Marvel Rivals players claim Hawkeye brought Overwatch’s worst meta to Rivals

Marvel Rivals players who thought they escaped Overwatch’s dominating Hanzo meta have realized it’s been repackaged as Hawkeye. One shots are back on the table, and players aren’t happy.

For years, Overwatch players resented the overpowering qualities of heroes like Hanzo and Widowmaker. Between balance updates and other tweaks, the two snipers often frustrated players with their pinpoint accuracy, too-large projectiles, and one-shot kills.

Now another long-range character in a different hero shooter is similarly wrecking havoc – Marvel Rivals’ Hawkeye.

This version of Hawkeye has already come under fire due to the sheer amount of damage he deals. As such, Overwatch veterans fear the Marvel Rivals developers haven’t learned from the former’s shortcomings.

Marvel Rivals players dub Hawkeye “Hanzo on steroids”

Calls for NetEase to nerf the bow-wielding vigilante won’t cease. “Please nerf this character. He makes the game miserable to play,” wrote one person in a Reddit post. Elsewhere, another user said Hawkeye makes matches “1,000,000,000x less fun.”

For many, Hawkeye’s gameplay-related problems are numerous. One-shot kills, oversized projectiles, and an insanely quick fire rate count as but a few. With these in mind, players have likened him to “original Hanzo from OW.”

It’s “pretty absurd how good he is even with mediocre aim,” a user lamented in one thread.

Others pointed out that, akin to Widowmaker and Hanzo, Hawkeye will continue to make Marvel Rivals less fun so long as “long range 1 shots are a thing.”

Marvel Games

Another frustrated plalyer chimed in to add, “Had the problem with Overwatch’s Hanzo, his one-shots always felt BS. Low skill, low risk, high reward is how it seems making deaths feel unjust and unfair.”

Interestingly, a mid-September 2024 update gave Hanzo back his ability to one-shot kill OW2 heroes. The change came several months after Season 9 nerfs that players labeled “soulless.”

Reason suggests Hawkeye will experience similar ups and downs throughout Marvel Rivals’ life cycle. But since NetEase has yet to address the ongoing complaints, there’s no telling when players can expect balance updates to tweak his weapons and abilities.