Overwatch first new IP in years

Blizzard was really busy during their recent annual BlizzCon event. And one of the highlights was the announcement of Overwatch , an online multiplayer FPS. Overwatch is set in a futuristic Earth, and follows the antics of the titular Overwatch,a team of soldiers and scientists tasked with keeping the world safe. The actual gameplay has a strong Team Fortress 2 lean to it, and squares off teams of 6v6 in objective based maps. Players select one of many highly diverse characters, ranging from agile scouts to turret building dwarves, a sentient gorilla, and several robots. If you can't tell yet, the game doesn't take itself too seriously, and the graphics are bright and look like a Pixar movie. It also has a surprising number of Hearthstone quotes, proving that Blizzard knows howto play to the fans.

Besides the varied character roster, Blizzard wants to make the game appealing to a wide audience. They described that their goal 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”. So far, only three maps have been unveiled, and all showadelightful mix of real world locations mixed with high tech futurism.

Overwatch’s announcement comes on the heels of the recent cancellation of long awaited Blizzard MMO Titan. The developers went on to confirm that various elements of Titan’s PvP were repurposed into Overwatch . As of now, no release date is confirmed beyond an early 2015 open beta. Pricing hasn't been confirmed either, so we will have to wait and see if this will be free-to-play like Team Fortress 2.

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