it’s more active than Junkrat’s Steel Trap, these two abilities work in much the same way. Overall, Junkrat fans may find a lot of muscle memory transfers over to Squirrel Girl.
Image: Blizzard / Marvel Games / Kotaku
Winston is a tank that dominated Overwatch’s infamous dive meta, and Venom has a lot of similar shades. Both are tanks that rely on leaping headfirst into trouble. Once they’re in the enemy backlines, their primary attacks are both short range “beams” that don’t do heavy damage but can really add up over time. Venom’s other abilities are more focused on self-sustaining than providing specific cover for teammates, but if you played Winston in Overwatch, a switch from the simian to the symbiote may be in order for you.
Image: Blizzard / Marvel Games / Kotaku
Rocket Raccoon plays like a much simpler version of Overwatch’s high-flying support, Baptiste. Like Baptiste, Rocket fires healing grenades with a secondary fire, and uses a traditional ballistic weapon as their primary. They also have a powerful ability that requires a lot of trigger discipline: Immortality Beacon for Baptiste, and the B.R.B. for Rocket. Finally, both have a damage-boosting Ultimate ability. While Baptiste’s is a screen, Rocket’s shoots damage boosting beams surrounding his device.
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