Watch: Blizzard reveals ‘Overwatch’, team-based multiplayer shooter. Wit heroics and such.

Okay, Blizzard. You got my attention. I was waving used toilet paper dismissively in the way of this year’s Blizzcon. But then you dropped this dope reveal. Overwatch. A team-based multiplayer shooter with pizazz, elements from the cancelled MMO Titan, and heroics and shit.

Details and a trailer after the jump.

Polygon:

Overwatch will emphasize six-versus-six gameplay modes that are objective driven. Instead of focusing on deathmatch, Blizzard will instead highlight modes like point-capturing and payload delivery.

Metzen said that the game is “about heroes, not classes” and that character personality plays a big role in Overwatch. He and Kaplan highlighted Tracer, the young British heroine who plays slightly out of time, teleporting and temporally blinking in battle. She’s outfitted with a pair of pulse pistols, and a trio of skills that let her move unpredictably. Her most interesting skill is called Recall, which sends her back to where she was three seconds ago — both in location and in her physical state, meaning she can quickly regain any health she lost in the last few seconds.

Blizzard brought 12 of the game’s heroes to BlizzCon 2014, but said to expect “many, many more to come.”

Those heroes are broken down into some familiar roles and archetypes. The game’s hero roles (Pharah, Reaper, Tracer and Hanzo) are the offensive types. They’re designed to scout maps, harass other players and push for objectives while delivering high damage. On defense are Widowmaker, Torbjörn and Bastion, characters who can guard, create choke points and establish fronts. There are two currently revealed tanks, Winston and Reinhardt, who can cause disruptions and absorb heavy damage. Support characters include Mercy, Zenyatta and Symmetra, who will heal and buff other players.

The game’s roles will likely be familiar to players who have experience with games likeWorld of Warcraft, Team Fortress 2 and League of Legends, games in which a balance of skills and teamwork are required for success.