MultiVersus Preview – Testing Tag Team Branded Brawls

Player First Games is well on its way to releasing its fighting game MultiVersus, a new multiplayer platform brawler that pits the extensive list of characters from the Warner Bros. catalog against one another in chaotic button-mashing battles. It’s easy to compare MultiVersus to other fighting games in the genre, like Nintendo’s juggernaut Super Smash Bros., but after spending a handful of hours throwing fists, kicks, and lasers with the WB crew, there’s plenty that impressed me about MultiVersus that makes it stand out, and should be a game to keep your eye on this year.

MultiVersus is different from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl focus on team battles. The game’s main mode is 2v2, with characters playing roles in the optimal battle duo. The classes are based on the type of fighting that fighters excel at. Batman is known as a brawler. Game of Thrones Arya Stark is an assassin, Bugs Bunny is a mage, Superman is a tank, and Steven Universe is support. I was able to get a good idea of the personalities and play styles that would make a great team. Wonder Woman, a tank class, will protect her partner in danger. Mages, on the other hand, strike from afar, often with traps and projectiles. Supports work in a couple of different ways, offering their bodies as throwable weapons or moves that act as a safety like Reindog’s tether move. Steven, for example, will shield their teammates or boost their skills in other ways. You can have fun trying out different combinations and seeing what works best in practice.

Matches play out very similarly to Smash Bros., with the goal of dealing damage to your opponent, increasing the distance they’ll fly when a strong attack lands and eventually sending them out of bounds into the abyss surrounding the stage. When a team’s final stock (or life) is exhausted, a winner will be named. Every character has the same control scheme that’s standard for this type of fighting game, consisting of normal and special attack buttons, each with different moves depending on which direction you flick the analog stick, a jump button, a dodge, with the ever-important tilt-inducing taunts mapped to the d-pad. MultiVersus’ recovery mechanics are unique. They don’t allow you to grab and hang on to ledges. However, they do permit wall jumping so that you can climb safely.

To make a character your own, each roster member has a suite of perks that can be equipped to modify various aspects of gameplay. Superman, for example, has a perk which gives him and his teammates a triple jump when they meet certain conditions. This keeps them up longer. Taz, on the other hand, can increase the damage to his team by using moves that hit enemies horizontally. Three standard perks can be used by each player, with a fourth signature perk that’s character-specific and modifies a special attack of that fighter. Taz is an excellent example. His tornado move can be altered with a signature perks to reflect projectiles, but it will slow down. While I have enjoyed the perks that the system offers to help me play my favorite styles of gaming, I am concerned about how it could be misused and break the meta for casual players who are trying to scrape it online.

Although the battle interface may seem strange, I found that MultiVersus’s presentation of vital information was very helpful. The damage information for a character is displayed directly beneath them. However, buffs and debuffs are shown above the model rather than in an area outside the battlefield view. It’s distracting for the first match or two, but with how fast characters can whip around the screen, I like being able to keep my eye on how much damage an opponent or I have taken without having to scan for those numbers away from the action at hand.

MultiVersus’ combat system is not as effective as I would like. There’s much less sense that I’m going to blast an enemy off into the ether when their damage indicator is critical. Attacks feel weak at best, and it’s hard to tell if one solid hit will be enough to make the difference. I’d also like to see more impact on attacks in general; even Superman’s haymakers feel like you’re punching a pillow.

MultiVersus is a free-to-play game and will have microtransactions and a battle pass, but I was assured by game director Tony Huynh that only cosmetic options would have a real-money cost and anything gameplay-related is achievable only by playing the game. This means that any character can be unlocked only by earning gold through fights, and then paying with the currency. It is currently how it works in alpha builds. The same goes for perks which are earned by playing with and leveling up a character along with paying earned gold to gain access to them. As for the cosmetics available, characters will have rather detailed alternate costumes such as Samurai Batman or Jake the Dog’s reskin to Cake the Cat. There are also different animations that can be played when you knock out an opponent – I’m a big fan of the Porky Pig “That’s all folks!” animation to rub that extra bit of salt in the wound – and swappable announcer voice pack and taunts. Between the battle pass unlocks, and the character’s individual leveling tracks, there’s plenty to discover by simply playing the game. 

MultiVersus’ alpha tester was something I had low expectations of. The Smash Bros. mash-ups felt hollow, and the rosters were underwhelming. However, I was impressed with what I played. Each character has its own gameplay and mechanics. The cast so far is fantastic. You can see it in the stellar voice cast (Kevin Conroy playing Batman, Matthew Lillard portraying Shaggy and Maizie Williams playing Arya), and the detailed animations. It is clear that a lot of thought went into making these iconic characters work well within the game. In the next few days, I plan to play more matches and will be testing it in further tests. Future test with more characters and slight adjustments to improve battle effects is something that I look forward to.

Closed beta testing is currently underway until May 27th. There may still be some spots available for those who want to take part in the open alpha. Register on MultiVersus and you’ll receive a code before the event ends. The platform fighter is in open beta until July. A full release will be made available in the future. Warner Bros. Games has not provided any information. 

MultiVersus has more to offer. We have several videos that show gameplay with no commentary and New Gameplay Today where Alex Stadnik and I discuss their time playing the alpha version of the game.