It's October, which means the Overwatch Halloween Terror event is in full swing. It's appropriate, then, that in addition to the many treats this year's event has provided, players are also dolling out a few tricks as well. Using one particular trick, Reinhardt players are trolling enemy teams and wiping the floor with them in the process.
Using the truck on the Volskaya map, Overwatch players learned they could prep Reinhardt's Ultimate ability, Earthshatter, early, later unleashing it on command upon an unsuspecting enemy team. This disguises the usual telegraph and voice line that accompanies the Ultimate, resulting in no warnings for the other team. Recently, players have discovered this same trick can be used in King's Row, using a mailbox just around the corner from the first point. Reddit user u/geezyclaps posted this devious trick in action against a surprised attacking team while defending the payload.
Some have called for these tactics to be nerfed, while others say that if it can be done in the game, players might as well use it. Blizzard has yet to address these tricks and many like it have been discovered since the game launched. In this particular instance, it was performed during a Quick Play match, so no SR was lost and it was all in good fun.
It's hard to blame players for attempting to find their own bit of fun since the game has lacked any substantial new content for ages. The Activision Blizzard controversy has kept the company's hands full, as has a sequel that is still in development with no release date in sight. Much of the planned fresh content is being withheld until Overwatch 2 finally launches.
Part of the company's attempt at addressing the fallout resulting from the lawsuit is to change a popular character's name. Specifically, the cowboy hero named after a real-life employee who was involved with the aforementioned controversy. Earlier this week, Overwatch revealed McCree's new name and fans everywhere have been responding to it with mixed reactions.
Some are welcoming the change, saying it's a step in the right direction, while others say it's unnecessary and the bare minimum the company could do considering the situation. After all, players have gotten used to the character's name being McCree's for nearly six years. However, Blizzard is attempting to have the switch feel more natural by making McCree's name change part of the lore.
In the spirit of change, Overwatch is also letting players change BattleTag names for free. Normally, changing names would cost players a $10 fee. All of this change is sure to cause a bit of confusion in-game, however, especially when it comes to team call-outs. The ability to accurately communicate with a team is crucial to winning games and performing stunts like the Reinhardt trick. Players will now have to get used to saying a completely different name when addressing the Overwatch cowboy.
Overwatch is available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.