Blizzard released a primer video to help get gamers both familiar and unfamiliar with Overwatch prepped for the game's release on May 24th. The video is pretty short and pretty sweet and only clocks in at two and a half minutes.
Game Informer spotted the new video that features the intelligent gorilla, Winston. He gives a rundown of how things ended up the way they did, explaining that the Overwatch group was originally supposed to protect those against the Omni crisis.
The brief backstory is accompanied by some flashy hand-drawn art that depicts the heroes (and villains) before the current events taking place in the game.
Halfway through the tone of the video takes a different direction, instead of being comical and goofy, Winston briefly gets serious and explains how the public no longer needs the Overwatch operatives, but that due to escalating violence taking place in the world, he attempts to get the old gang back together.
I have to say that the lore for this game really is very impressive. Visually, Blizzard has managed to capture the charm and entertainment found in most Pixar films, but at the same time they've managed to construct this world that's colorful, violent, exciting and kind of playing by its own rules. It's been said time and time again, but Overwatch seems ripe for a mini-series or even a major motion picture. I imagine they could handle it like a Watchmen-lite, the themes are very similar in a way.
The video arrives ahead of the open beta, which is scheduled to take place on May 4th starting at 4:00pm PST. The Overwatch open beta will be available on PC, PS4 and the Xbox One and will run through May 9th. Anyone who pre-ordered the game before April 29th will have gained early access to the beta, which they will be able to participate in right now.
There are four game modes present, along with 12 maps and 21 different heroes. The four game modes include Assault, which is similar to the standard team deathmatch; there's Escort, which you may have seen before, where a team of six will have to defend a payload from checkpoint to checkpoint while the opposing team attempts to stop them; there's a hybrid mode that contains Assault and Escort together, and the final mode is Control.
Unlike other first-person shooters out there, in Overwatch you don't get a wide cache of guns to choose from and customize. Each character has their own abilities and weapons, and it's up to players to learn how to use them effectively in each match type. It's very similar to Gearbox Software's Battleborn, which is due out on May 3.
You can look to download the beta for Overwatch in a couple of days to see if it's your cup of tea, or you can wait for it launch on May 24 and pick up a copy for the Xbox One, PS4 or PC.
