Marvel Cosmic Invasion Review: The Ultimate Crossover Eve...

Marvel Cosmic Invasion Review: Old School Comic Action MARVEL Cosmic Invasion screenshot

By Chris Carter Published 16 minutes ago Chris is A Gaming Editor at ScreenRant. He has been a professional writer since 2009, and has written for top TV, comics, movie, and video game outlets like Engadget, Polygon, Destructoid, and more. He brings with him an expertise in every game genre, no matter how niche or mainstream. You may know him as the former Managing/Reviews Editor of Destructoid, where he published hundreds of game reviews across every genre, including MMOs, sports games, and Metroidvanias. Find Chris on Twitter @_SRChris. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Ever since the jump, I have been interested in Marvel Cosmic Invasion. The roster alone had me intrigued, as allowing Venom to battle it out with Wolverine by their side is something you don't always get to see, especially in the era of the MCU.

It wasn't just the comic characters that entranced me, though. Tribute Games is a veteran of this genre, having produced tons of old-school action games for nearly 15 years. All that hard work and toil paid off, as this is one of their best projects yet.

There's Something For Every Marvel Fan

The Roster Is Really Diverse

While the setup for Marvel Cosmic Invasion isn't unique (heroes are teaming up to take down the mega-villain Annihilus from taking over the cosmos), the stakes allow for some heavy-hitters to enter the fray. With Marvel Cosmic Invasion literally spanning the galaxy, as you might imagine, there's a ton of characters from across the Marvel universe who are tapping in to take down Annihilus.

While Disney generally keeps a chokehold on adding MCU characters to a lot of their media, other studios are sometimes free to choose a more diverse roster of heroes. That's thankfully the case with Cosmic Invasion, as Tribute Games really reached into the Marvel well to represent a ton of different eras and teams.

In Cosmic Invasion, you can have MCU favorites like Black Panther team up with classic characters like Venom, Wolverine, Phoenix, Cosmic Ghost Rider, and Beta Ray Bill. Odds are you'll find one of your favorite heroes is playable, and I appreciate the wider pulls like Beta Ray Bill, who has become a fan-favorite over the years.

Environments and enemies pull from the same deep pool, too. If you're an MCU fan, you'll be thrilled playing through levels and mostly seeing villains you haven't met before. If you're a hardcore comic fan, you'll appreciate a lot of the pulls that Tribute Games made, even when fighting bosses or regular old cannon fodder.

In any case, seeing all the characters come together and work in tandem is a treat, but while four-player is encouraged, it's not required. Cosmic Invasion is a tag-team game (even in multiplayer), so you always have two heroes to work with, even if you're going at it alone. This led me to create a ton of fun combos to use in levels, like Spider-Man and Venom, or Wolverine and Phoenix.

I appreciate that the roster isn't just diverse in terms of picks, but playstyles. For instance, some characters can fly, a select few can use grabs, and not all characters can block. It incentivizes using every single roster member you can find, especially ones that gel with your playstyle. Again, it's crucial to note that it adds a lot of depth to solo play, since the vast majority of the game's characters play so differently. You're constantly experiencing something fresh if you mix things up.

Cosmic Invasion Is Packed With Extras

It'll Take You A While To Unlock Everything

Marvel Cosmic Invasion is perfectly paced, and you can pretty much engage with it from any angle. For one-and-done players, there's a roughly four-hour campaign that you can smash through in a weekend, unlocking new characters along the way.

Fascinatingly, Tribute Games has a semi-guided way to play the game if you're interested in doing themed level playthroughs. Each stage has a set of challenges, two of which typically involve using specific characters in that battleground. These are heroes that show up in the cutscenes for the stage, adding a bit of extra immersion if you want it.

If not, you can use whatever heroes you want, and then go back and do those challenges later. The choice is yours, which is excellent, since adding a rigidly structured format would be antithetical to the power fantasy the game is going for.

For the more dedicated fans, you could spend up to 20-ish hours unlocking all the extras, including additional costume color palettes, music, and lore notebooks. All the unlocks are done via a convenient grid called the "Cosmic Matrix," where you'll select hexes using an in-game cube currency to buy more extras. The Cosmic Matrix may seem like an innocuous thing for grinding, but it's a fantastic way to add incentive for random playthroughs, on top of the task of leveling all of your heroes up.

It's an entirely optional way to engage with the game, as is the power to level up individual heroes and gain access to new, upgraded abilities. This is the perfect game to put on when friends come over, bash through some villains, and then return to it on your own as you attempt to unlock everything slowly, and max out your roster and the matrix.

Even Solo, Cosmic Invasion Is A Blast

But It's Better With Friends

Playing solo can be the kiss of death for beat 'em ups, but not for Marvel Cosmic Invasion. The tag-team mechanic is brilliantly done, and makes all player counts a blast as you're tagging tons of iconic Marvel characters in and out to take down memorable villains.

Because of the diverse array of playstyles Marvel Cosmic Invasion supports, it's way easier to recommendthan Tribute Games' previous beat-'em-up effort, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge. Many lessons learned were applied here, and Cosmic Invasion is all the better for it.

8/10

MARVEL Cosmic Invasion

10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Beat 'Em Up Superhero Action Systems PC-1

Released December 1, 2025 Developer(s) Tribute Games Inc. Publisher(s) Dotemu Multiplayer Local Co-Op, Online Co-Op Franchise Marvel Number of Players 1-4 players Steam Deck Compatibility Unknown

6 Images

Genre(s) Beat 'Em Up, Superhero, Action Expand Collapse

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PC Games

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