Overwatch is a platform for extremes. Bastion is boring, Mei is life, and if you’re me, everyone is the worst and life isn’t fair. A good match instills tension, hope, and camaraderie while the teams prod at one another’s weaknesses. Eventually, something has to give, which means one team capitalizes in a moment perfectly coordinated ultimates while the other, ultimately, checks in with the abyss for a few. Cue ‘hax,’ ‘reported,’ and a stream of complaints about some character’s broken abilities. Lovely isn’t it? Overwatch is an entertaining and compact cartoonish drama, which is why we’ve decided to comb through the clips that best distill these terrible, beautiful emotions.
Explosive timing
These clips are a dime a dozen by now, but that doesn’t mean that zipping D.Va’s self-destructing mech into an unsuspecting enemy crowd and capping it off with a perfectly timed emote is any less satisfying to watch. It’s only appropriate that the lone teen of Overwatch injects a bit of attitude into everything they do.
The power of music
It’s amazing how music can really move the soul, you know? Well, move the soul and the body, physically. Through space. Into the gaping maw of a deep, dark pit. Do you feel the rhythm? The rhythm of increasing velocity and the heavy ground beneath your feet? Lucio is one twisted DJ, but at least he makes up for all the musical murder with cool skater moves.
Not quite Shakespeare
Winston plays a lot like his character arc, as an outwardly brutish gorilla hiding the nuance and precision an adept scientist. But every now and then, even the best scientists make a miscalculation. Sometimes that miscalculation ends in a bottomless pit. Welp.
ZarYEAHHH
I included this clip mostly to give my main hero a shout out. Zarya is my jam, as perfectly demonstrated in this clip. Her Gravitron Surge, coupled with Tracer’s perfectly timed Pulse Bomb ended this unlucky team without issue. It’s the synergy we dream about.
Urban art
Move over Marc Ecko, this burly scientist has something to say through the medium of urban spray paint. Heck, the only thing Banksy can bank on anymore is that this flying gorilla is legions ahead in the post-modern literature arts department. Winston has this idea he’s floating around: a jar of peanut butter—hear me out—but instead of the expected Jif or Skippy logo, it just says “HELL.” Good, right?
"Play of the game"
A-Mei-zing Junkrat counter
You might need to open this one in another window and watch it a few times to understand exactly what happens. I’ll give you a minute. OK, got it? Yeah? Doesn’t it feel good? It’s proper vindication for all those times the sniveling little junkers just popped out of a hairy situation with a quick mine boost. I’m a bit worried at how enthralling I find this clip, but I’ll climb that mountain when I come to it. Damn junkers.
Like removing a splinter
Mei is great. Tom has given plenty of reasons why. She’s a sweet, funny, charming character with an endless supply of ice-pun inspiration. But she’s also evil incarnate. When that big fluffy coat’s silhouette pops into your periphery, it’s almost always over for you. Your vision starts to cloud, movement slows, and then the ice pick cometh. So it’s hard not to feel the tension and immense release embedded in this clip. Surviving Mei one-on-one up close is rare if you’re not equipped to counter. Be sure to bookmark this one. Break the glass when necessary.
We're not so different, you and I
And now, a brief moment of solidarity in the endless streams of death and destruction. May we never lose grasp of who we’re really fighting out there, regular folks just like ourselves, united by the universal language of emotes. (And temporary wallhacks.)
Lucio the light
If you can come at me with a single concept in the history of the universe cooler than wheel boots, then I’ll eat my wheel boots. In a an incredibly dope and uptempo display of wheel-booting, this Lucio pulls off a live allegory: right when things get dark, he wallrides into the light. Simply put, when life’s got you down, don’t forget that your boots have wheels that can stick to walls. Classic moral.
An extreme solution to a simple problem
My favorite moments in Overwatch aren’t when I pull of a badass move (that’s extremely rare), but when something unexpected or silly happens. When a team goes all in on one character, I lose my shit. It’s typically jarring and funny to see in game, but because it’s so unexpected, if you’re not prepared to counter, an extreme move (like these Reinhardts) can actually make a huge difference.
Portal to my Reinhardt
Imagine Overwatch with mod or custom map support. I’d play an entire cooperative Portal campaign as a Reinhardt and Symmetra in a heartbeat.
Who is the real reaper?
Reaper is a pretty good counter to Widowmaker. He can teleport up and behind her, get close, and take her out quickly. But as with nearly every fight in Overwatch, skill can sway the outcome significantly. Widowmaker may not be able to 720 no-scope, but this display of acrobatics will do.
Homebrewed high noon
McCree’s High Noon ultimate might be the worst thing that’s happened to me. I hate hearing and dying to it 100 times a match, but as a new McCree myself, I want it. I want my own High Noon to call home. This clip flips the McCree table and sets a new bar for baby cowboys worldwide.
Roadside picnic
In a play of the game that isn’t Torbjörn wandering down an empty alley while his turret does the dirty work a mile off, this dwarf deflates Junkrat’s tires and ego more times than the dirty bugger can afford. For all the times I’ve died to a tire rolling in off screen, I can’t help but watch this clip and feel a sickly sort of good. Get ‘im little guy. Yeah.
