The latest pair of new Overwatch characters have been revealed and they’re just a little bit Mad Max. Junkrat and Roadhog are a lively double-act from the irradiated Australian outback, Roadhog having been part of the rebel faction that went in and blew up a robot power plant resulting in the area’s current sorry state. Junkrat just lived there. Don’t worry: they’re pals now, not least because all that radiation drove Junkrat a little Joker-ish. In-game he’s quite the Demoman, though with Overwatch’s usual twist. His larger friend is tanky and sports that most ubiquitous of hero weaponry: the Pudge hook.
Junkrat’s suite of abilities are all quite explosive. His primary weapon is a grenade launcher, throwing bombs around like they’re going out of style, bouncing them off walls to reach out of the way places. He also has a mine he can throw down to launch himself through the air or pack a punch on unsuspecting enemies. His third ability lays a different kind of trap, which ensnares the first enemy to go through it, immobilising them and making them easy pickings. His ultimate puts him in control of a rolling tire which, as you may have guessed, explodes on impact with enemies or can be detonated remotely. Just when you think it’s over, on death he throws out a batch of grenades from his corpse, littering the ground with deadliness.
I’m pretty interested in getting stuck in with this guy. As has been true elsewhere, I expect the surface-level similarities to TF2’s one-eyed Scotsman will prove to be only that. Inspiration clearly taken, but only being able to lay a single concussion mine and access to his other abilities make for a far different kettle of deadly exploding fish. The ultimate’s particularly exciting, though the period of vulnerability will make it a challenge to use.
Onto Roadhog, who’s a lot tankier. He’s got a combo shotgun and grenade launcher that can fire either short-range bursts of shrapnel or a ball that explodes into the same shards of metal after a little travel time. There’s the aforementioned chain hook which will drag any target it hits towards him and his rather violent weaponry. If he’s taken a bit of damage he’s got a self-heal that involves chugging on some gas. Currently it heals about half his considerable health pool. His ultimate lets him spew damage out at an extraordinary rate, each hit also pushing back enemies.
If it wasn’t for the chain hook, I’d be a little off on Roadhog. But it’s there and can be used on airborne enemies, so I’m all in. He’s lacking in the AoE tankiness of some of his compatriots, so exactly how useful a role he’ll play isn’t clear, though the crowd-control element of his ultimate shouldn’t be ignored. He also depends on just how much damage he can put out up-close, as marching forward with his massive health pool and stopping to regenerate when he needs to seems to be the plan.
Either of these fellows taking your fancy, or another member of the massive cast? Give us a distraction below, anything to stop us checking our watch and tapping our foot waiting for the beta, which should begin within the next couple of months.