If you took a detour to the gaming section of Twitter this afternoon, you most likely caught a glimpse of the post from TimTheTatman that has everyone talking. Tim, in his usual fashion, shared that clip, but this time with the caption “ONE ABOVE ALL JEFF 1V1 OF THE CENTURY.” The other people have been trying to guess what the clip entails, but Tim chose to let the clip speak for itself. For those who don’t recognize the clip, it’s from the alpha of an eagerly awaited new hero shooter called Marvel Rivals, which everyone is clamoring to get a shot at.
By an incredible stroke of luck, Tim secured a slot in a match. From that match, he got into an unbelievable 1v1 that began with a mirror match. Both players had picked Jeff. Now, Jeff is, if I recall correctly, a large shark character. The clip pretty much consists of these two colossal shark characters trading blows in a rather small arena. It is the silliest, most over-the-top slap fight you’ve ever witnessed, only the fighters are superheroes. Or perhaps… shark superheroes? I genuinely have no clue.
The replies, in my opinion, are an equally significant part of the narrative. Commenters are absolutely losing their minds. One of them, BigSkinnySlimm, said, “I have no idea what game this is and I got so freakin hype for this clip Tim 🤣” which is genuinely the sentiment of the crowd. Everything else about the clip is lost amid the frenzy, but the image of two giant shark dudes duke fighting is canon.
Now, this is the other end of the spectrum—other users are taking this chance to highlight some of their problems with Marvel Rivals. The very Stra8CashH0MlE, “This game sucks to watch.” And 223jayboa, “This game is ass.” Oof, that’s harsh. Then, on the other hand, you have Susp3ct0G saying they quit playing “after I hit eternal jeff lol they made him so passive lol” which might imply Jeff wasn’t always this… inactive?
That segues nicely into the in-game action. From the snippet we were given, it very much resembled two sluggish, slow-moving tanks trying to slug one another. I needed Mariolxl’s comment to really make it click for me, “Man that fight was a struggle to watch 😂. Shows you how much they had to nerf the poor boy. Tbh he definitely needs a rebalance on how much he damages his enemies.” So it is possible Jeff was over-nerfed? This community of Marvel Rivals players is divided on whether this is hilarious or painful to watch.
One of the rare ways the creativity comes into play is in the replies. Dovabob21 gave me a real brainwave with the suggestion: “There should be a title unlock for being at the bottom of the ranking, called One Below All.” Like that’s actually a fire idea. And False_Paragon was asking for someone to edit it with “duel of the fates” music which would actually immortalize the clip even more than it already is.
What’s really striking is that this clip shows concern about the game in a very specific way. For one group of players, this is an iconic clip from a game because the moment within it is so funny and similarly ridiculous to say the things video games make people do. For the other group of players, the ones who compete and play competitively, look at this and see issues that relate to game balance with slow gameplay footage that is not ideal for streaming, or growing the esports aspect of it.
Can we also note the fact that the algorithm seems kind of crazy? WaddaBoddles mentioned that one of the replies was hidden under the “show spam comments” section and said “This wasn’t spam at all…” which is, I guess, how social media functions sometimes.
With clips like this, creators such as TimTheTatman really do have an impact on the communities. In a way that other creators don’t, they can take what would otherwise be mundane in-game moments and transform them into shared experiences that people absolutely cannot stop talking about. Regardless if Tim believes that Marvel Rivals has snowball’s chance in hell of becoming the next big hit or if there is still a lot of work that needs to be put into it, Tim’s clips create a buzz around the game.
The intense feelings that so many people express regarding the game, for whatever reason, matters since it shows that the players care about the game’s future. Also, quite frankly, everyone has had those in-game moments where something ridiculous takes place, and the first reaction is to share it with everyone. In a way, all of that happened here; the only difference is that Tim happened to be involved.
So yeah, if you haven’t seen the clip, I highly suggest you do watch it because it’s already turning into a cherished memory in gaming. While it is serving the dual purpose of being a hilarious meme and proof of balance problems, I think the humorous aspect will definitely overshadow the rest.
