Overwatch Character Guide: Tracer, Roadhog, Junkrat
When developer Pixel Titans released a new trailer for upcoming nostalgia-bleeding, fast-paced shooter STRAFE, safe to say what they unveiled could be regarded as material that goes against the tide of contemporary «gameplay» promotion, trailers and all. The decision to take its blocky, pixelated aim at this thematic and quote-unquote cinematic direction modern games have often approached and blindly lavished over worked wonders for two completely opposing and quite ironically-positioned reasons. One: the developers are clearly confident enough to add a an extra flair of presentation and direction to their still ongoing project. And two: they’re more than willing to be the butt to their own joke — opening up the flood-gates guarding not just the industry they’re a part of, but more prudently, of themselves as but one more studio in a grand sum of thousands.
What are some of the biggest things that you’ve learned from the Closed Beta? Are there any things that made you think, «Wow, we’re in such a vacuum designing this game and I never would have thought that this could happen?» I’d imagine there’d have to be something, since there’d be no point in having a Beta otherwise.
wuyang overwatch tips‘s single most iconic character is also one of the toughest to master, as Tracer’s time-bending skillset is quite unlike anything we’ve seen in a first-person shooter. Armed with two automatic energy pistols, she has the ability to completely empty a clip in around a second, with her reload time taking roughly the same amount of time. For this reason, accuracy is key, as her roster-low health count of 150 makes her squishy to the point where any moment spent not shooting has the potential to cause an untimely death. Luckily for those who choose Tracer, her abilities focus on a combination of speed, confusion and evasion to make her one of the most frustrating characters for newcomers to go against.
If there’s one constant in video games, it’s that rocket launchers are always cool, period. Pharah, Overwatch’s resident flying explosive expert, is no exception to this rule, as she has the potential to devastate an entire enemy squad when used properly. Her main weapon, the aforementioned Rocket Launcher, is not only incredibly powerful when it makes direct contact with an enemy, but it also possesses fairly large splash damage, so you don’t necessarily need to worry about hitting foes directly. This is a wonderful weapon for taking out enemies that thrive on camping, like Bastion, Hanzo and Widowmaker. In addition to the Rocket Launcher, Pharah also possesses a jet pack mapped to her jump button. Not only does this allow her to reach higher ground for sneaky firing tactics, but it also allows her to hover in mid-air for a limited time when used properly, making all of her abilities all the more surprising.
If you’re looking to dig your teeth into a hero with an exceptionally high variance between high and low-level play, then look no farther than Mei. If you were to take a poll of everyone’s favorite and least favorite characters, assuming that you’re speaking to players who have sampled each of them, then it’s likely you’ll find equal amounts of Mei-haters and Mei-lovers. Her main weapon, the Endothermic Blaster, has two distinct firing modes that can take out even the strongest enemies when used in combination. By clicking the left-mouse button (or pulling the right trigger), she can continuously fire a stream of frost, which will both do damage to enemies and eventually freeze them in their tracks. Its secondary firing mode charges up a massive icicle, which does an insane amount of damage upon contact. Needless to say, the Endothermic Blaster has the potential to be ruthless against long-range foes while also making it relatively easy to deal with faster characters like Tracer and Genji.
Well our goal is to have all of the heroes viable, especially in the competitive scene; we want to see each of them played. I think that when this happens, the matches obviously get more dynamic, but you also feel as though there are more available counters for you to pick from at any moment. That’s our value, and we’re working towards that.
The update also squashed quite a few bugs in Blizzard’s MOBA. Beyond some pathing problems with experience globes, visual effects for rooting, and the interaction between crowd control reduction and gradual slowing effects, nearly three dozen heroes had issues resolved pertaining to their abilities and tale
There have been recent attempts by some studios to permeate some raw idea of ‘satire’ to be the glue that binds a game together. But the problem with this strict reliance, is the fact this is simply a ham-fisted and superficial perception of satire for the pure sake of it . That something is satirical, if it merely says it is; that the main objective in promoting your game in a trailer, is to simply shove humour in one’s face — to paint it in a kind of overly-confident, overly-exuberant fashion. Doing so will only bring about one of the most unrequested anecdotes of feedback from your typical viewer: try-hard. Could this be why so many of Microsoft’s past E3’s have been «funny» when (and only when) they weren’t intending to be? To avoid going off-topic, the point is, satire stems from understanding the rules and laws of an established concept…and then looking at it from a sarcastic, ironic or equally-critical viewpoint that’s not so much about exploiting possible flaws, but drawing on the potential disbelief. Because after all…games aren’t real (least not with VR in its current infancy) and while you may want to rely on realism or emotion or established formulae for certain genres — fantasy, for example — everything…and I mean everything…is a target for ridicule and intimidation. Why? Because comedy and laughter are both fundamental states of mood.