MultiVersus - Warner Bros' Smash, is revealed
A cooperative focused platform fighter in the style of Smash Bros and Brawlhalla, MultiVersus has had its gameplay shown off for the first time.
Yes, you’ve seen right, Warner Bros. has dropped the first reveal trailer for its new free-to-play fighter MultiVersus. This new venture into the platform fighter genre, popularized by games like Smash Bros and Brawlhalla, is releasing in 2022 although you can currently sign up for play tests.
In the trailer, co-founder of Player First and game director Tony Huynh takes us through the unique selling points of the game alongside some of the Warner Bros. characters we are due to see feature in MultiVersus.
Speaking of characters, the game looks to be bringing a huge number of iconic IPs into the fold like DC, Adventure Time, Scooby Doo, Tom and Jerry and more. Highlights include Shaggy, an often memed fighting game character (which they play up in the trailer with his Super Saiyan-inspired power up), alongside Harley Quinn, Steven from Steven Universe, and Ayra Stark from Game of Thrones.
If we drag ourselves away from the cast for a moment, the game itself seems to be offering more than just a Smash clone. This comes in the form of a clearly emphasized cooperative focus, with each character having dedicated moves that can assist your partner - such as Wonder Woman’s lasso of truth being able to pull allies back on stage.
Now to dig into the juicy stuff, the small peaks that aren’t elaborated on but paint a bigger picture on the sort of game MultiVersus will be. For one, while co-op is clearly the focus, Tony was sure to mention that single-player is still an area where ample attention is being paid to.
Other interesting tidbits that we caught glimpses of include character-specific progression systems, character perks, and some fun-looking skins to further customize your main. A promise to have a great online experience is made in the trailer, and if you take a look at the Youtube description of the trailer, you can see “dedicated server-based rollback netcode”.
For those who aren’t quite sure of what that means, rollback netcode is a popular alternative to the widely used delay-based netcode, and has become a huge topic of uproar for fighting game players who desire a better online experience. Rollback essentially translates to a more responsive online experience, even for players connecting from around the world. Seeing this mentioned outright, paired with a brief mention of esports is sure to go a long way for more competitive players.
This official announcement comes shortly following a series of major leaks about the game, which confirmed several details, including the potential inclusion of LeBron James as future DLC.