Review: Overwatch - New Blood
"All this danger, all this adversity, it's threatening to swallow up a lot of people. But do you know what else it does? It forges heroes."
With the creation of intelligent robots - called omnics - the world enjoyed a brief golden age of prosperity. Then the omnics turned on their creators. Around the globe, various countries created specialised forces to counter this threat. The United Nations eventually combined these into one organisation: Overwatch.
For several decades Overwatch tackled the omnic threat and restored order to the world, but internal divisions within the organisation led to its demise, culminating in the destruction of its headquarters in Switzerland. Following this, the UN formally disbanded Overwatch, leaving individual states with the responsibility for policing their own territories.
New threats arise, including the terrorist organisation Talon, which seems to be trying to create a new omnic uprising. The omnics themselves have also not totally disappeared, and continue to cause concern... Has the time come for Overwatch to be recalled?
Veteran Ana Amari believes so and tracks down fellow ex-operative Cole Cassidy. She sees the growing threats around the world but also sees the heroic responses - from valiant souls old and new - and is convinced that, if these individuals can be brought together under the leadership of experienced members of the old guard, they will be a formidable force to be reckoned with.
Cole takes some convincing, but she eventually wins him over and agrees to act as her recruiter. His first candidate is Ana's daughter Pharah, who now works for the Cairo-based peacekeeping force Helix (flying around in powered armour to combat high-tech adversaries).
Following this, Cole is confronted by Jean-Baptiste Augustin, an agent of Talon. However, Augustin has become disillusioned and has left Talon behind. Now Talon is hunting him, and also several ex-Overwatch operatives. Talon has seen their hit list and Cole is one of the names on it...
Overwatch: New Blood from Dark Horse is based upon the award-winning team-based multiplayer first-person shooter game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. One of the notable reasons for the popularity of Overwatch is the richly detailed setting of the game, with vibrant, colourful characters and environments.
Vince Ingenito of Imagine Games Network praised the game's characters and maps, writing "Overwatch takes just about every possible opportunity to make its cast and locales seem like people and places rather than puppets and scenery." In narrative terms, this translates as well-crafted breadth and depth of both characterisation and worldbuilding, which lends itself beautifully to comic adaptation. The writers and artists have a wealth of material from which to draw.
The game was also hailed for its cartoon style visuals, and the artists here have embraced this feature fully: the characters are a varied, colourful cast. Cole is a cowboy-style mercenary, Augustin a high-tech hero, Pharah a mythical warrior-angel ... Also worth noting is the cultural diversity among the protagonists. In keeping with the international nature of the Overwatch organisation, its fighters reflect the many backgrounds from which they hail. Of particular note is Pharah's Egyptian heritage; her falcon-style armour is a reference to the god Horus; she and her mother bear the tattoo of the eye of Horus as a symbol of protection.
The scene is set for an epic in the making. From the ashes of a once-great army, new warriors rise... But in a world fractured by division, mistrust and the emergence of enemies old and new, can our heroes assemble in time to combat the threat?
OVERWATCH - NEW BLOOD on Comixology
Zak Webber
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