Overwatch is soon getting a bunch of new skins, some of which are themed after other Blizzard games
- By Ash
- in News
During the initial burst of announcements Blizzard revealed a brand new Hybrid Overwatch map - Blizzard World. While I still consider it to be a bit too self-referential for my tastes, I am very glad to say that it will be accompanied by some downright amazing cosmetics inspired by Blizzard's various games. In fact, the cosmetics are so good I am starting to think that Blizzard designed the entire Blizzard World map just so they could find some sort of excuse to fit them in!
You can look forward to things like Nova Widowmaker, Magni Torbjorn, Butcher Roadhog, Barbarian Zarya, and the list goes on for a while. The video quality isn't the greatest since it was ripped straight from the Blizzcon stream, but you can get a good look at new skins right below. Have a gander:
Overwatch's next map "Blizzard World" will be a theme park featuring all of the major Blizzard games
- By Ash
- in News
Out of all the announcements that came with this year's Blizzcon, the upcoming "Blizzard World" Overwatch map might just be the strangest one. Instead of having something that even loosely fits the Overwatch world, the new map is essentially a theme park celebrating Blizzard's various games. While I'm not exactly a fan of this sort of silliness and self-referential humor, I am very glad to say that Blizzard World will be a Hybrid map (like Hollywood, King's Row, etc.)!
If you're interested in seeing what Blizzard World might look like in-game, you'll find what you're looking for in the recently posted teaser trailer down below. Its not very long, but it goes over pretty much all of the important areas. Have a look:
The "Honor and Glory" Overwatch animated short gives us a good look at Reinhardt's origin story
- By Ash
- in News
While I definitely enjoyed the Mei animated short, it really didn't grow on me as much as the Bastion, Hanzo/Genji, or even Soldier 76 ones did. I took me a little while to realize why, and the answer I came up with is a complete lack of character development or insight. It featured Mei overcoming ridiculous odds and personal tragedies, but none of that seemed to phase her in any way. She was and still is the exact same Mei, despite the fact that literally everyone she knows is now long dead and gone, which is fairly boring as far as character development is concerned.
As such, I am very glad to say that the most recent "Honor and Glory" short not only gives us a good insight into Reihnardt as a character, but it also shows him grow and change as a person. Its all a little bit cheesy, as you would expect from any Blizzard short, but there is some real heart to it. But enough babble from me, have a look, its well worth a watch:
Overwatch is soon getting a villainous life-stealing support by the name of Moira
- By Ash
- in News
Blizzcon 2017 has now arrived, bringing with it an absolute ton of new announcements. The most exciting of these new reveals, at least for Overwatch players, should be the imminent arrival of a brand new hero - a Talon affiliated support by the name of Moira.
Her biotic abilities allow her to drain life from her enemies in order to heal herself and her teammates, conjure orbs that deal area-of-effect damage or healing, and most annoyingly for everyone else, an option to teleport around on a relatively low cooldown (6 seconds). Fans of 'classic' Overwatch memes will also be happy to hear that her ultimate gives her a long-ranged beam, and yes, you can indeed use it to 'snipe' people. Here's what all of it looks like in-game:
Blizzard is now officially working on getting World of Warcraft: Classic servers up and running
- By Ash
- in News
"You think you do, but you don't" was the answer World of Warcraft players got when they asked for vanilla WoW servers last year. The codebase was simply too obscure and difficult to unravel, the original team that worked on it had moved on a long time ago, and overall the whole project was far more costly than it could ever hope to recoup. Outside of tiny little rumors here and there, these statement appeared to be the end of all classic WoW discussion - a definitive no from Blizzard themselves.
And now, out of absolutely nowhere, Blizzard has come out to announce that they are working on official World of Warcraft: Classic servers! You'll find the brief announcement video right below, and while it doesn't show any actual gameplay it will still give you one hell of a nostalgia blast! Have a look:
Blizzard has released a behind-the-scenes look at how they're improving Overwatch esports
- By Ash
- in News
The Overwatch World Cup is set to begin later today, bringing with it a variety of improvements for spectators, viewers, and players alike. The tournament will showcase the newly added tactical camera, an over-the-shoulder view for insanely fast heroes like Genji and Tracer, unique team uniforms and ability colors, and the list goes on for a while.
So if you're interested in seeing what exactly Blizzard is doing to push Overwatch esports, or if you're just wondering what all of the new skins and abilities will look like, you'll find what you seek in the most recent behind-the-scenes video. Have a look, its quite interesting:
Elex Review - Overly ambitious and clunky, yet still highly addictive
- By Ash
- in Reviews
Elex is a true Piranha Bytes RPG. Its overly ambitious, clunky and riddled with bugs, yet despite all of its flaws I simply couldn't put it down until I reached the finish line. This is partly due to a world that seems to have a life of its own outside of serving the player, and partly because of how much my actions influenced the opinions of those around me. Elex might not be anything special when it comes to pure gameplay, but in terms of immersion its one of the most impressive RPGs I've played in recent years.
So if you're interested in seeing what exactly Elex does right, as well as what sort of traps it jumps into face-first, allow me to share my thoughts after a rather lengthy playthrough.