The BlizzCon is just around the corner, and with it, new announcements await for Blizzard games. For Overwatch, this could mean significant innovations.
Hints at a new game mode and heroes: Dataminers have found new voice lines in Overwatch’s files. These do not match any previously released game mode and hint at something entirely new with their statements. Additionally, a change on the PTR indicates a new hero.
This could be the new game mode
New game mode “Search and Destroy”? The dataminers from OverFire have discovered voice lines for various heroes that pertain to different states of a “target”:
- “The target is almost destroyed, burn it down!”
- “Destroy the target!”
- “The target is no more.”
- “Warning, target’s health critically low.”
So far, players can only interact with “targets” by capturing or protecting them or, in the case of payloads, delivering or stopping them. Targets have not had health points until now.
That’s why a new mode is likely: There are already game modes in PvE missions where targets can be destroyed. The gate in Junkenstein’s Revenge from the currently ongoing Halloween event or the payload in the Omnic Crisis can be destroyed by NPCs.
However, there are already text lines specifically referring to these targets, which do not speak of “a target.” Another PvE mode is therefore unlikely.
Additionally, newer characters have also received text lines. Similar voice lines were found back in 2017 but were labeled “unused.” However, newer voice lines have also been found by Brigitte and Wrecking Ball.
How will the mode function? For now, one can only speculate about what exactly the potential new mode will involve. OverFire speaks of a kind of “siege” where one team must protect a certain area while the other has to attack it.
Problems could arise if the targets need to be well protected from the map, as characters with bombs like Junkrat or snipers would have an easy time destroying the target.
Another possibility is a game mode that is reminiscent of the “Search and Destroy” modes from games like Call of Duty. One team would position and protect a target on the map while the other would have to find and destroy it.
However, Jeff Kaplan already ruled out that a new map will be announced at BlizzCon in the Developer Update. There will, however, be an improved spectator mode.
Hero 29 is already taking shape
The colleagues from HeroesNeverDie have also found new clues that could indicate a new hero. In this case, there is a change on the PTR that modifies the Route 66 map.
The payload on Route 66 is a nuclear weapon in a transport container, which is sealed on the live server. However, on the PTR, the container has been breached, and the bomb is missing.
A similar event occurred in preparation for Doomfist and Orisa when the Doomfist (the weapon) was removed from the payload in Numbani. However, it is still unclear who precisely this change might indicate.
Timing aligns well with possible announcements. By now, most of what we were definitely expecting for Overwatch in 2018 has already happened. It would be time for further announcements.
What do you think? Is the change to the payload a sign, and if so, for which hero? Is a new game mode likely for you, and would you be excited about it? Leave us a comment and also visit us on Facebook and join our Overwatch group to discuss!
While you wait for new announcements, you can soon pass the time with these new LEGO sets from Overwatch.
