The big day has finally arrived for Marvel's Avengers fans. Today marks the release of a bunch of new content for the action brawler game based on Marvel comics, including a release on next-gen consoles, customizable HARM rooms, a replayable campaign, and the much anticipated Future Imperfect DLC featuring Clint Barton's Hawkeye. Fans have been waiting to dig into Hawkeye's story, and the Future Imperfect DLC received a short hype trailer today to coincide with its release. Fans also got an extended trailer of Hawkeye gameplay that shows off some of his signature moves.
Developer Crystal Dynamics has steadily teased the new content over the past few months in an effort to bring back the dwindled Marvel's Avengers fanbase. The last attempt at a Hawkeye narrative was Kate Bishop's DLC back in December 2020, and although Bishop is an admirable Hawkeye in her own right, the DLC didn't meet many fan expectations. When the announcement came that the Future Imperfect DLC would feature another Hawkeye, fans hoped that Clint Barton's Hawkeye would be different from Kate Bishop and add some new life to the game.
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It will take some time for fans to play through the Future Imperfect DLC to determine if it is the positive step forward that Marvel's Avengers needs, but there's a lot of content to experiment with today. For many fans, the now-playable Clint Barton sits at the top of that list. Fans already know a little about Barton's abilities from the Hawkeye DLC War Table meeting last month, but today's gameplay trailer showcases those moves as the original Hawkeye teams up with Kate Bishop and Thor to fight A.I.M. thugs, robots, and Taskmaster.
Hawkeye's moveset shows off not only his bow abilities, but also his utility as a close-up sword wielder. He's pretty mobile on the ground and he's able to slide around to find the best vantage point to shoot arrows from. He can charge up his implosion arrows with some kind of electrical power and release EMP-like blasts to disorient and damage Marvel's Avengers' various enemies. One of Hawkeye's most effective combos is a jump into firing a grappling arrow, which he can follow up with a fast magnetic snap to an enemy in order to continue dealing damage with his sword.
The end of Hawkeye's gameplay trailer also gives a small glimpse of the 2021 content roadmap for Marvel's Avengers. Spring events include the Tachyon Anomaly and the Red Room Takeover; summer will bring Project Omega, Wasteland Patrol, and more as the year continues. Marvel's Avengers fans were also treated to a surprise today during the Square Enix livestream event, where it was revealed a Black Panther: War for Wakanda expansion will be coming to the game later this year.
Marvel's Avengers is now available for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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