Blizzard's Overwatch Looking Good

I've been reading a lot lately about Blizzard's new team-based arena-style first person shooter (jeez, that's a really long description--think Team Fortress 2) Overwatch.  It's currently in development and hopes to proved an alternative to the aforementioned TF2.

One of the more interesting articles I read described one of the two  most recent characters added to the game.  There is a character called McCree who appears to be some "old West" style gunslinger and a muscle-bound female character named Zarya.  That's right--I said muscle-bound female character.  She reminds me a lot of the heavy from TF2--she totes a big gun but can do more than simply mow down the baddies--she can also launch bomb-like projectiles that appear to have a devastating effect.  She's part heavy and part demoman...err woman.

The thing I like best about Zarya is that Blizzard decided to make a non-traditional female character.  All the other female characters seem to be of the pantsless, stealthy/snipery, castery variety.  She also has rockin' pink hair.  Who doesn't want to have rockin' pink hair?

Blizzard's "Overwatch" LFNT (Looking for new title)

I was really excited when I learned about Blizzard working on a new FPS that seems to be a cousin to Team Fortress 2.  This is something new for Blizz and it's a genre that we haven't seen from them.  According to this article the game, which is titled Overwatch, might have to find a new name due to a patent conflict with a similarly titled video game product.  I wonder if this happens very often.  No matter what the title ends up being, I look forward to hearing more about this new title from Blizzard.  The trailer for Overwatch looks awesome.  (Some people felt it was a little Pixarish--but if you just consider the characters who are doing the fighting...it looks like there will be some interesting classes and options.)  Here is the trailer in case you haven't seen it:

 I have sporadically been playing Team Fortress 2 with a group of students in a gaming club I lead at the school where I teach.  TF2 is still a lot of fun even almost eight years after it's release and still has a large fanbase and very active community.  I am curious to see how Blizzard will improve upon the TF2 formula--will Overwatch be as cartoony?  Overwatch looks more sci-fi but still has a sort of cartoony flair.  What about game modes and maps?  I would really like to see something different--some new variations of capture points or the traditional attack/defend.  Will it follow the free-to-play formula?

I am going to continue keeping an eye on Overwatch (or whatever it ends up being called).  It's nice to see something new from one of my favorite developers.