Incredible Overwatch pixel art brings First Strike comic to life

A creative Overwatch fan has shown off their amazing skills by producing some special pixel art based on the cancelled Overwatch: First Strike graphic novel.

The First Strike graphic novel was set to follow the story of the Omnic Crisis, and the formation of the Overwatch strike team that was eventually created to protect and defend while the war waged on.

The art, designed by Tumblr user Asarge, is a GIF that sees a number of characters who were set appear in the comic huddled around a desk with a holographic globe spinning above it.

The scene paints an image of the group in disagreement, as Reinhardt in his mech-suit speaks, and receives a shake of the head from apparent leader Soldier76, who is dressed in all blue.

The level of detail in the art is stellar, with each character animated and playing a part in the brief GIF. Off to the left is Torbjörn welding their mech as they make repairs, while on the right another Ana checks her rifle to make sure it’s working. Minute details are also included, such as a wipe of the nose with a glove, or a girl in an orange jacket adjusting her glasses.

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The Omnic Crisis took place 30 years before the time-frame that the Overwatch game takes place in, and saw a group of artificially intelligent robots rise up and rebel against the humans who created them.

Unfortunately for fans who would like see the formation of the Overwatch strike team, Blizzard chose to cancel the graphic novel in 2016, stating that the storyline in the book would hamper where they could take the game’s story in the future.

The entire novel was finished when the designers decided to pull the plug, with director Jeff Kaplan stating: “The art was beautiful and the writing was excellent. The reason had less to do with the specific content in that novel, and more to do with the way it would have limited us. It was a very specific, contained story.”

Almost three years later, it seems like Overwatch players will never get their hands on the story.