MultiVersus - Premium Founders Pack [Xbox]
Developed by Player First Games, MultiVersus is a crossover fighting game in the same vein as titles such as Super Smash Bros. - so if you’re familiar with those, then you’ll have a decent understanding of the gameplay going in - but with a totally unique feel to it that keeps it from feeling like a straight up clone. There are a few different modes available to play currently, whilst in Open Beta, with Online Modes: 1 vs. 1, Teams (2 vs. 2), Co-op vs. AI, Free for All; Practice Modes at The Lab, as well as the tutorials; and finally Custom Modes which allow for Local Play and Online Lobbies (though the lobbies are coming soon). Ranked is also yet to be unlocked - with it greyed out within the menu.
With WB Games having access to a huge potential roster of characters, the 17 we start with is just the beginning; the strange thing about the roster however is that you don’t have access to all 17 characters straight away unless you purposefully unlock them. Instead, each week, a different group of four characters become playable for free - allowing players who haven’t yet earned enough in-game currency (or purchased any of the Founder’s Packs for the Character Tokens) to try out characters prior to fully unlocking them. Characters can be unlocked via in-game currency such as coins (the free currency you can earn); Gleamium, the real-money currency you need to buy; or with a Character Ticket, which you get a bundle of if you’ve purchased a Founder’s Pack, with the amount being determined by which ‘tier’ of pack you bought. It does seem like a pretty convoluted way to unlock characters, especially given that games such as Smash Bros. would allow you to unlock characters naturally - and have a larger roster to play as from the outset.
Combat feels fluid and satisfying, and each of the characters feel fully individual with unique attacks and a variety of fun details such as how Tom and Jerry actually fight each other when you’re playing as them. These little aspects show just how much attention to detail that Player First Games implemented, and it makes things even more enjoyable. We had the luxury of reviewing this from the perspective of having access to all of the characters from the start, as we’ve got the Premium Edition of the Founder’s Pack which includes:
30 Character Tokens for instant character unlocks
1 Exclusive Banner (Rare)
3 Premium Battle Passes
1 Banner (Epic)
1 Ring Out Effect (Epic)
1 Banner (Legendary)
1 Ring Out Effect (Legendary)
1 Unique Nameplate
2,500 Gleamium
Admittedly, it does feel like £79.99 for this bundle is fairly excessive due to the fact that the characters can be unlocked without costing any ‘actual’ money and most of the other items are minor cosmetics. The Premium Battle Passes are of as yet undetermined worth as we are still in the Pre-Season stage, but if the Pre-Season Battle Pass unlocks are anything to go by, we might be a bit disappointed there too. You’ve got Daily Missions and Seasonal Milestones to work towards for the Battle Pass, though unlocking alternate skins would be far better than the banners and ring out effects that seem to dominate it currently, but we’ll have to wait and see how that pans out come Season 1’s launch. And finally, for the Gleamium, this can be purchased separately with 2200 costing £15.99 - so it’s maybe only around £18 worth out of the £79.99 pack… But I digress - getting to play as all of the characters right away has been fun and has allowed us to get a decent feel for which characters work well for us (and conversely, which ones don’t) as characters fall into different categories and it also allows us to work on the character progression for each too, as each has their own line of perks to draw from, as well as other rewards that incentivise you to play as them all.
Perks can be added at the start of each match, which make slight tweaks to your character (or team), such as damage buffs or increased jump height, but you can also use Signature Perks which are tied to specific characters, altering their abilities in various useful ways. One of the main differences in combat that can be recognised when comparing this to Smash Bros. is that whilst Smash has a blocking based defense, MultiVersus encourages you to dodge out of the way. There’s also far more aerial combat utilised here, with the level of control you have whilst in the air feeling far stronger - and being able to work your way back to safety seems to be a little less stressful too. Some of the attacks whilst enemies are already at a high level of damage can sometimes feel a little lacklustre - though you do have to be aware of your attack decay, which causes attacks to weaken if you’re spamming the same one in a row. There’s an emphasis on team-based combat, with characters being able to complement each other in battle - and finding a duo that works well together feels great. After completing a battle you are given the option of a Rematch, turning it into a best of three situation to give you a nice easy way to get right back into it if you feel that you didn’t quite do your best. You can also Toast other players at the end of the match to show good sportsmanship, and they can toast you in return, which rewards any of the toast-receivers with some in-game currency.
Level designs are gorgeous, with plenty of recognisable locations ranging from the Batcave to a haunted Scooby Doo mansion, though there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of interactive objects just yet - and items can be found within the Free For All mode, though this seems quite limited at present. Over time, we can expect further stages to be implemented, so we’re looking forward to seeing what else there will be. Characters are similarly well designed, with all of the characters blending together fantastically, even when it comes to characters like Arya from Game of Thrones, who isn’t normally done in this style. The voice acting is impeccable, and it’s a lot of fun to hear the dialogue and interactions from characters that wouldn’t typically interact - like Taz saying he wants some Scooby Snacks, or Arya saying that the ‘stretchy dog’ would make a great trophy. The soundtrack is beautiful, with an almost orchestral score permeating many of the levels. Danny Elfman’s Batman theme in the Batcave, and the powerfully glorious theme from Steven Universe are two of our favourites, though the whole soundtrack is an absolute delight.
There’s so much to unlock from banners, taunts, ring out effects and costumes, with costumes by far being the best unlockables. I mean, who doesn’t want to play as Cake the Cat instead of Jake the Dog, or the Shaggy variant Uncle Shagworthy - though we do wish that there were more available currently. Overall, we have really enjoyed our time with MultiVersus and both of us are looking forward to what else it has in store for the future. At present, it does feel slightly lacking - as there isn’t a whole lot to do in terms of different playable modes, and with only a few maps currently it can become a little bit samey, though this is something we hope will be resolved soon with the release of Season 1 on August 9th.
MultiVersus is a free-to-play game, but has various “Founder’s Packs” available to get access to content earlier. The biggest pack, the Premium Founder’s Pack, is the one we have and costs a whopping £79.99. A lower pack, the Deluxe Founder’s Pack, can be found for £49.99, and the smallest of the packs, simply titled Founder’s Pack, comes in at £32.99. Thankfully, being a Free to Play game, it allows you to get yourself familiarised with the game before you drop any cash on it. The packs will remain available until Season 1 drops, though an exact date for them being discontinued from sale has not yet been confirmed aside from ‘during Season 1’ - so make sure to keep an eye out for news if you’re planning to buy them.
In the end, we decided to give MultiVersus the Collecting Asylum rating of 8/10.
Are you interested in MultiVersus? What do you think of it?
Let us know in the comments below!
- V x
Thank you to Warner Bros. for the MultiVersus - Premium Founders Pack Xbox review code!
