The presentation began with the announcement of a retro collection of Blizzard's oldest games: Lost Vikings, Rock n' Roll Racing, and Blackthorne. The Arcade Collection features the original versions of all three games as well as a definitive edition that provides extra features like custom button mapping, the ability to save anywhere, rewinding up to ten seconds, and the ability to watch a playthrough of the game and jump in whenever you w

The first online-only BlizzCon kicked off today with an announcement-filled opening ceremony. The livestream featured updates, reveals, surprises, and new game announcements, including some that are already available today. Here's a look at everything announced during the BlizzConline 2021 opening cerem

They wouldn’t even be the exception to the rule, either. Mercy’s skin is based on the history of healers, taking inspiration from Florence Nightingale, while Zenyatta’s is a deep sea diver because… well, I’m not sure. It looks cool, I gu

As a - very - casual Overwatch fan , the characters have always been my favourite thing about the hero shooter. They only tell vague stories, but they’re so well designed and are bursting with such life that they feel like bigger characters than they actually are. They’re similar to comic book characters; you don’t need to have read the decades long history between Batman and the Joker, you just see their iconic designs and you instantly feel as if you know them. Whether it’s Ashe and her Wild West gunslinger aesthetic, D.Va’s e-girl vibe, or Winston the science monke, the character designs tell their own stories. That’s why the recent Archives event feels like a big missed opportun

Meanwhile, he’ll see Tracer on the other side of the war, since she’s a Redcoat Cavalrywoman with twin Revolutionary-era revolvers in her hip holsters. I understand the logic behind this; lots of the other characters delve into their national cultural heritage too. Widowmaker is a Mousquetaire, Zarya a Polyanitsa warrior, Genji a samurai, and Lucio a Conquistador. But for a long time, the excuse held up in defence of Tracer and Soldier 76’s queerness only featuring off-screen is that Overwatch 2 lore|https://Overwatch2fans.com/ simply isn’t the type of game that allows for anything more. Well, the Archives skins do. There is so much cultural history in their queerness, in Stonewall and the earliest Pride protests, in the punk movement, in art, and through cultural trailblazers that speak to the heart of who Soldier 76 is far more than just putting him in a different soldier outfit from a few centuries

But for those not planning to pick up the premium battle pass or aren’t already cemented in the Overwatch ecosystem, some new heroes are locked behind progression in ways that actively discourages the experimentation this game is all about. Kiriko - the new fox girl support hero who I am totally not simping for already - is available immediately to premium battle pass holders or existing players of the original Overwatch, while everyone else must grind to Level 55 in order to unlock her. That’s a big time investment for a hero in a hero shooter.

Roadhog's name implies he's something of an expert driver, so he had to make the top three. His playstyle is far more close quarters than most Tanks though, which doesn't seem too suited than tanks themselves. While sure, tanks can roll over and crush anything in their immediate vicinity, they're used for attacks from a distance, so Roadhog's name gets him a medal, but his combat preferences see him settle from bro

That’s an issue for another day though. Today, I want to focus on the Archives skins, particularly those of our queer characters, Soldier 76 and Tracer. The Archives event is running until April 27, and brings eight new skins to the game, each designed around a given character’s cultural history. Both Soldier 76 and Tracer are included in the event, but it’s extremely telling that neither of their cultural histories includes any reference to queerness. Soldier 76 is becoming Soldier 1776 which, I admit, is a good pun. The American soldier is donning the jacket of the Revolutionaries, these days probably best known from the musical Hamil

Here we have the same problem as Winston - Orisa is too big and likely too strong to operate a tank correctly. However, given Orisa is a robot and can therefore be adjusted as needed, I think a solution is in sight, and I also think that solution probably plays out better than greasing a gorilla up with butter. Still, getting a regular human who can drive a tank seems a lot easier than rebuilding a ro

But with the release of Overwatch 2 and its debut season less than two weeks away, we now have a concrete picture of how the experience will play out, as well as how much it differs from what came before. This isn’t a premium product anymore, but instead a free game that anyone can download, jump into, and have a reasonably good time without spending a penny. There’s a free version of the battle pass too, albeit with far fewer rewards and a focus on grinding things out over a prolonged period of time, but it’s there, and that kinda rules.