Marvel Rivals' Disappointing Map Pool Is Its Biggest Weakness, But Leaning Into Its Best Map Features Could Be The Perfect Fix

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With over 10 million players already, is moving its way up to being one of 2024's biggest gaming hits. Backed by the ubiquitous Marvel IP, the free cross-platform hero shooter has launched flawlessly, with no server issues or major complaints. Instead, its players are sinking their teeth into the 33 hero roster that reaches into every pocket of the Marvel franchise.

does have one noticeable drawback. Currently, only has five locations, which themselves are spread out over eight maps. While the launch roster is unmatched in its size, being only ten behind 's roster after eight years of development, its map pool is starting off smaller than 's launch pool. While hero additions are always exciting, needs to focus on rounding out its map roster, and when it does, it should lean on its unique mechanics to keep their pool feeling fresh and interesting despite its size.

For shooters, maps are the life-blood of creating a replayable game. Every year, the new has its worth decided by its launching map pool. While hero shooters can lean on characters for gameplay diversity, maps still play a vital role in ensuring fresh experiences and in keeping match ques rolling. The map roster for is smaller than typical, with its eight maps spread across three game-modes. Its obvious that emphasis was placed on filling out its character roster, and while they were successful in that regard, the map pool needs to catch up.

Marvel Rivals may soon become the best Marvel game on the market, and it's achieving this by fixing Marvel Avengers’ biggest design flaw.

Hurting the pool even more is the shared location between many of the maps. Yggsgard, Tokyo 2099, and Wakanda contain six of the eight maps. Sure, the maps themselves offer different experiences and game-modes,but the limited visual diversity is certainly noticeable. Re-using locations isn't an inherently bad idea, but in combination with the already limited map pool, it does present itself as a problem.

One of the benefits of shared