NetEase Games' commitment to releasing a new Marvel Rivals hero every half-season hasn't stopped a talented player from creating their own playable Doctor Octopus.
Reddit user WickedCube recently shared a 30-second gameplay video showcasing a remarkably well-realized Doc Ock within the Marvel Rivals engine. The footage, seemingly from a testing environment, depicts a pre-Hulk Bruce Banner suspended in mid-air, highlighting Doc Ock's unique abilities. The eight-armed villain is convincingly rendered, exhibiting smooth, albeit slightly rough-around-the-edges, movement.
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His magnetic tentacles allow for traversal, enabling Doc Ock to essentially "fly" near stable structures – a clever adaptation to the game's destructible environments. The concept even includes named abilities: "Havoc Claw" for melee attacks and "Wrecking Grip" for ranged combat. The post has garnered significant attention, exceeding 16,000 upvotes.
WickedCube, an indie game developer with experience at Keen Software House, attributes the project's inception to a recent PSN outage and inspiration from Doc Ock fan art. He states that the challenge of creating Doc Ock's unique tentacle mechanics in Unity was a key motivator.
"Doc Ock has always been one of the coolest Spider-Man villains, and his tentacles would be a challenge to implement," WickedCube explained. "As far as I know, they haven't been fully implemented with playable 3D movement in a game before. I thought, 'Since I can't play right now, why not make it myself?'"
The overwhelmingly positive response has encouraged WickedCube to share his creation and future concepts through a YouTube tutorial series and open-source the code on GitHub. He hopes NetEase might consider incorporating some of his ideas should Doc Ock ever officially join the game.
This Friday, NetEase will release the Human Torch and The Thing, continuing their impressive post-launch momentum. However, the community's enthusiasm for WickedCube's Doc Ock highlights the vast potential within Marvel's roster of characters. WickedCube is already brainstorming other heroes, including Nightcrawler and Professor Xavier.
Marvel Rivals' Season 1 mid-season update arrives tomorrow, February 21st, featuring the new characters, balance adjustments, and more. The game's success and community engagement underscore the enduring appeal of Marvel's universe and the creative passion of its players.
