Blizzard Entertainment is famed to the community for its versatility in stories and of course for their vast and rich universes. The thing that truly sets Blizzard apart from its contemporaries is probably the fact that, they plan and execute with equal élan.
The company excels in constructing a strong connection between their properties and their fans. Be it Warcraft, Diablo or Starcraft, Blizzard has always walked that extra mile to gift the consumers with fillers in the form comics, cinematic and animated shorts, which in turn assist the fans in getting to know the lore, further instigating their interest.
Blizzard Entertainment’s new, upcoming hero shooter, Overwatch, which is scheduled to release on 24 May, this year, has already managed to create a strong fan base with appreciation pouring in from everywhere. The open beta of the game which was held from 5 to 9 May (later was extended till 10 May) saw 9.7 million players taking part in it. While the fans wait impatiently for the game’s release on 24 May, Blizzard is definitely making efforts to keep them hooked to the essence of the game.
Blizzard had confirmed that they will be releasing four animated shorts related to Overwatch and have already released two animated short features. While the first one named ‘Recall’ featured the scientist chimp Winston and Reaper, the second one titled ‘Alive’ featured Widowmaker and Tracer. Now, they have released a third one featuring the two dragon brothers, Hanzo and Genji.
The story in brief takes us on a stroll through Hanzo’s past, where an ancient tale of two Dragon brothers, Dragon of the North Wind and Dragon of the South Wind, who maintained harmony of the universe is narrated. Until one day, when the Dragon of the South Wind ‘struck down’ his brother, only to realise that his sense of victory has turned into isolation after a point. The scene is cut to a temple, dotted by guards, while Hanzo tries to infiltrate it. After he takes down the guards successfully, he bows down near the shrine and offers incense. Suddenly an assassin appears from behind and they indulge in a hefty battle. While Hanzo gets pinned down by the metal geared masked assassin, he resorts to his primal ability, ‘Dragonstrike’ which summons two spirit dragons to fight for him, but to his surprise, the assassin also conjures a dragon of his own and retaliates a deadly strike back to Hanzo and he collapses on his feet. Surprisingly, the assassin doesn’t kill him, and in an argument, reveals that he is indeed Hanzo’s dragon brother Genji, whom he had killed (at least what was thought). He tells Hanzo that, he has forgiven him; it is time that Hanzo forgives himself. The world was on the brink of change, and that he has to “choose a side”.
The animated short is not only brilliant because of its richly indulging story telling but that it connects the players to the original game, the map and the abilities featured, can all be used in the game while playing these characters. Like Hanzo’s scatter arrows and Dragonstrike and Genji’s deflect and Dragonblade, the previous short had also followed the same.
One more animated short has been confirmed by Blizzard and though the characters that will feature in it have not been seen, the community thinks it will be related to Soldier 76, as he has a big role in the universe of Overwatch. Let’s wait and see what Blizzard has in store for us.
Also read: Overwatch beta review