If you’re looking for a new beat ‘em up? Well, you’ll want to putMarvel Cosmic Invasionon your radar. Developed by Tribute Games (ofMercenary Kings, Panzer Paladin, andTMNT: Shredder’s Revengefame) and published by Dotemu, this brawler gives you the keys to 15 Marvel characters spanning multiple teams, while providing a tag-team co-op experience. We got the chance to play a two-player co-op session atSummer Game Festfor ourselves, and it checked a lot of boxes that I didn’t even know were on the table.
One key differentiator that setsMarvel Cosmic Invasionapart is its commitment to variety.All ofthe game’s characters, whether they’re agile fliers or big bruisers, all feel different to play. This is despite having just a few buttons to manage, which ensures that families and hardcore genre fans alike will be able to enjoy the mild depth this sleeper action game provides.
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The special ingredient forCosmic Invasionis character variety. In our demo forMarvel Cosmic Invasion,we had access toCaptain America, Nova, Storm, Venom, Wolverine, Phyla-Vell (Martyr), and Spider-Man.Tribute also revealed She-Hulk and Rocket Raccoonat Summer Game Fest, though they were sadly not playable. At first, I instinctively picked two of my favorite characters (Venom/Storm), expecting them to operate similarly, but I immediately found that this wasn’t the case.
Venom is a bruiser type that can grab enemies, something not every character in the game can do.Similarly, Storm and only a few other characters can fly, and everyone’s special attack is unique. Captain America, as expected, can throw his shield and hit multiple enemies, while charging in and fighting as adeptly as he does inMarvel vs. Capcom. Wolverine is a melee beast that makes his presence known to everyone playing alongside him.
All of these character models pop off the screen, including the bright and vibrant enemy types. It’s something I noticed right away:all the action is clear, and it’s easy to see who is a hero and who needs to be sliced and diced at any given time. Having key animations like Venom ripping out of his suit after a dash attack adds to the game’s personality, and feels like a signature Tribute Games move.
As I was slashing away at A.I.M. Soldiers on a Helicarrier with Wolverine, or zapping insectoid soldiers in New York City with Storm,it felt like the ’90s again: And I don’t mean that in the purely nostalgic sense. Realistically, Marvel’s licenses were not tied up with Disney and the MCU, and studios were free to use bigger and more out-there rosters of heroes and villains alike. It’s a stark contrast to say,Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite, a game that was maligned at launch for being too MCU-focused.
Where else can I fly through the air as the Richard Rider Nova (massive ’90s comic run hair and all), and bash the lesser-known Beetle? Fred Gemus, game director at Tribute Games, was next to us showing us the demo, and noted that the team wanted to “really make the game feel like an invasion.” We saw this first-hand withseveral sections where insectoid enemies practically filled the screen, leading to my co-op partner and me using our ultimate attacks at the same time. Dipping into all these different enemy types beyond humanoid foes will keep things interesting.
Cosmic Invasionis going to have so many combinations and stories like that throughout its runtime that fans will keep talking about long after its release. It sounds hyperbolic, butall I wanted to do after my session withMarvel Cosmic Invasionis play it again. I want to explore the game’s potential difficulty settings, including more environments, enemies, and additional bosses. This team was cooking when they made this game from the ground up. It feels like an authentic Marvel experience that’s true to their respective original universes, rather than something that just apes MCU sensibilities or goes for direct synergistic tie-ins.
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I Can’t Wait To Try Out Different Character Combos
With all that said,Marvel Cosmic Invasionis not an impenetrable game in any sense. If you want to join in with your favorite character and mash away, you can totally do that. In fact, in my session, I beat an entire level just as Venom, because I wanted to. You can do all sorts of themed tag-teams, as well as coordinated sessions where every player takes as many X-Men as possible, and so on.There’s a ton of theme and heart inCosmic Invasionthat I think people will really resonate with, whether you’re a fan of Marvel or not.
Although we played just two-player co-op at Summer Game Fest, the full version ofMarvel Cosmic Invasionwill allow up to four people to join in with full support for local multiplayer. It already felt hectic with just the two of us (well, four characters in total, splitting time and tag-teaming), especially when all the environmental hazards and tools came into play. When I discussed theCosmic Invasionevent with other people, we all brainstormed the characters we would play in the full version, which is a great hook that’s often missing from other brawlers. I’ll be watching this one closely.
Marvel Cosmic Invasionis due out later in 2025 on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X/S/
