Maybe you don't know Netmarble, a big name in mobile video games? But if you've ever been around the Play Store or the App Store, you must have seen one of their games: Lineage II Revolution, Blade & Soul Revolution, Seven Knights, Marvel Future Fight, ...
And it is precisely with a new game stamped MARVEL that the studio is talking about it again, with MARVEL Future Revolution (yes, obviously, they like Revolutions, at Netmarble).
We also had the chance to ask some questions to Netmarble and Marvel Games, an interview that you will find a little further down in the article.
This August 25, therefore, arrives on our Android and iOS devices this new title, described as an Action-RPG filled with characters from the comics.
The story is at first sight rather interesting. We are indeed immersed from the beginning in a hyper-rhythmic introduction which sets the scene. The Convergence is underway, a cosmic event of such magnitude that all alternate realities are merging. The superheroes are therefore trying to stop him and we will have at his disposal emblematic characters: Captain America, Spider-man, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Storm, Black Widow and Star Lord, whom we can embody according to his preferences, each having his qualities and his faults.
Where the plot of the game is rather well seen is that the heroes do not really end up victorious and that the Convergence does take place. We therefore find ourselves in a world where alternate realities have merged, and we can thus come across various variants of superheroes who have come together to form the Omega Flight. Note that the story was written by Marc Sumerak, a comic book author who has already written for many characters: Avengers, Thor, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and so on, because the list would be very, very long .
The first thing to note is that you will need a relatively new and capable mobile device to enjoy the game properly. With my small mid-range Huawei tablet, which dates back two years ago, the game clearly does not run at its best. It is possible to configure the graphics settings, but even at a minimum, it runs with difficulty, with fairly substantial FPS drops. Which unfortunately means that I may not play much more, unless I invest in a more efficient device.
Luckily, Future Revolution offers an autoplay feature, allowing the character to automatically move to whatever quest one chooses. And fortunately, because travel is far from simple on a touch screen, especially when flying. Especially when the performance is not there.
On the gameplay side, it must be recognized that at first sight, it is quite classic. Each character has very distinct skills, and represents rather well what makes each hero unique. We can thus see the two Captains (Marvel and America) have a rather brawling style and focus on punches / kicks, while Dr Strange and Storm will rather use a range of area effect spells. And with, for each of them, really slamming visual effects, rather amazing for a mobile game. In fact, Future Revolution reminded me a lot of Marvel Heroes, which closed its doors a few years ago following a decision by Disney, and which I very much regret. We find indeed a rather simple gameplay, with a few moves (5 to equip), and an ultimate skill. As well as an ability to dodge, which will be found over the rather important progression.
Control on a mobile device is more instinctive, with movement being done using a small virtual joystick on the left side. However, I have some reservations about the camera, which you have to move by sliding your finger across the middle of the screen. It involves moving the arm constantly, it becomes rather unpleasant by dint of it. Joystick control is a priori possible (I haven't tested it), but obviously partially.
Rather classic in the gameplay, Future Revolution is also in the content, which takes more or less the same as that initiated by its big brother Future Fight. Challenges, PvP, raids... There's something for everyone, and there's no doubt that the content will expand over the updates (and most certainly over the movie and series releases of the MCU) .
It is therefore a total of 8 characters at the exit that we can embody. But this is only the beginning. Other characters will be added over time. This will also be the case with Magik, which the studio announced to us as being the next on the list (interview to be found a little further down).
A last little word now on THE important point of mobile games: the store. There are indeed countless mobile games offering an omnipresent shop and especially Pay-to-win. The question is therefore whether this is the case with Future Revolution. It is indeed possible to buy equipment in the shop. However, and after having surveyed a few players who had the opportunity to play for several dozen hours, purchases are in no way compulsory to progress in good conditions. And these gears also act as cosmetics, which can be displayed as a transmog, to provide a different appearance than the base gear. Beware of the prices, however, which are rather high.
We had the opportunity to ask a few questions to two game managers, in the person of Joe Lee, Production Director at Netmarble, and Danny Koo, Director of Product Development at Marvel Games. Here are their responses:
GG: The multiverse is definitely something that's going to show up in the next phases of the MCU. Did you have this in mind when creating the story around the game? Did it have an impact on the story and on the gameplay?
Danny: The concept of the multiverse has been around for decades in Marvel comics. Since we allow millions of players to play as the same hero at the same time, we knew we would need a story concept to support this. This is why we have implemented the principle of Convergence, where all the dimensions from which each player comes collide to form only one. Some may say that it looks a lot like other representations of the multiverse, but we wanted to bring our own stone to the building.
GG: Who is your favorite character? And more generally in the Marvel universe?
Joe: Usually my favorite character is Captain America because he leads by example, just like me!
GG: In the West, at least in Spain, players are quite suspicious of mobile games, especially because of micro-transactions and the Pay-to-win feeling. What would you say to these players to reassure them?
Joe: Marvel is a huge franchise and we know we face the biggest fans in the world, so we've worked very hard to provide the right balance for all types of players.
GG: MARVEL Future Revolution features eight playable characters right out of the box. How often do you plan to add new ones?
Danny: The release is just the beginning. We are very careful about what players want, in terms of playable characters, for the future. We recently announced that Magik will be our first additional playable character! We're excited to see the feedback and enthusiasm from the community. Stay tuned for more on this.
GG: I could see that the story was written by Marc Sumerak, who has worked on many series in the comics. How did you work with him to put the story together? Did he already write the story and then you built the gameplay around it?
Joe: Writer Marc Sumerak and our Game Designers created the story in collaboration with Marvel Games, and once that was in place, we started working on the production. An important part of the making is making it as "Marvel" as possible, and in that process Netmarble worked closely with Marvel Games.
Before development even began, we had several meetings with Marvel Games to better understand how to bring Marvel Superheroes into the MMORPG genre and created the current settings based on those discussions. We wanted to avoid having conflicts between superheroes from different worlds and to bring different characters and backgrounds together in the gameplay, suggested by Netmarble. So Marc Sumerak created the story from there. The development of Convergence was a unanimous idea and after that the game design team constantly collaborated to help complete a world design for the game.
Marc Sumerak did more than just work with the development team, brainstorming ideas with others and exploring the best ways to achieve a more realistic Marvel Universe.
GG: Each of the eight characters is very iconic and has a wide variety of superpowers that we've seen in the comics and in the movies. How did you pick which ones a hero would have and build gameplay around them?
Danny: Super Heroes and Villains from the iconic Marvel franchises (Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, X-Men, etc) were considered from a story and gameplay perspective. We wanted different styles for each playable character and crafted the skills based on the different traits we had established. We knew deciding which playable characters would be available at release would be a series of tough decisions, given that there are so many great ones out there. We recently announced that Magik would be the next playable, so stay tuned!
Conclusion
First of all, it should be remembered that I was not able to play the game in decent conditions, with an aging tablet and therefore performance clearly not there.
However, I was able to see enough to gauge the potential of this Future Revolution, whose release begins under the best auspices. It cannot be denied that the game has a certain potential. Between its quality story, its emblematic characters, its pleasant and fun gameplay, it has a lot under the hood!
An open world on mobiles, it must be said that it is still damn ambitious, all the more so with such an achievement. We have to believe that Netmarble won the bet. Even if we find a certain heaviness in the menus, with many features that bring little (like limited events, which give the right to a few forgettable rewards), this is a game that will clearly delight fans of the House of Ideas, while the other games stamped Marvel are a little behind (no, no valve on Marvel's Avengers, the wound is still fresh!). Especially since the game does not seem (at first glance) to sink into the dark side of Pay-to-win, with relatively discreet micro-transactions.
In short, a quality mobile game that fans of superheroes and Action-RPGs should enjoy.
