Summary
- Marvel Rivals could feature iconic locations like Manhattan & Wakanda, offering diverse map experiences.
- Xavier's School and Hammer Bay could be exciting battlegrounds, with unique gameplay opportunities.
- Potential maps like Ego The Living Planet and Atlantis could introduce dynamic elements to enhance gameplay.
When it comes to a franchise as long-running as Marvel, there are an unimaginably vast number of options to pull from comics, movies, and TV when it comes to designing new maps. But with the release of NetEase’s 6v6 shooter only three months away, fans have only seen a total of two locations so far, spread out across a selection of four maps that were available to play during the game’s beta.
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The Timestream Entanglement caused by Dr. Doom opens up a world of possibilities for locations to enrich the game’s lore, so here are a few locations our heroes could visit as timelines and universes collide.
10 Manhattan, New York
A Familiar Frontier
Perhaps the most obligatory addition to this game’s map pool, New York has served as the combat zone for countless battles across the Marvel universe. Pushing a payload through the streets of the city – with Stark Tower serving as a potential final checkpoint for the attackers to reach – could act as a great objective for a game mode.
And with the premise of Marvel Rivals involving different worlds colliding, the team could approach this in some very interesting ways. For example, merging a modern-day New York with the futuristic version inhabited by Peni Parker in 3145.
9 Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters
The Perfect School For A Skirmish
Rivals already features its fair share of X-Men, so it would make perfect sense for Xavier’s Institute to make an appearance in this game, possibly as a Domination map. Moving between the inside of the school and the area surrounding it as both teams attempt to capture multiple control points would work like a dream here.
The destructible environments featured in Rivals could allow teams to get incredibly creative with the way they play, like breaking through floorboards to move between the levels of the building or crashing out of windows to reach the X-Mansion's lush gardens.
8 The Kingdom Of Wakanda
A Land Of Prosperity
With the King of Wakanda himself an established member of the game’s cast, it would be great to see this highly advanced nation featured as it would be a perfect fit in Rivals’ map roster. The country is incredibly varied in its terrain, so implementing it as a Convergence map would take full advantage of this potential.
The best-of-three game mode could see players battle it out across an array of arenas, from amongst its sublime mountain ranges and thick jungles; to within the intricate infrastructure of the city; to deep underground where its high-speed Maglev Trains are held.
7 Hammer Bay, Genosha
A Mutiny For Mutants
Located on the east coast of Africa, this fictional country serves as home to the city of Hammer Bay, where many X-Men were once held prisoners by the Genoshan magistrate. The attackers’ objective here could be to capture the area and free the captive mutants, while the defenders attempt to hold down the site to prevent the breakout.
This also opens up room for Rivals to do an Overwatch-style tease for a new hero in the future, updating the map to have an X-Man or two mysteriously missing from their cells.
6 Muspelheim, The Realm Of Fire
Duel In The Depths Of Hell
Marvel Rivals has already confirmed the inclusion of three Asgardian Gods as well as their home of Asgard, so it would make sense to see another of the Ten Realms introduced. And while all of them would be more than worthy picks, this realm of eternal fire would add some nice visual variety to the game’s map selection.
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Environmental effects like bursting lava pools and cavernous pits of fire could be incorporated to make the map more dynamic, and pushing a payload across the bridges that hang above its flaming canyons could make for some mesmerizing yet terrifying scenery.
5 Ego The Living Planet
A Celestial Stadium
The Guardians of the Galaxy have seen more love than Marvel would have ever imagined since their 2014 film took the superhero genre by storm, so it would only be logical to show them some love with a map of their own. Star Lord’s celestial father was the antagonist in the team’s second adventure on the big screen, who they eventually defeated by setting off a bomb inside of his brain.
Transporting an explosive to detonate within his core could act as the goal here, too, with Ego growing increasingly angry with each checkpoint a player capture, demanding players to stop and switching up the environment around them.
4 The Lost City Of Atlantis
A Land Long Forgotten
The mutant Namor hasn’t seen much airtime in recent X-Men projects, but experienced a resurgence in popularity since his MCU debut in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. With this, there’s a good chance gamers see this sunken kingdom enter the spotlight in Marvel Rivals as the King of Atlantis gets a map of his own.
The inclusion of Atlantis would likely involve the city rising out of the water for our heroes to battle upon, or otherwise it may be a bit harder to play on for some of the non-aquatic members of Rivals’ cast.
3 Xandar, Home Of The Nova Corps
The Interplanetary Police Station
With the Timestream Entanglement completely shifting the fabric of the multiverse, an intergalactic force as powerful as the Nova Corps would likely get involved in such a grave situation. A battle taking place on their homeland of Xandar would fit in nicely here.
This could be done either with the location in its naturally thriving state or in the aftermath of an attack from invaders such as Thanos or the Skrulls. This would also leave the potential for Richard Rider – better known as Nova – to join Rivals’ roster, who would be a favourable addition for many comic fans.
2 Spider-HQ, Nueva York
Siege The Spider Society
Miles Morales has seen a great deal of success recently, with both of his animated films receiving high praise from critics and fans alike. The home of the Spider Society in Nueva York, which appeared in the second film, would fit perfectly into this multiversal map list.
The infrastructure of the society’s base is utterly mind-boggling to look at, but could make for some incredibly interesting gravity-based map mechanics. With the third and final film in the trilogy set to release in the coming years, this location could likely release at the same time as the movie, alongside a playable Miles himself.
1 Doomstadt, Latveria
The Doctor's Domicile
With Doctor Doom serving as the catalyst for this game’s events, his home of Latveria will surely make an appearance at one point or another. Sieging Castle Von Doom would likely be the map’s objective, but the reason for this is largely dependent on which direction the game chooses to take its lore.
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With the evil Victor Von Doom facing off against his 2099 counterpart in this game, the team has many choices on how they may want to depict the Doctor's domain. Either way, the encounter feels more than necessary, and will be another welcome result of Doom's recent rise in popularity.
Marvel Rivals
- Released
- December 6, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- NetEase Games
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Genre(s)
- Third-Person Shooter, Action, Multiplayer
