Here’s why Overwatch fans are disappointed by the Storm Rising event
Overwatch fans have criticized the latest in-game event, Storm Rising, for its story and mission being underwhelming.
Overwatch Archives is one of the most highly-anticipated events in the game’s calendar. It offers both an injection of lore, and some PvE content – two things in short supply and high demand among Overwatch fans.
The first two iterations of the event, Uprising and Retribution, proved enormously popular with fans. The latest version, however, has left many feeling a bit disappointed.
Warning for those that haven’t yet jumped into the Storm Rising mission, this article contains spoilers for the story.
Storm Rising sees an Overwatch Strike Team battle Talon in the streets of Havana.Why aren’t Overwatch fans happy with Storm Rising?
The gameplay in the mission itself has faced some criticism, with a post on the Overwatch subreddit describing it as “just killing some folks and pushing a payload, really underwhelming,” garnering more than 4000 upvotes.
One of the primary disappointments, however, has been that the story of this story-focused event has been lackluster.
The mission sees an Overwatch Strike Team consisting of Tracer, Mercy, Winston, and Genji chasing down Maximilien, a high-level Talon figure who works as Doomfist’s accountant. Upon being caught, a cutscene ensues in which Maximilien bargains with the team, with Mercy requesting “an introduction.”
The scene then cuts to Doomfist, who is talking with a cloaked figure about what Talon could offer them. The figure lowers his hood to reveal an omnic that hasn’t yet been seen in the Overwatch lore.
Many fans have criticized the mission on the basis that the “big reveal” features an entirely unknown character, resulting in it being essentially meaningless at this time.
The mission has also faced criticism for failing to tie up any loose ends, instead only raising more questions in the narrative of a universe that already has lots of different storylines with very few answers.
Fans have criticized the event for not offering much in the way of new lore.With Archives being one of the rare occasions on which Blizzard typically expands on Overwatch lore, many fans are feeling let down with this year’s offering. While it certainly seems to be building into a greater storyline, the possibility of waiting another year before that storyline is further advanced isn’t particularly satisfying.
It remains to be seen whether Blizzard will choose to reveal more before then, but one possibility is that the mysterious hooded omnic is being set up as the game’s very next hero.
If that is in fact the case, it’s possible that their story will be revealed much sooner, as the next hero release should be due towards the end of July.