Ultron’s Battle Matrix Protocol was an auto-battler game mode that was temporarily released within the Marvel Rivals client as part of Ultron’s addition to the game as a new character.
Although the mode hasn’t been confirmed as a permanent addition, it had some features that would indicate signs of its longevity, such as a Leaderboard, Match History, and Spectating.
Its developer, NetEase, also spent a good amount of effort promoting the game mode with a variety of big-name streamers like Shroud, Flats, and k3soju.
In this game review, we’ll cover its gameplay, what it did well, and what it can improve to be a true contender within its genre.
Our review for Ultron’s Battle Matrix Protocol was conducted within the PC version of Marvel Rivals on Steam.
Gameplay
If you’re unfamiliar with auto-battlers, the core of the genre is to assemble a team of heroes on your board to battle against a lobby of players.
In Ultron’s Battle Matrix Protocol, you get to build your team from all heroes available in Marvel Rivals.
Each round, you face a different matchup, and your team composition will automatically fight the battle until one side is wiped out.
As the heroes fight, they use their attacks and abilities from the main Marvel Rivals hero shooter game mode, and will eventually cast their ultimate.
Although the automatic fights may make the game mode seem pretty hands-off, you actually have a lot of control by positioning your team on the board and by upgrading them.
Throughout a match, you can upgrade your team by purchasing “Modules”. Most Modules will buff a particular Marvel Rivals role - Blue for Vanguards, Red for Duelists, Green for Strategists, and Purple for all roles.
There are also powerful “Strengthen Modules” that will power up a single hero - for example, “Pure Chaos” changes Scarlet Witch’s attack beam to instead simultaneously hit three targets at once.
Lastly, the heroes also use the same Team-Ups that they have in the hero shooter mode. So having Namor and Hulk in the same team will grant Namor his Gamma squids.
Ultron Battle Matrix Protocol plays more into the hero fantasy by putting more emphasis into what a single unit can do.
In comparison to TFT, where most units only have one ability that triggers as an ultimate or passive, the units in Battle Matrix use ALL of their abilities from the main hero shooter mode.
For example, Rocket Raccoon will fire his gun as an auto-attack to deal damage, use his secondary fire to heal, place his B.R.B. resurrection beacon, and C.Y.A. ultimate throughout a fight.
In addition, the Strengthen Modules allow you to build around a single hero’s capabilities. By opting into Hela’s Soul Reaper and Split Nightsword Thorn modules, you can make her the main carry of your comp without needing any synergies like you would in TFT.
You can also get benefits by activating Team-Up effects that are present in the main mode, such as Hela resurrecting Loki or Thor after getting a kill.
Overall, it’s a noticeable emphasis that makes for some unique team building and plays into the Marvel theme well.
Feature-Rich for a First Version
Although there were quite a few expected features missing (we’ll get to that in the Lows section), Ultron’s Battle Matrix Protocol was further along than one might expect in some areas.
The most surprising inclusions for what seemed like a promotional game mode were the Match History, Spectating, and Leaderboard (segmented between servers) features - these hint toward the mode becoming a more permanent fixture in the future.
Lots of Room to Grow
Outside of Pokemon, which is already getting an auto-battler with Pokemon Unite’s Chinese version, Marvel is one of the best IPs out there for the genre.
There are thousands of heroes at Marvel’s disposal, and NetEase could easily introduce more of them to Battle Matrix even if they aren’t present in the hero shooter mode.
Similar to TFT sets, Battle Matrix could have seasonal campaigns related to events happening in the comics or MCU - there’s a mountain of untapped potential in terms of themes.
The Lows
No Multiplayer Queue
Despite its inclusion of several launch features mentioned above, it was shocking to see a lack of a multiplayer queue (you could just play multiplayer in a custom lobby with bots).
This hampered its virality as auto-battlers are a great time with friends - during NetEases’s marketing campaign, we saw several creators confused trying to find out how to play with their their buddies.
We assume that it was planned but didn’t make the cut for the first version but it was a significant blunder for players that were excited to try it out.
Lacked Clarity and Info
Compared to established auto-battlers, Ultron Battle Matrix Protocol receives an F-grade for the amount of information that the game mode offers.
There were no tooltips, you couldn’t right-click on heroes to know more about their abilities or synergies, and it forced you to rely on your knowledge from the hero shooter mode.
Even as experienced Marvel Rivals players, this was a clunky experience so we can’t imagine what playing the game mode would be like for someone that was playing Battle Matrix as their first exposure to the client.
Needs More Depth
Although Battle Matrix presented depth in its potential, its execution ended up being very shallow.
With its focus on roles for its synergies, the meta ended up being figured out within a few days and it didn’t change much before the end of the mode’s duration.
Without items like TFT, there needs to be more ways to affect composition building. An obvious addition would be more bonus options beyond the established team-ups that are based on the lore of the heroes.
For example, there should be activations for having a number of X-men or Avengers, or relationships like Black Panther and Storm.
Our Score
6/10 (Has Potential, Needs Work)
Although its debut was flawed, Ultron’s Battle Matrix Protocol has undeniable potential due to its Marvel IP.
With just a few basic improvements, it can carve its niche in a relatively uncontested space since the genre’s early days.
Time will tell if NetEase decides to make it a permanent game mode, but in theory, they should have what it takes to contend with TFT, like Marvel Rivals challenged Overwatch.
