Screenshot by Vice
Velma, Scooby-Doo’s bespectacled, occasional lesbian, has been a scourge on MultiVersus. From her solid normal attacks to her projectile and status effect laden specials, Velma has been a genuine threat in the arena—one who can rack up a truly tremendous amount of damage. She is, however, weak in one regard: kill potential. While Velma is survivable and excellent at controlling space, she struggles to finish the job. This inability to kill her enemies led her to call on experts in sudden, frequently unprompted violence: the police.Velma’s kit is held together by her passive ability, which, upon collecting enough evidence dropped from hitting her opponents, allowed her to call the police on her enemies, spawning a police car which, on contact with an opponent, would attempt to carry them off-screen to their deaths. Many MultiVersus players, unsurprisingly, found this in extremely poor taste given the ongoing conversation about police violence in the United States.Soon after the game’s release, some players began calling for the move to be changed. They argued that having the series’ signature Mystery Machine replace the police would not only be in better taste, but would better represent the actual character. According to a report by The Gamer, Multiversus' developer, Player First Games, seems to have agreed. In the game’s most recent patch Velma was handed a series of character nerfs, bringing her abilities more in line with the rest of the game’s cast, and the police were replaced with her fellow Mystery Inc. members and their signature Mystery Machine.Multiversus launched as a beta, and for good reason. The game has a strong foundation, sure, but fundamental aspects of characters, their abilities, and the game’s overall tone are malleable. This change, as small as it may be, highlights the developer’s willingness to respond to player feedback, and the game is better for it. More than that though, it goes to show the shifting role of the police in American media.
Advertisement