Blizzard is going to try again with mobile games. But Overwatch Rush is different – it actually looks really good, thinks MeinMMO demon Cortyn.
You know, I actually felt quite mischievous and almost a bit diabolical last night. When it turned out, that Blizzard announces the game “Overwatch Rush”, my infernal writer’s soul was already looking forward to it – that would be a perfect topic for Mecker Wednesday. After all: Blizzard and mobile games, that is a story that, especially with Diablo Immortal and the quickly shelved Warcraft Rumble, is definitely a major uproar.
Then, however, I saw the gameplay trailer and also read the preview report by my colleague Dimitry Halley on GameStar and thought to myself: “I can’t write a Mecker Wednesday about this. I want to play it.”
Overwatch Rush looks like the first mobile game that I am genuinely interested in playing regularly and long-term. Overwatch in a 4vs4 variant, though from a “top-down” perspective sounds exciting and also looks surprisingly good in gameplay.
Yes, the developers’ dialogues are a bit “cringe”, as if a Blizzard executive told them beforehand: “And for the video, you all pretend to play your game for the very first time and that you are Overwatch fans who don’t insult their teammates’ mothers in chat every 3 minutes or spam ‘EZ EZ’ and Tank diff
.”
I just can’t explain why Reinhardt is praised for his Awesome Shield
already in the spawn room, and even receives a Nice!
in reaction.
I look forward to learning more about Overwatch Rush. I want to know if all heroes from Overwatch also make it into Overwatch Rush. I want to see more of the gameplay and also get hands-on myself.
No mobile game has made me as curious as Overwatch Rush
Sure, I have also given other mobile games a chance. Hearthstone is basically a mobile game too, but I only really enjoy it on PC. Warcraft Rumble was really interesting in the first hours, but in the end, I only played it on PC and left it behind after the game sank into completely boring endless grind or one had to throw real money at problems until all accounts had reached their overdraft.
I know: For many (increasingly older) gamers, mobile games are not “real” games. Gaming is done with a keyboard or gamepad. I feel the same way. Long gaming sessions with immersive games – I want a big screen and a comfortable position to sink into for hours.
Above all, it’s not like “Overwatch Rush” is going to lose anything from the original Overwatch. It’s a game developed by a completely different development team than Blizzard’s “Team 4” (according to Blizzard).
It’s a bit curious that Blizzard announces the new game “just like that” at an unusual time. So detached from the major Overwatch announcements from a few weeks ago and practically two days before the release of WoW: Midnight.
Cynics might say that Blizzard does this because they themselves don’t really believe in Overwatch Rush. But I think rather that they have learned from the last mobile announcements from Blizzard and wanted to avoid a disaster like “Diablo: Immortal”. If Overwatch Rush had been the “big new announcement” at BlizzCon in September, a new shitstorm would have been pre-programmed.
So, Blizzard announcing Overwatch Rush rather on the side might also just be a sign that they don’t want to upset their core player base (which has historically indeed a very short fuse).
The usual fear of Pay2Win
And yes, I’m also fully aware that the game basically stands or falls with one thing – the cash shop. Because Overwatch Rush will be free-to-play, and that raises the question of how the game intends to generate revenue. I find skins and cosmetic adjustments perfectly fine; they can be as cheekily overpriced as in all other mobile games.
But that there is already talk of “adjustments to hero abilities”, so basically perks that are supposed to bring advantages and disadvantages, makes me grind my teeth quietly. It remains to be seen how drastic these adjustments are, and the danger of “Pay2Win” is initially given. For a game with competitive ambitions, this could mean that it immediately catapults itself out. But Blizzard will likely know this. Therefore, it is probably more effective if we let Blizzard know directly that Pay2Win has no place.
But all in all, I am positively surprised. Overwatch Rush looks fun. It could be the first mobile game in the history of mobile gaming that I want to play extensively. Because the gameplay looks good. The right mix of the well-known Overwatch but at a slightly reduced speed to be more tactical and to play solidly on mobile as well. I’m excited. Are you too?
Because at least currently, Blizzard is doing a lot right – also with Overwatch.
