No, Overwatch's Season 1 Heroes didn't copy Marvel rivals, but they did copy this game

Monitoring Season 1 is here, and with the relaunch comes five brand new heroes that are drawing many players back to the hero shooter. Monitorings massive update proves to be successful, as it not only outperforms Marvel Rivals on Steam (a platform that Monitoring is more or less treated as an afterthought thanks to battle.net), but its Twitch numbers have skyrocketed. While it will be interesting to see what happens once the Twitch Drops run out and the hype dies down, Monitorings comeback has been impressive to watch – even if some Rivals fans have been quick to criticize the game for “stealing” concepts from their hero shooter.

Obviously, this is a flawed criticism considering how much Marvel Rivals borrowed from Monitoring. Sure, heroes mix and match abilities from Blizzard's games, but there's no denying that many of those abilities come from the title that popularized the genre. The idea that Jetpack Cat is an attempt to give Monitoring its own Jeff doesn't make sense when you look at how Jetpack Cat is a decade old concept and one of three animal heroes in the game. Likewise, the similarities with Pheonix and Anran basically end at their extremes and use of fire. Anran's mechanics for setting off and detonating enemies are very different from Pheonix's ranged damage, as Anran is more of a flanker than anything else. And while Emma Frost and Domina are similar in personality and appearance, the former is more similar to Ramattra mechanically due to Diamond Form. But a new hero – Emre – feels like something from another game; just what the game is Halonot Marvel Rivals.

Anran has a basic ability called Dancing Blaze that works like Psylocke's ultimate, but feels drastically different as it's a damage avoidance (and healing) tool that gets used a lot.

Overwatch has officially beaten Marvel Rivals

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It's official: Overwatch has beaten Marvel Rivals

Blizzard's original breakthrough hero shooter returns to the throne as it officially surpasses its Marvel-themed competition.

Emre is basically a Halo Spartan in everything but his appearance

The most requested Monitoring the hero of all time has finally arrived after being teased in official artwork way back in 2016. And while he's not as flashy as a flying feline or a posh Hardlight practitioner, he's proven to be a good option for newcomers looking to play someone other than Soldier: 76. His story is incredibly interesting already, as he has a close tie to Freya's heart Sombra's conspiracy based on the logo seen on his chest. He's also pissed off about carrying a God AI that both increases his power and regularly takes control of him, and this AI companion (seriously, it's basically Cortana with rampancy) is the first of many similarities to Halos Master Chief.

Balance the critics' averages

Light (6) Medium (8) Hard (10)

Emre is not only quick to pick up and use thanks to his ability to aim down – more on that later Halo games during 343 Industries introduced — but his kit is basically built around Halo gear. Every part of his arsenal has one Halo corresponding if one were to look more closely at them. For example:

Synthetic Burst Rifle = BR85 Battle Rifle: This three-round blaster will instantly evoke memories of one of the Halos most iconic weapon, with some similarly satisfying sounds when fired along with its familiar firing pattern. Not to mention a count of 36 shots per mag.
Cyber Frag = Plasma Grenades: One of Emre's benefits i Monitoring allows players to make their grenades sticky, and once they do, the explosives will feel just like those from Halo. With two charges and the ability to throw them quickly before firing again, the gameplay loop is once again eerily similar. Players can even grenade bounce using them by throwing 'nades at their feed before jumping.
Siphon Blaster = M6D Pistol: Halos magnum is iconic due to its animation, gunfire sounds and design, which Blizzard clearly had in mind when creating the Siphon Blaster. Sure, it's used for healing instead of crazy damage like the M6D, but firing it feels very similar. Also, although switching from a BR equivalent to this gun would already make a big difference Halo vibes, Emre becomes more buoyant, Halo-like jump when the gun is out only sweetens the deal.

With Emre's Override Protocol Ultimate ability even resembling the Promethean guns from Halo 4he feels like a love letter to all eras of the most iconic Xbox series of all time. It hasn't taken long Halo fans to flood Monitoring subreddit with appreciation for Blizzard, as well as skin concepts depicting what an official Emre Master Chief skin could look like. While Emre's backstory, the smooth animations where his weapons materialize, and his personality help him stand out a bit instead of being a cheap ripoff, he still feels like a deliberate homage to one of the staples of the FPS genre.

Emre's Halo Vibes are a boon to Overwatch and Halo Fans alike

With Halo: Infinite support is decreasing and the next multiplayer experience looks far away because of the upcoming one Halo: Combat Evolved remake, it's good that players have a new one Halo-like online experience to try. Although Emre is the only character Halo Fans end up gravitating towards him, they can still get hours of gameplay out of him, level up, fly through competitive ranks, and save money to buy his eventual skins. With Monitoring to be free to play there is no harm Halo players who give it a try and experience Halo vibes firsthand. And for Monitoringnot only does the game benefit from having another more straightforward damage character similar to traditional FPS games, but it has a chance to win over an audience that may not have been interested prior to Emre's addition. So while Rivals Society's copycat accusations don't really hold up, it's true Monitoring took a lot from another FPS for a hero. But with how good Emre turned out, it's a good thing Blizzard used Halo as inspiration for his character design.