Blizzard has revealed a completely new IP, Overwatch, at BlizzCon 2014.
Blizzcon 2014 broke new ground for Blizzard – an entirely new IP was revealed. Overwatch will be a team-based multiplayer first-person shooter “that is completely action-packed.” It is said to be “very approachable” to new players, and appears to be a class-based game similar to Team Fortress 2. Development is focused on the PC platform.
All maps are 6v6 and objective-based. Players resurrect in “safe” areas in order to avoid spawn camping.
The original setting is a near-future sci-fi set on Earth. The reveal cinematic trailer had a Pixar-like quality to it and included in-joke references to Hearthstone and StarCraft. The visuals are heavily stylized, similar to Heroes of the Storm.
The gameplay trailer revealed the various characters, which range from giant gorillas, to dwarves, to robots, to superheroic humans. Overwatch includes 12 characters to choose from. A press release revealed details about the following four heroes:
· Tracer, a former British test pilot who shrugs at danger, can execute impossible acrobatic assaults thanks to her ability to teleport, drop energy bombs, and even reverse time.
· Reinhardt, a hulking German soldier in battle armor, can charge great distances and pin his enemies to a wall or slam the ground with his rocket hammer to knock them off their feet.
· Hanzo, a bow-wielding Japanese mercenary, has the ability to scale walls with his bare hands, fire off a tracking device that illuminates nearby enemies for his team, and unleash a huge spirit dragon that does grievous damage to all enemies in its path.
· Symmetra, an Indian architech, manipulates light and energy to shield her allies and damage her enemies-and she can turn the tide of any battle by building a device that instantly transports her teammates to the front lines.
The full roster of heroes, as well as signups for the 2015 beta, can be found here: playoverwatch.com.
