Marvel Cosmic Invasion may not have a release date yet, but it does have a demo. The coolest-looking Marvel game in years, and a game many of us at Kotaku are excited to play later this year, now has a small demo up on Steam letting you play the superhero brawler alone or with a few pals.
On October 1, Tribute Games and publisher Dotemu announced and released a free, playable demo for the upcoming Marvel Cosmic Invasion. The demo contains two full levels with boss fights, supports both local and online co-op, and features nine playable characters: Rocket Raccoon, Nova, Phyla-Vell, She-Hulk, Venom, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Storm, and Captain America. Here’s a new trailer for the demo:
Announced earlier this year during a Nintendo Direct, Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a side-scrolling 2D retro-inspired beat ’em up being developed by the same studio behind the extremely tubular and awesome TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge, which was also a 2D co-op brawler. Cosmic Invasion, like Tribute’s past games, is a snappy and action-packed retro throwback. I played the new demo on Steam for a few minutes and immediately had a blast smashing baddies as She-Hulk and Spider-Man. Swapping between the two, which is this game’s big gimmick, was great as it let me switch between Spider-Man’s fast and agile action during some segments and She-Hulk’s heavy hits during fights with tougher foes. I did encounter some performance dips, which wasn’t ideal, but hopefully those issues get ironed out when the game launches…eventually.
While there are nine characters in the demo, that’s not the game’s full line-up. Marvel Cosmic Invasion is set to include a large roster of 15 characters. We know 12 of the 15 characters that will be playable at launch. Three more have yet to be revealed.
Now the bad news for console players: The new Cosmic Invasion demo isn’t available on Xbox, PlayStation, or Switch. This has understandably disappointed many players online, with some jumping into the comments of the trailer above to share their frustration.
Regardless, we shouldn’t have to wait long, as Marvel Cosmic Invasion is set to arrive in 2025. Exactly when hasn’t been announced yet, but there’s not much time left in the year so if it’s not getting delayed, the game is likely weeks away from launching on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch 2, Switch, and PC.
