Marvel Rivalsmay essentially beOverwatchwith a thick coat of Marvel paint, but it’s tough to deny how special and considered each character’s implementation is thus far.Marvel Rivalsmight’ve been able to skim each character for whatever superficial and sensational ability they most predominantly wield, and yet it has proven to assess minute details and embed them in each respective character’s playstyle regardless of how suboptimal it would seem in the realm of a 6v6 hero shooter (such asSpider-Man’s spider-sense or wall-crawling).
This would suggest that all future Marvel characters added toMarvel Rivals’ roster will receive the same treatment and be thorough in their representation, which may be harder to actually execute for some characters more than others. For example, Cyclops is fairly static as a character on paper and, despite not being officially announced as of yet, could be tricky to adapt toMarvel Rivals’ landscape. That said, the same could’ve been said about roster characters such as Hulk, Groot, or Rocket Raccoon, andMarvel Rivals’ attention to detail continues to prove that Cyclops could be a welcome addition in the future.
Why Cyclops Joining Marvel Rivals Should Be a No-Brainer
Cyclops’ psionic optic blasts are tremendously powerful, to be clear, but in general these red visor beams arguably aren’t as entertaining to behold as Spider-Man’s web-slinging, Iron Man’s repulsor-blasting, or even Captain America’s shield-ricocheting.
However, in a 6v6 hero shooter likeMarvel Rivalsthat revolves largely around ability-based action and long-ranging projectiles, Cyclops could actually be a key figure. Cyclops could presumably keep opponents at a distance with sweeping optic blasts, perhaps with several modulations such asquick bursts fired as his primary attack or a massive beam ability with a lot of recovery frames.
Mobility is also a pillar ofMarvel Rivals’ gameplay, and it’d be interesting to see if Cyclops’ optic blasts could be utilized to enable midair maneuverability.Marvel Rivals’ hero shooter encompasses a lot for each character but their move sets aren’t as varied or expansive as a regular action game, which is why Cyclops might be superb with only a handful of attacks and abilities that he’d need in his arsenal.
Furthermore, this is a big reason why Cyclops is fantastic in simpler beat-’em-up games such as theMarvel Ultimate Allianceseries orX-Men Legendsas he doesn’t need to stretch thinly to meet the demands of a larger suite of mechanics that wouldn’t adequately represent the character.Marvel Rivals’ current choices for default roster X-Men charactersare surprisingly diverse, though, and therefore it might be a while before it eventually reaches Cyclops on a laundry list of possible additions.
Cyclops’ Adaptation Wouldn’t Need to Look Much Further Than Marvel Rivals’ Captain America
Captain America’s Freedom Charge Ultimatecould be something of an inspiration for Cyclops’ own as Scott Summers is his own team’s leader and would be expected to have some sort of support ability as well. Freedom Charge grants Captain America and teammates “continuous Bonus Health and Movement Boosts” in the path he carves forward, and it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for Cyclops to imbue himself and allies with a similar buff somehow.
By tapping into support tactics, Cyclops could easily charge forth like Captain America and rally his teammates while possibly having more projectile-oriented versatility than Steve Rogers, whose shield-throwing is intrinsically tied to a specific ability as well as consecutive melee hits. Either way, while Cyclops may not be a singularly phenomenal character when placed next to someone like Magik, Storm, or Scarlet Witch, it seems like it’ll only be a matter of time before Scott—who only recently earnedpraise and popularity viaX-Men ’97—receives a worthy adaptation.
