Overwatch is a new team-based FPS from Blizzard

Blizzard has announced Overwatch, a team-based FPS set in an entirely new game universe.

The pick-up-and-play multiplayer shooter features a new cast of heroes set in a technologically advanced, highly stylized future earth.

“In a time of global crisis, an international task force of soldiers, scientists, adventurers, and oddities known as Overwatch had come together to restore peace to a war-torn world,” explains Blizzard. “After many years, the group’s influence waned, and it was eventually disbanded. Overwatch might be gone now . . . but the world still needs heroes.”

Blizzard is putting an emphasis on accessibility and pure fun, promising easy-to-learn but hard to master gameplay.

Players will join other heroes in teams of 6 and battle across a range of futuristic global locations, from the hologram-lit streets of London to a bazaar in the shadows of a high-tech Egyptian pyramid. Blizzard adds that “every battlefield is iconic and built to highlight each character’s unique abilities, and fights can shift from streets to rooftops to open skies within the span of a breath”.

“Overwatch is our take on a vibrant, near-future universe with amped-up characters and action-packed team-based gameplay,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment.”With every new Blizzard game, we look at our favorite aspects of a genre and put our own spin on things. Our goal with Overwatch 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.”

Some of Overewatch’s heroes include:

Tracer, a former British test pilot who shrugs at danger, can execute impossible acrobatic assaults thanks to her ability to teleport, drop energy bombs, and even reverse time.

Reinhardt, a hulking German soldier in battle armor, can charge great distances and pin his enemies to a wall or slam the ground with his rocket hammer to knock them off their feet.

Hanzo, a bow-wielding Japanese mercenary, has the ability to scale walls with his bare hands, fire off a tracking device that illuminates nearby enemies for his team, and unleash a huge spirit dragon that does grievous damage to all enemies in its path.

Symmetra, an Indian architech, manipulates light and energy to shield her allies and damage her enemies-and she can turn the tide of any battle by building a device that instantly transports her teammates to the front lines.

Overwatch was playable at BlizzCon this past weekend, with beta testing due to begin in 2015. You can sign up at playoverwatch.com for a chance to take part.

Source: Blizzard