On July 29, Crystal Dynamics hosted its second War Table stream for Marvel’s Avengers. The studio previewed the game’s upcoming beta and gave players a look at Hawkeye, the game’s first post-launch hero.
The Marvel’s Avengers version of Hawkeye is Clint Barton, the same character Jeremy Renner plays in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This announcement comes after Crystal Dynamics teased Hawkeye on Twitter months ago.
Hawkeye will play like players expect, slinging all kinds of arrows across the battlefield. In the cinematic trailer, we see Hawkeye use a combination of melee and his signature arrows. Black Widow also mentions shock arrows, so Hawkeye fans should expect a variety of arrow types.
During the stream, Crystal Dynamics cited some of its inspiration for the Marvel’s Avengers version of Hawkeye. The studio said it had “taken some exciting ideas” from Matt Fraction and David Aja’s “My Life As a Weapon” storyline.
When Hawkeye launches later sometime after launch, he’ll come with his own campaign — part of what Crystal Dynamics calls the Avengers Initiative. Players can play this campaign in co-op or in single player. Based on the new War Table, players should expect a similar content drop around other post-launch heroes. All post-launch heroes, including Hawkeye, are free for all Marvel’s Avengers players.
Players can try out Marvel’s Avengers — sans Hawkeye, Captain America, and Thor — in the game’s beta. The Marvel’s Avengers beta starts first on PlayStation 4 on Aug. 7 for players that pre-order the game. On Aug. 14, players who pre-order on Windows PC and Xbox version can play the same beta, with an open beta for all PS4 players.
The open beta for Marvel’s Avengers goes live for all platforms on Aug. 21. The full game is slated to launch on Sept. 4.