New Hero First Look - Wrecking Ball

[DeadmanWalking]

TBF reaper naturally counters most tanks, he had some time where he failed at it, but the's pretty high up there on tank killing again.

Not saying Reaper shouldn’t counter him, just stating that he does.

[Onikaroshi]

Not saying Reaper shouldn’t counter him, just stating that he does.

So tank gets countered by tank counter? In other news, water is wet.

[WhiteEagle888]

Why doesn't he have an intro song sung by Miley Cyrus?

[Darththeo]

So, it seems the only thing bothering you is the fact that he is a hamster. An omnic with the same kit and hitbox would be juuuust fine.



Hm. He has one of the funniest, if not the funniest kit accross all heroes. And besides being super funny to play, it's also the most original kit so far, even heroes like Doomfist or Brigitte aren't this different from the rest of the cast. (Grappling hook physics itself is a whole new type of gameplay) While feeling that the hamster belongs (or not) into overwatch lore, claiming it's stupid 5 year old gameplay is 100% biased because you simply don't like the fact that he is a hamster. The exact same kit but with an omnic inside the wrecking ball and you wouldn't claim "this looks stupid".

Yes, because there are omnics that are used in construction and omnic used in demolition makes 100% sense with the lore. A genetically larger and more intelligent hamster makes no sense.

[Firefall]

It's kinda what Winston and D.Va do already though, just more extreme. Think of it like Teemo in LoL's hidden passive.



Wrecking Ball isn't an omnic though, it's a Mech with an AI. They seem like they would be kinda similar, but I think the main difference is that Wrecking Ball's AI is more designed to assist Hammond operate the mech rather than think for itself on the level Bastion, Orisa, and Zen does.



You could probably say that about every company, tbh.



"Hammond is too silly. Give me a cat flying around in a jetpack" - People who hate Hammond, probably



To be a bit more fair... Jetpack cat would likely either be a balance nightmare or play extremely similar to Pharah. It makes a bit more sense when you look at it from that issue.



Wrecking Ball was mentioned in some of the posters about the Scrapyard on Junkertown though, not sure if any of them had shown an image of it or not though.

Hey wait don't get me wrong, I love this new hero. I think he's hilarious and extremely unique and creative gameplay. Playing as them you really see every map in a new light, looking for cool places to swing from and just playing in third person so often feels great and unique. I just *also* want the cat, rofl.

[Eapoe]

Yes, because there are omnics that are used in construction and omnic used in demolition makes 100% sense with the lore. A genetically larger and more intelligent hamster makes no sense.

So explain Winston.

[Darththeo]

So explain Winston.

You mean a very common sci fi trope of a genetically modified ape that learns to speak and fight? You know they made movies about that thing right?

[Psykho]

It's bigger! It's badder! Ladies and gentlemen it's too much for Mr. Incredible!

I've seen this on so many comments on youtube

[Eapoe]

You mean a very common sci fi trope of a genetically modified ape that learns to speak and fight? You know they made movies about that thing right?

So in a game where a genetically enhanced gorilla that can talk and do science and has increased size, it’s not feasibly possible that other animals can be enhanced in the same way?

[DeadmanWalking]

Oh dear god I have found that I am scary good at this character.... I have special awareness, natural head tracking, know when to get the hell out with a hook and roll and I am good at figuring out angles and swing curves. In fact it seems I get more ult charge from ball ramming than shooting and I was dropping ults every 60 seconds. I don’t just spin either. Spend most of my time shooting but when hook comes off cool down I am swinging. Got potg four times in a row...

My favorite part is fuck pharah!

I am not a fan of chibi but damn this guy feels right.

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So tank gets countered by tank counter? In other news, water is wet.

Yes, god forbid someone mention who a characters counters are in the first few days of a characters release on a forum. It is definitely not a waste of your time to pounce all over that. *rollseyes*

[Charge me Doctor]

is OW just hard pandering to kids now?

I believe that kids are more interested in characters like reaper or widowmaker than these

[DeadmanWalking]

I always have fun in the game but I haven't had this much fun in a loooong time.

- - - Updated - - -

I believe that kids are more interested in characters like reaper or widowmaker than these

You will have to forgive them, it is quite earth rattling when they find out that everything in the universe doesn't revolve around one person. "OMG they created something that isn't for me... gotta go on the internet and complain!"

[Primemrip]

Yeah I get that, what I mean is that his wrecking ball swing won’t get value from the swing because most people don’t have the special awareness and control to pull it off properly. Winston is easy, you click the button and face where you want to go. Hammond requires learning angles, arcs and map features.

What kid doesn't want a giant hamster with a giant hamster ball... oh wait. That is who this is aimed at.

[Kaleredar]

• Plays game with crazy genetically modified hamster in a big mech
• "This shitty cartoon shit pandering to kids, what is this immature rubbish"

• Plays game with cartoon monkey who eats peanut butter, an anime cyborg ninja, a knight in shining armour, a tiny cute gamer girl driving a mech, a guy who is literally a cowboy and a little cute chinese girl with a freeze ray.
• "This is fine. I'm a grown up."

For the record I personally feel that he's too cartoony. A talking gorilla that eats peanut butter? Okay. He was genetically modified. Apes are already highly intelligent, and there exists a precedent in science fiction (serious science fiction, like planet of the apes) for apes to acquire human intelligence. Hammond is a hamster... hamster's aren't particularly known for their intelligence. Moreover, he's designed to be ridiculously cutesy. In my opinion, if they wanted to do a Hamster, they should have gone with a wired-up, scientific freakshow of a hamster.

It's not that I mind having a "cute" character in a game. It's that he seems out of step with the rest of the Overwatch characters. Think of it from a lore perspective... sure, Winston is a talking gorilla from the moon... One who was taught from a young age to strive for the best in humanity, who saw his only friends and family on the space station brutally murdered, then joined Overwatch only to have it go belly-up in disgrace and be forced to sit on the sidelines while he watched terrible things happen to innocent people.

Roadhog and Junkrat were inspired by Mad Max and are "comical" individuals, sure... but story-wise Roadhog was an average guy just trying to live his life as a farmer until the Australian government sold his land out from under him, causing him to take up the fight against the Omnics which eventually lead to the destruction of everything he knew and rendered his home an irradiated wasteland, forcing him to become a merciless thug to get by. Junkrat was an Orphan whose exposure to radiation rendered him a homicidal maniac. And those are the two comic relief characters.

Even the other "edgy" characters or Waifu-bait ones have some sort of tragedy or defining personality that engenders empathy from the audience towards them. D.Va isn't just some shitpost gaming gremlin; She's a Korean military pilot that fights against the omnics that devestated her home. Cyberninja man was betrayed by his brother, left for dead and became a self-hating half-robot but eventually turned that into inner peace and fighting for good.


What's Hammond do? He's a hamster. In a robot. With no distinguishable personality or motivations. It's hard to see him integrated into a world story in which he's supposed to just naturally coexist in the same world where a woman was brainwashed to murder her husband or two brothers had a yakuza honor fight to the death, leaving one shackled with guilt and the other barely clinging to life before being turned into a murder-machine. Frankly it kind of lessens the ostensible "seriousness" of the other characters.

[DeadmanWalking]

What kid doesn't want a giant hamster with a giant hamster ball... oh wait. That is who this is aimed at.

You guys gotta get over this whole 'aimed at kids' thing because it just shows you have very narrow minds. This is aimed at lots of different people, granted this isn't aimed at you and I know it is hard to come to the realization that not everything is based around your existence but I am sure you will survive.

Who is it aimed at? Anime Fans, Asians, Adult women, Kids and people who can look past a cute exterior to see how useful or fun something can be. Did you know that many Asians countries have art movements based around the ideal manifestation of 'the cute'? They have museums dedicated to it. Billions are made every year on selling 'cute' stuff. I do hope you understand that Blizzard created this game with the intentions of having as many people as possible partaking in the game across the globe and one way they have done this is to create a wide stable of characters to which most people can find at least one that they can identify with. It is why D.va exists, to bring in the asian culture.

Every time one of you guys clutches your pearls over this you basically wave a white flag that denotes you can't see past your own nose. Your world perceptions are seriously narrow.

Here, broaden your mind. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawaii

I mean seriously, the game makes one cute character and you guys lose your minds. I mean hell, i am not fond of the ideal of the hamster but I am having a shit ton of fun playing Hammond because the mechanics are ridiculously fun.

[shimerra]

You guys gotta get over this whole 'aimed at kids' thing because it just shows you have very narrow minds. This is aimed at lots of different people, granted this isn't aimed at you and I know it is hard to come to the realization that not everything is based around your existence but I am sure you will survive.

Who is it aimed at? Anime Fans, Asians, Adult women, Kids and people who can look past a cute exterior to see how useful or fun something can be. Did you know that many Asians countries have art movements based around the ideal manifestation of 'the cute'? They have museums dedicated to it. Billions are made every year on selling 'cute' stuff.

I mean seriously, every time one of you guys clutches your pearls over this you basically wave a white flag that denotes you can't see past your own nose. Your world perceptions are seriously narrow.

Here, broaden your mind. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawaii

They're just as bad as all the edgelord shit heads that cried and whined about Mists of Pandaria which ended up being a solid expansion with some pretty awesome Old God Lore.

I for one can't wait. This guy looks like a shit ton of fun to play, interesting mechanics, and anyone who's immature enough to be obsessed with how pandering something is to kids that they have to project their ironically child like insecurities on everything are idiots.

What's Hammond do? He's a hamster. In a robot. With no distinguishable personality or motivations. It's hard to see him integrated into a world story in which he's supposed to just naturally coexist in the same world where a woman was brainwashed to murder her husband or two brothers had a yakuza honor fight to the death, leaving one shackled with guilt and the other barely clinging to life before being turned into a murder-machine. Frankly it kind of lessens the ostensible "seriousness" of the other characters.

So where's your crying about winston? Basically he's got an almost identical story to him being an experimented on animal pre-earth.


And can't say I agree at all with your whole seriousness rant. You know what actually belittles and undermines the whole woe is me everyone has a sob story thing? Every fucking person having the sob story. One of the single things the star wars movies got right was not making Rey some secret long lost chosen one who sprung forth from the loins of some skywalker relative or some ancient jedi. She was just an unlucky asshole who's parents were shitheads that sold her. The end. It would've been way worse if they tried to pull another half ass You're not my father bullshit.

Animal who was experimented on and made the best of it fighting in the arena is hardly some horrible back story. Unless you need him to have had his whole hamster family eaten alive by the scientists in front of him or have him raped in junker town because you just have to have some sort of obscene personal tragedy as character motivation for the world to make sense.

[Kathranis]

What's Hammond do? He's a hamster. In a robot. With no distinguishable personality or motivations.

I take it you haven't played him in the PTR or watched his origin story short, because he certainly does have a personality and motivations. He's happy-go-lucky and a bit cocky, a bit sardonic. He's an engineer, intelligent enough to build and maintain his mech, which he upgraded with the winnings he got fighting in the Junkertown Scrapyard so that he could venture out into the Outback and survive the trip to civilization.


As for his role in the ongoing story, that remains to be seen, because they're not really telling an ongoing story right now. He will probably reconnect with Winston. You're basically jumping to conclusions and saying he's not integrated into the world before they've even had a chance to integrate him.

I mean, really, from a story perspective, how is his inclusion any different from Efi and Orisa, except that he's not a human? Hell, if anything, he's got more connections to existing characters than they do.


As for the design, Hammond is very much in keeping with the anime/cartoon/comic inspired setting and aesthetic of Overwatch. He's stylized, yes. So is every other character in the game. Honestly, he's no more stylized than Baby Winston.



Here's a real baby gorilla for contrast.

[Kaleredar]

So where's your crying about winston? Basically he's got an almost identical story to him being an experimented on animal pre-earth.

You actually bring up a counterpoint to your own argument that I hadn't thought of... other than being a hamster that's inexplicably as smart as a human (Having an ape elevated to sapience, as I said, is an established sci-fi trope) rather than an ape, his story IS exactly the same.

As in, we saw his story, just done without the cutesy-ness and instead rooted as a send-up of established science fiction. It was Winston's story. Frankly, I think they did a better job with it with Winston.

And can't say I agree at all with your whole seriousness rant. You know what actually belittles and undermines the whole woe is me everyone has a sob story thing? Every fucking person having the sob story. One of the single things the star wars movies got right was not making Rey some secret long lost chosen one who sprung forth from the loins of some skywalker relative or some ancient jedi. She was just an unlucky asshole who's parents were shitheads that sold her. The end. It would've been way worse if they tried to pull another half ass You're not my father bullshit.

...Rey's tragic backstory is that she was a child that was sold off by her shithead parents and forced to live alone on a desert planet. That's not not a tragic backstory.

Animal who was experimented on and made the best of it fighting in the arena is hardly some horrible back story. Unless you need him to have had his whole hamster family eaten alive by the scientists in front of him or have him raped in junker town because you just have to have some sort of obscene personal tragedy as character motivation for the world to make sense.

Personal tragedy is what drives ALL the overwatch characters, and, you'll generally find, drives all well-done superheroes and supervillains in general. So having a random "fluff" character (no pun intended) that's just kind of a stakes-less person in the whole thing undermines the supposed stakes the other characters are fighting for.

[DeadmanWalking]

I think if anything Hammond understands your basic pvp player, telling people to get wrecked. :P Hammond fought in the pits, he just needs a teabag button and everything will be great. I want more pvp insults on this guy.

[Darththeo]

So in a game where a genetically enhanced gorilla that can talk and do science and has increased size, it’s not feasibly possible that other animals can be enhanced in the same way?

You do know there is a difference between a gorilla and a hamster right?