Ultimates in Overwatch are now interruptible in many cases. However, this is quite annoying for some players.
The latest patch for Overwatch has brought some changes to the hero shooter. Most notably, the exact functioning of many ultimates has been altered. In simple terms, this means:
- Ultimates lose their full charge (the 100% indication) at the press of a button, not only when the effect occurs.
- Many ultimates can be interrupted during the “activation animation” and thus fizzle out (Mei, Tracer, Ana, etc.)
It especially hits the two characters that use thrown projectiles as weapons.
- Tracer’s Pulse Bomb can be interrupted during the throw. Since the actual bomb only appears after the “throwing” animation, it creates an unfortunate scenario. Even though players have clearly “thrown,” the bomb does not appear and the explosion does not occur.
- Mei’s Ultimate Blizzard has also become quite absurd. If Mei dies while Snowball is “in the air,” meaning it has already been thrown, the ultimate often disappears (not always) without effect.
Interrupting is fun – being interrupted is not
From the opponent’s perspective, it feels great to have completely prevented an ultimate without effect. Those who manage to thwart a Reinhardt’s Hammer Strike or protect their own team from Tracer’s explosion are likely to become the MVP of the round.
However, from the perspective of the ultimate user, it is a terribly frustrating feeling when the animation already indicates that the effect should take place, but nothing happens. It not only feels bad because the ultimate charge simply fizzles out, but also “wrong,” because the animation does not reflect what is actually happening in the game.
Mein-MMO says: Especially with characters like Mei and Tracer, the new interrupt rules seem poorly thought out. Blizzard should consider making adjustments and perhaps adapt the exact functionalities of these ultimates. The mismatched animations only reinforce the impression that this new mechanic makes sense in gameplay, but provides little enjoyment visually and gameplay-wise.
What do you think about the interruptible ultimates? Have they increased or decreased your enjoyment of the game? Should Blizzard roll back these changes?
