‘Overwatch’s’ Newest Hero Is Literally A Hamster In A Ball

Fans and players of Overwatch are in for a surprise. The newest hero was just announced, and he is not the monkey champion previously speculated about. Blizzard has been teasing fans by showing an unsavory looking back-alley covered in graffiti. “No Bots” and “Horizon” are spray painted in that alley underneath a monkey. That’s exactly where speculation that this hero would be a primate came into play, especially given that Winston is known to have had other monkey buddies. The assumptions were wrong.

Serving as the 28th hero for this first-person shooter will be none other than a hamster. Anyone who has already watched the released original story trailer already knows everything about this new character. He goes by “Wrecking Ball,” and will be added to the game’s public test realm as of this afternoon, reports Kotaku. Overwatch describes Wrecking Ball as a genetically modified hamster who is both “witty and conniving.”

Able to switch between his mobile rolling mode and two-legged combat, Wrecking Ball comes packing a machine gun, adaptive shield, and a grappling claw. Adorable, but not to be underestimated, Wrecking Ball has an ultimate move called “Minefield,” which is exactly as it sounds. Minefield will scatter proximity mines in all directions around the character. His backstory will also be far different than all the other heroes.

Players learned about the additional escapee, who was listed as “not found” on one of the Horizon Lunar Colony map’s monitors; the one known as “Specimen 8.” Hammond escaped his captors just the same as Winston. This creative fluff ball managed to attach his escape pod — now a dangerously capable mech — onto Winston’s, crashing landing in the area outside Junkertown, Australia. Other heroes, Roadhog and Junkrat, have been calling that place home.

Last year, the game director, Jess Kaplan, prototyped this hero as a jet-pack wearing cat, as cited on Kotaku. Another cool tidbit about Hammond is his speaking. He won’t be able to speak any human languages, yet his mech will “automatically translate his voice [to] a fittingly menacing tone.” Sounds interesting, that is for certain. Overwatch has released the following information.

“Entering the fray, [Wrecking Ball’s] large health pool and shield-generating capabilities give him resilience when initiating and finishing battles. If that wasn’t scary enough, he can climb and swing on surfaces using his Grappling Claw and perform Piledrive, a devastating ground smash, to enemies below. In addition to setting up Piledrive, Wrecking Ball’s Grappling Claw enables him to reach top speed. Top speed increases his basic movement speed, damaging and knocking back foes in his path. His ultimate ability, Minefield, is just as versatile, allowing him to set a trap and control routes, or simply trigger a large area-of-effect explosion for enemies in the immediate vicinity.”