Overwatch has been a bit of a recurring guest here on my
blog. While it isn’t Anime per say,
there’s Anime influence everywhere within it.
From the character designs to the special abilites to the way the action
plays out on screen. The in gameplay
battles are chaotic and fun. However,
there’s a special kind of magic to be found in the numerous Animated Shorts
that Blizzard puts out every few months.
These mini features usually highlight at least one character and tend to
pour on the feels like no other. Seeing
as how we just got a brand new one a couple of weeks ago, I figured it was time
I gave Overwatch another shoutout here on Top 5 Wednesday, this week looking at
my Top 5 Overwatch Animated Shorts. Be
warned, I will be talking SPOILERS about what happens in these tales…cause
really without revealing them I cant truly talk about how special they really
are.
#5-Hero (Soldier
76)
In the main game, Soldier 76 is the easiest starter
character since he plays a lot like someone from Call of Duty or Halo. Like many others on this list, however,
there’s a bit of depth we only glimpse at in his various bits on in game
dialogue. “Hero” shows the former
commander of Overwatch out to deal with a gang in a way that even Frank Castle
(The Punisher) would be proud of. It’s
definitely one of the more action packed shorts, with 76 taking out gang
members left and right with a mix of Batman stealth and aforementioned Punisher
gunplay. However, beyond the
battlehardened bad assery is a man who still wants to do the right thing, even
if that means risking the mission and his life to save a girl who gets caught
in the crossfire. “I’m not a young man
anymore,” Morrison says, but there’s still a hero behind that visor.
#4-Alive
(Widowmaker)
One of the first Overwatch shorts I saw introduced me to
two characters ive always had a soft spot for.
While this is a Widowmaker based story, there’s equal amounts screentime
dedicated to Overwatch’s flagship speedster Tracer. The tale follows the two battling it out in
London: Widow after an Omni Peacemaker and Tracer trying to protect said
Peacemaker. The battle between the two
is amazing, showcasing their equally unique skill sets and giving us some great
back and forth that emphasizes why Widow and Tracer continue to be shipped by
the community. The ending is the part
that really stands out. Tracer loses the
duel and her charge is killed. If
anything, Alive emphasized that while this is a fun and energetic universe, it
isn’t afraid to let the bad guys win if things do play out that way.
#3-Shooting Star
(D.Va)
The most recent of the Animated shorts, Shooting Star is
a more straight forward action fest featuring Overwatch’s second most featured
promo character, the sexy MEKA Pilot D.Va, battling a squadron of Sentinel like
Omnics solo. D.Va’s skill in the cockpit
of her awesome mech is on full display along with all the glowing confidence,
personality and genuine likeablity she has always been gifted with. The short also proves to be a lesson for the
cutie pilot, being forced to let her lone wolf attitude take a backseat to
trusting that lucky guy who gets to hang out with her in her hanger. While my main’s in recent months have become
Sombra and Moira, I could always start training with a Tank character…and I
think D.Va would be a good one to go with after this short. Plus ahhhhh I wish a girl would look at me
the way D.Va glimpses her handsome friend from time to time.
#2-Infiltration
(Sombra)
Oh Sombra. I never
knew that from the moment this short ended, I would find the Overwatch
character I would excel with in the main game…but also fall for super
hard. The first appearance of everyones
favorite sultry Mexican hackeress follows her infiltrating Volskaya Industries
with the help of Reaper and Widowmaker.
We get to see Sombra’s hacking and stealth on full display, God she is
such a boss. I love the climax though,
showing that Sombra is really playing her own kind of game, not on the side of
Talon but also far from the side of Overwatch.
What kind of favor would she ever reach out to Volskaya for? What is Sombra’s ultimate objective? I don’t know but I would love more adventures
with her down the line (though I guess every character needs to get at least
one feature first and we’ve barely gotten through a quarter of the cast
list).
#1-Rise and Shine
(Mei)
Of all the shorts released so far, this one legit made me
cry. And if you’re not crying by the
end, there’s something wrong with you.
You wouldn’t know it behind her shy and cute personality but Mei has one
of the more tragic backstories of any character in Overwatch. When Mei and her Antartica based science team
decide to spend time in cryo stasis to preserve resources and await resupply,
no one expects anything to go wrong. But
then Mei wakes up…in her cute Pajamei look no less…and slowly realizes that not
only have 10 years gone by and Overwatch is no more…but she is also the only
survivor of cryo sleep, her team perishing one after another throughout the
years. It’s such a sad fate to wake up
to and Mei hugging her faithful robot Snowball only sells it more. But then Mei decides to pull a Mark Watney and
make her way back to civilization…and the recall message put out by
Winston. Goes to show you that even in
the darkest of times, the strongest of hearts can always pull through. Mei proves in this short more than anything
that she belongs with the revitalized Overwatch…and dammit you just wanna hug
her too.
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