5 Other Games Like Marvel Rivals on PlayStation Plus

Marvel Rivals has taken the gaming world by storm. From the countless memes to over 20 million players officially joining the game, it’s the talk of the town right now. It’s easy to see why, between the game’s brilliant use of the Marvel universe and the infectiously fun way it revels in absurdity and doesn’t care about balance. While you could keep playing Marvel Rivals for hours on end, it’s easy to see how new players might want something similar to break things up. With that in mind, here are a few games like Marvel Rivals on PlayStation Plus, to scratch both that multiplayer and single-player itch.

For Honor

At first glance, a medieval-themed multiplayer game may not look a lot like Marvel Rivals, but the two have a surprising amount in common. For Honor is a combat game with a tremendous focus on teamwork, where each and every character feels and plays drastically differently. There are, of course, basic ideas that apply across the entire game, in terms of the basic combat and how you block and launch attacks, but past that you’ll need to find your favorite characters. You can play as armor-clad knights, agile samurai, hulking Vikings, and much more — with each one sporting an extremely different set of attacks and abilities.

For Honor shares a lot of similarities with Marvel Rivals in how each character is a very different spin on its core combat. Both games also heavily rely on teamwork, as rushing in on your own will quickly leave you decimated. For Honor can be an intense action game, requiring precise timing in duels with other players, but it has that same kind of infectious fun that can keep you playing “one more match” for hours end.

Scarlet Nexus

Scarlet Nexus is a dazzling action RPG that sports a gorgeous art style, highly unique characters, and a mind-bending story. The game’s art style definitely shares some commonalities with Marvel Rivals, but even on a deeper level, it feels like the perfect single-player alternative to the multiplayer hit.

Scarlet Nexus takes place in the near future, where humanity has found substances in the human brain that can unlock extrasensory powers — like telekinesis or the ability to create fire. Those feel a bit like superpowers. Individuals with powers are recruited into the Other Suppression Force, to defend humanity from mindless beasts called Other, which eat human brains. There are some heavy cyberpunk inspirations in the story, which follows two different OSF members in a twisty narrative that involves time travel and alternate dimensions.

While it makes liberal use of anime tropes, Scarlet Nexus’ story is surprisingly gripping, and it’s backed by phenomenal action combat that has you using an array of different characters with bombastic powers. Any Marvel fan will feel right at home.

Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2

Lego games often have the association of being for children, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a game that better represents the entire Marvel Universe than Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2. A drastic improvement of a sequel, Marvel Super Heroes 2 features an eye-watering 279 playable characters. There’s simply no way you won’t be able to find one of your favorites in this game, from Black Panther and Iron Man to Howard the Duck and Taserface.

Ironically, even the story of Marvel Super Heroes 2 is about as close as you can possibly get to Marvel Rivals. Heroes from across the multiverse band together to fight Kang the Conqueror, as the time-traveling villain hopes to control all of reality. Like most Lego games it’s a fairly basic third-person action game, but there’s also a lot of charm packed into the experience. Little bits of slapstick humor keep things light and family-friendly, while the powers of each individual hero will let you solve puzzles in different ways. But crucially, the game also features a key difference from other Lego titles — an explorable open world.

If you can get down with the cutesy Lego art style, you’ll have one of the very best superhero games ever made.

Overwatch 2

Marvel Rivals simply wouldn’t exist without the foundation created by Overwatch, the game that launched the hero shooter craze in 2016. While the game has gone through some stumbles and big changes in the eight years since, Overwatch 2 is still one of the most popular, and fun to play, hero shooters out there.

If you’ve played Marvel Rivals you know exactly what to expect in Overwatch 2 — highly unique and dynamic characters, pushing objectives, charging your ultimate, all that stuff. Over the years Blizzard has honed Overwatch 2’s formula, adding new characters into the mix, new game types, and making everything fit together like a perfect puzzle. The key difference from Marvel Rivals, however, is that Overwatch 2 cares a lot more about balancing its characters. You won’t find anyone completely broken here, like Iron Fist, but part of the joy of playing Overwatch 2 comes with practicing and honing your skills. This is a hero shooter you’ll need to spend time with. You’ll need to learn the ins and outs of the characters you play, and what counters them. But if you stick with it, Overwatch 2 is a game that’ll provide you with hours, maybe even days, of entertainment.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy

There’s not a single game out there that captures the spirit of Marvel better than Guardians of the Galaxy, and double so for everyone’s favorite band of misfit superheroes. Guardians of the Galaxy is a raucously fun single-player RPG that revels in absurdity and excess, letting its goofy cast of characters stumble their way through stopping a universe-ending threat.

This game is maybe the single best piece of media that’s ever featured the Guardians, even over the comics they come from. Its narrative tells a poignant story of found family and responsibility, its action feels hectic but satisfying, and it’s filled with truly jaw-dropping set pieces. While you only play as Star-Lord that theme of teamwork is still present in every facet of Guardians of the Galaxy. Throughout the game, you’ll learn tidbits about all the Guardians, and in combat you can order them to use special attacks and even huddle up in the middle of a battle, to the tune of a few bopping 80’s songs.

Guardians of the Galaxy is a riveting experience filled with all the humor and whimsy that so many love about Marvel. It’s perfectly paced and will only take you about 20 hours, so if you need a weekend break from Marvel Rivals, it’s the perfect pick.