Blizzard Finally Announces New Game: Overwatch
On Friday during BlizzCon 2014, Blizzard Entertainment introduced its first new game property in 17 years: Overwatch. The game is a team-based multiplayer first-person shooter that anyone can pick up and play, placing gamers on a battle-weary, "technically advanced" earth in the near future.
"In a time of global crisis, an international task force of soldiers, scientists, adventurers, and oddities known as Overwatch had come together to restore peace to a war-torn world," the press release said. "After many years, the group's influence waned, and it was eventually disbanded. Overwatch might be gone now...but the world still needs heroes."
Essentially, Overwatch sounds like Blizzard's version of Team Fortress 2. Players group together in teams of six to battle an opposing team across a number of futuristic environments, such as an Egyptian pyramid or the streets of London. Players will also have 12 characters/classes to choose from, including Tracer, Reinhardt, Hanzo and Symmetra.
According to Blizzard, Tracer can perform acrobatic assaults, drop energy bombs, teleport and more. Reinhardt is the team's tank, a huge soldier wearing battle armor. Hanzo is a Japanese mercenary wielding a bow, and Symmetra is an Indian architect that protects the team by using energy and light.
Additional characters listed on the Overwatch website include Reaper, Widowmaker, Winston, Pharah, Torbjorn, Bastion, Mercy and Zenyatta.
"Overwatch is our take on a vibrant, near-future universe with amped-up characters and action-packed team-based gameplay," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "Our goal with Overwatch is to create an awesome FPS experience that's more accessible to a much wider audience while delivering the action and depth that shooter fans love."
Blizzard will begin beta testing the game sometime in 2015, but potential testers can sign up for the beta right here. Additional media such as gameplay videos and screenshots can be accessed here.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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everlast66 A lot of positive comments about this game on other forums, but I don't know why, but I am not getting excited. Lately blizzard are coming out with small side free-to-play projects like the card game and the DOTA rip-off.Reply
Nothing in common with 'traditional' Blizzard games and IPs like Diablo, WC, SC which all have huge epic background stories and consistency across each IP.
In Overwatch you have orangutans fighting with the Reaper, sniper babes and Aladdin.
If they've run out of ideas it would have been much better if they remade the 20 year old Blackthorne or the Lost Vikings! -
mortsmi7 This game looks like it would be really fun, an FPS that isn't another CoD or Battlefield.Reply -
kenjitamura So, another Team Fortress 2? What's the point with there already existing Team Fortress 2 which has a rabid fanbase perfectly happy with it?Reply -
giovanni86 This would be quite a great game if it released when TF2 did. At this point i'm more interested in the Protoss expansion, and this looks like a developer hungry for people who missed TF2 which you can easily get for free just by making a steam account.. So yeah. But this is good, if the game fails maybe blizzard will actually fire off most of its staff that aren't creative anymore and hire new talent that can bring NEW IP's that make sense, not a game that should of been released 8 years ago.Reply -
aule10 Kenjitamura. So what you are saying is, because there is a game that have that concept no one else can make a game, and maybe make it better?Reply
The journalist have made an huge bommer. he say's that there are only 12 heroes, that is wrong, blizzard choose only to show 12 heroes, but they said time after time, that there are many other heroes on the drawing board.
And we dont know yet if this is going F2P. -
hannibal It all depends on how it will be done! All game types have been done before. Some better some worse. If this is team force type of game, it does not mean anything. The way how they manage to do it, means everything.Reply
Always hope for the best and be afraid the worst, so yo don't get burned, by bad release.