Overwatch goes co-op again tomorrow in the Storm Rising event
Genji to speeding car: "1v1 me bro"
Another time-limited co-op mission lands tomorrow in Overwatch, telling yet another tale of the sci-fi super-team's past. Similar to last year's Retribution event, it looks to be another four-player romp, this time with Genji, Mercy, Winston and Tracer on the trail of Talon money-mech Maximilian. While I doubt the level will contain half the car-chases and dramatic duels shown in the trailer below, it should give us another, brief glimpse at a parallel timeline where Overwatch was a single-player/co-op game. The event runs from April 16th to May 6th, and launches alongside a swarm of new character skins.
It's a pity that Blizzard make all their co-op content time-limited. While perhaps outpaced by recent free-to-play battle royale shooters, I feel the game has enough players to enable both competitive and cooperative play. They've built a good few missions too, including some fun Halloween events. The Storm Rising mission will take players to the streets of Havana, weaving in and around buildings, and featuring a range of Talon grunts to chew through. I'm simultaneously hoping that they do let players ride hoverbikes as shown in the trailer, but also know that if they do, it'll break my heart when the mission disappears on May 6th.
While co-op overwatching may be a twice-annual event instead of a regular fixture, loot boxes and their contents are forever. Blizzard have been teasing the new cosmetics in the coming update for a while now, and they include a regrettably restrained lab outfit for Moira (nothing will ever top her glam costume) and an even more straight-laced Soldier 76 in formal regalia. There are some good costumes, though, including this very anime makeover for Bastion (based on the evil sea-dwelling bots D.Va fights) and, of course, Junkrat getting down with the clown.
Oh, and the hamster gets sunglasses and gold highlights on his mech.
Storm Rising hits the streets of Havana in Overwatch tomorrow, April 16th, and will run until May 6th.