Way back in 2001, I attended the Electronic Entertainment Expo for a website I shall not name. I was lucky enough to see the Gamecube first-hand during a Nintendo booth tour. Loved the system, even though its medium was incredibly underpowered, and enjoyed the endless demo of games that were certain to please the pickiest Nintendo fan. One game caught my eye instantly and I knew that sucker was going to be a hit. The game was Super Smash Bros. Melee. It was a multiplayer 2D fighting game that was guaranteed to bring out the best and worst in people. It was pure chaos that had every conceivable Nintendo character ready to brawl. It should be noted that I sucked at the game royally at E3 that year, and I still suck at the game 21 years removed. Emotionally, I’m okay with it.
I tell you this story because I had the privilege to play MultiVersus, a structurally identical clone to Super Smash Bros. Melee, but with the character power of Warner Bros. behind it. While the fighting is certainly as intense and incredibly unbalanced at times as an SSMB title, the endless amount of charm the game brings with its multiple IPs embedded in the brawler is the big selling point to this game.
Let’s get this started.
So many IPs involved in this game
If you don’t know the history of Warner Bros. and all the IPs that it has gobbled up over the years, then let MultiVersus tell you the tale. The game’s charm is born through the many generations of gamers that can identify with the bevy of characters featured in the brawler. From DC to Scooby-Doo to Adventure Time, you get a lot of familiar faces fighting against each other. This is one of the bigger reasons to look at this game and see what’s up. Having five kids in the Stevens’ household of varying ages, each child walked by during my review time with the open beta and commented on a character they wanted to play. For my older kids, it was all about Steven Universe. For my youngest, it was her fascination with Jake and Finn from Adventure Time. For my son, it was Iron Giant and Batman. There are so many tuggable heartstrings that reach out to different generations of gamers that MultiVersus is bound to hit quite the demographic girth. That’s a huge advantage when you want to pull in as many gamers as possible with familiar characters.
Beyond just reaching several age groups, the game has the potential to go even further with WB-owned IP. For example, there are some scattered remnants of Rick and Morty already in the game. While the two lead characters of that Adult Swim shows haven’t officially made it to the game, the fact that Meeseeks make an appearance means that it’s only a matter of time. Imagine that duo for a second (they are officially confirmed as of this review). Now imagine Harvey Birdman, or how about the Venture Bros.? There is so much potential. I guess that is a great reason to keep going with this and see where it goes. I’m curious to see how far and how many characters make it to MultiVersus. While Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. certainly has a large cache of its own characters (and some not their own), WB has more popularity and more transmedia opportunities with its own entities. It will be interesting to see how far they take it all.
This is the big driving point of the game and MultiVersus doesn’t waste a beat offering up character choices for all age groups.
Gameplay – a work in progress
We had the good fortune of testing this game out in its alpha stage about a month or so ago. It worked fine, though the game was incredibly unbalanced. I fought as Finn and whooped up on everyone during my alpha run-through. My Finn go-to was sword swinging, shoulder moves, and backpack twirling that could knock even the strongest of the bunch right off the level. And that’s the name of the game, beat your opponent silly so their health score goes up (way up) and then perform a final knockout blow to launch them completely off the board. It’s crazy easy, and crazy intense. I digress, Finn was highly unfair for the longest time during alpha. I dominated the field match after match. When I’m good at fighting games like this, I know something isn’t right.
When the beta arrived, it all changed. Finn was still good, but the unbalanced characters were much closer in stats and performance than in the alpha, which is what you would expect as the game progresses towards the gold master stage. Was the open beta completely balanced? Not at all. Shaggy and Uncle Shagworthy were way overpowered for the beta. They seemed a bit off balance with their moves, and they were quick as could be pulling them off. Listen, Shaggy shouldn’t be quick for obvious reasons – OBVIOUS reasons, especially if he eats all the time. He was amazingly fast and fairly tricky to avoid. There were multiple times during my matches against these characters where my character’s health wouldn’t even hit 100 before I was knocked off the board. Before this game reaches its final print, it really does need to address this balance issue. That said, it looks like the devs at Player First Games are more than likely going to even the playing field at some point, as they should. I’m hoping they will.
Now, beyond a somewhat overpowered set of characters, the majority of who you play as in the game are going to be competitive as hell. You’re not going to really pick up a bad player in the game, even if there are gripes about the Iron Giant’s sloth-like movements, he is still a booger to knock off the board. Every character brings a certain panache to the brawler table. More importantly, every character is easy to pick up and go with, which is a problem I had/have with Super Smash Bros. Melee, where it felt like I had to have an engineering degree to even be competitive. The simplicity of just picking up and getting into the scrum is obvious and Player First Games seems to make that a priority in the gameplay design. That will be enough to make this game last for a while. You can come for the characters, stay for the easy fighting mechanics, and enjoy the expansive universe that is bound to come alive with WB characters.
So, how easy it is all? Going back to my original story, I could never consistently pull off effective SSMB moves if my life depended on it. I don’t even play that game with my kids because I know they’ll end up kicking my butt. For MultiVersus, it’s different. I play as Finn regularly and have no problem understanding how the fight is going to go, how I can pick apart another character, and what combination of moves I need to use to do so. I can do an uppercut with his sword then follow it up with jumping and swinging my backpack. It’s an effective combo that gets the most damage and results during a brawl. Learning those combos and getting into the groove of a fight knowing when to use them was easy as pie. That’s super important because if you want to keep more than just the try-hards, then you must make the game accessible to every type of player. Player First Games seems to have done just that, which is remarkable. If you’re afraid to jump into this brawler because you might get your butt handed to you, be not afraid. It’s incredibly friendly to jump into it if you’re a novice.
Risks and Rewards
With all the goodies MultiVersus brings to the table, it’s tough to see how in the world it’s a free-to-play game. But it is a F2P game. You know. That nasty genre that people look at and think, “there goes my paycheck”. Well, while there are microtransactions in the game which do speed up the unlockables, you can also earn your way through winning matches. The unlockables contain some cosmetics, characters, and momentary enhancements during fights, but for the most part, they seem like they don’t provide any incredible advantage. Hopefully, the game continues to go this route and stay this way through its life. There’s nothing wrong with developers making some money from gamers who want to customize their characters. Nothing at all wrong with that. When it comes to giving clear advantages to gamers, well, it becomes a huge issue. That said, I don’t think it’s a bad thing nor does it make MultiVersus a bad game. It’s an option. It’s akin to what you would find in Fall Guys.
As for the rewards, the game gives you easy goals to achieve, long goals, and surprises for upgrading through XP you obtain with winning. This could be something as simple as moving backgrounds of toast during the character introduction screen or emotes you can use when you win fights. It also gives you chances to win toast, something of a high-five for teammates and opponents. There is a lot to shoot for in the game regarding rewards. These also provide motivation for you to continue playing the game, which is what every F2P game wants from you. Having goals, seeing progress, and getting visual encouragement to keep going is something good for any free-to-play game.
Cosmetics and Design
I love how the game looks and feels. The characters are reflective of their show counterparts. You get accurate and well-placed voices, as well as good mannerisms that just suck you into a favorite character. The character designs and models are spot-on what they should be. Much like the familiar faces, seeing how they move and respond during fights is just brilliant. It makes you feel like you’re playing the actual cartoon character. For example, Bugs Bunny is accurately represented by his mannerisms and moves. He can ride a rocket in your direction, drop a safe on you, or just eat a carrot and do some damage. Same with Jake from Adventure Time, who has long expansive arms, forms into several different shapes that are hard to block, and carries the accurate voice-over you would expect from that beautiful pooch. All the character designs are great, though I haven’t played LeBron James to make a call for him. He seems cool, though, which he is in real life.
Map design is fun, though simple. The maps are visually representative of the characters. For example, the Batcave is computer-driven with two Bat vehicles to the left and right on the map that you can jump on and destroy. Finn and Jake’s treehouse home is built the same way, though visually screams Adventure Time through and through. And the Scooby-Doo haunted house stage is probably the most unique, where the floor can drop off, the skylight is the only way to knock someone out of the house, and the sides of the house can stay up or get knocked down. There is a lot of variety, but not nearly the amount of a Smash Bros., which is fine because the SSMB series has been around for decades. My expectation is that there will be some better and more unique level design as the game continues to evolve. I’m sure there will, especially given the number of different WB shows in this game.
Anyway, it’s a beautiful game from characters to maps.
Other items of interest
The game does feature different modes you can play. You can play one-on-one, teams, or you can go up against bots. Regardless of what you choose, there seems to be enough variety for any gamer out there. I can say without a doubt that playing against the CPU is the best way to start so that you can get to know the game better. Don’t just jump into rank matches. That won’t end well.
On that note, let’s wrap this review up.
Conclusion
MultiVersus from Player First Games is a good fighting game. It does a good job of competing against the likes of Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series. While it may not yet have the longevity of Nintendo’s golden child, MultiVersus’ characters, maps, and welcoming atmosphere are enough to convince any future wannabe fighter to give it a try.
