Blizzard is getting into a rather festive mood with the introduction of Overwatch's holiday 2017 Winter Wonderland event. It's that time again, when new wintry skins, holiday-themed game modes, and last year's event items making a grand return.
The main draw here, of course, is the selection of frosty, holiday-themed skins up for grabs. The seven new skins outfit Ana, Roadhog, Junkrat, Hanzo, Bastion, Sombra, and Soldier 76 with a mix of costumes from casual (literally) to majestic.
While most of the heroes have a wintry mix of season-appropriate attire, Junkrat stands out with his sunny "Beachrat" skin, proudly hanging out in the middle of a snowy scene with a dark tan and beach attire. Ana's "Snow Owl" skin is a standout in a different way, with her skin resembling a majestic snowy owl. Hanzo's "Casual" skin is a shout-out to a skin players started requesting ages ago from the Overwatch comics, and Sombra's "Rime" skin gives her a dramatic transformation into a Snow Queen-like figure with a new hairstyle and all. If none of those skins strike your fancy, last year’s items will be up for grabs via loot boxes as well, so you may very well get lucky and snag your favorite skin.
While the skins take center stage, you can't count out the changes to various maps as important additions to the package. The Black Forest map has been winterized properly, and holiday-tinged makeovers have landed in both Hanamura and King's Row. They're perfect for the return of the Mei's Snowball Offensive Brawl from last year's winter event and a new Brawl mode that's Blizzard has described a little like a "boss" encounter. Mei’s Snowball Offensive is a 6v6 snowball fight that gives Mei augmented abilities. Her primary mode of fire can be recharged via snow piles around the map and can take out an enemy immediately with one hit. Her Ultimate move, Blizzard, is overtaken with Flurry instead. This grants Mei an infinite amount of ammo.
Mei's Yeti Hunt charges five different players (all Mei) with the responsibility of defeating one player who’s assigned to be Winston, the "Yeti," all decked out with his appropriate skin. All Meis work together to take down Winston as he collects power-ups to enter Primal Rage mode. All of the Meis must be eliminated or Winston taken down to name a victor. It's very different from the usual selection of game modes and obviously a change from the competitive nature of the modes, but it's a fun change of pace akin to Lúcioball.
If you’re ready to get into the holiday spirit, Overwatchhas you covered this season. The event will be live from now through January 1.
