5 Fun Overwatch Game Mode Ideas For Future Brawls

Swat the Mosquito

One of the joys of Overwatch is how supremely balanced the entire experience is for the player. No matter which character is chosen there is another one in the roster that can neutralize them. Pharah and Reinhardt might not be the pair that pops to mind the most when thinking of perfectly opposing Overwatch pairs. Pharah is a high-flying missile machine and Reinhardt is the definition of a tank, all that he is missing is a large gun coming out of his chest. This difference in altitude (and everything else) is precisely why they would make for a great and unique game mode.

Imagine a team full of Pharahs going up against a team full of Reinhardts, or just a 1v1 duel. The Pharahs would, obviously, fly high above the Reinhardts raining “it” from above. Meanwhile the Reinhardts would be on the ground using their shields to fend of the Pharahs’ barrages and trying to use their hammers to swat the flying menaces for the sky. There is a danger of things getting frustrating very quickly and certainly isn’t a mode for those who play Overwatch competitively. Still the mayhem could make for some wild and literally explosive matches.

This post was originally authored by Derek Stauffer.

Nothing But the Calvary is Here

Whether she is most players’ favorite character or not, Tracer is the undisputed face of Overwatch. She was heavily featured in all the pre-release short films; her face is the one on the box and in nearly every event she gets a new legendary skin. Despite her obvious popularity, Overwatch has never had a mode solely devoted to Tracer. It is time. 1v1 duels with two Tracers can get insane as both players are desperately trying to rewind time to recover their health. Just imagine how exponentially more crazy things would get with nothing but Tracers running around.

This could be a standard Arcade mode where two teams would go up against each other. The catch is that it would be nothing but Tracers zooming all over the map, back in time and shooting each up. There could even be some lore for it like it’s what happened to Tracer when she was sucked through the time portal or if it is different Tracers from different universes battling it out for supremacy. Whatever justification you need it would just be a lot of rapid and ridiculous Overwatch gameplay.

 Talon Hunt

The lore to Overwatch is surprisingly deep for those who seek it out with a bunch of different factions and histories to all the characters. Though it has been present since the very beginning no Overwatch game mode has dealt with the war between Talon and the eponymous organization. Though they are now very much rivals, there is no problem with Reaper and Solider 76 teaming up to secure the objective. This shouldn’t change but it might be nice for a game mode to really dive into the conflict.

With Sombra, Reaper, and Widowmaker there are enough players for a 3v3 elimination match where one team has to choose from those three characters and the rest can choose some from the Overwatch. For the first time Overwatch players could fight for and against Talon. To make things fair and balanced it should probably be limited to just three Overwatch characters such as Tracer, Solider 76, and a sniper like Ana or Hanzo (though the latter isn’t technically a member of Overwatch) going up against the Talon trio. Either way it would be a nice way to expand the lore of the game outside of the occasional dialogue exchanges between characters.

The Floor Really is Lava

Taking its name from one of the most famous (and difficult) achievements in the game courtesy of Lucio, this game mode would have players not able to touch the floor. It would be a matter of insta-death because that would be too harsh. Still using some vertical maps there could be an Ovewatch elimination mode where being on the ground for too long would be deadly. Players would have to constantly be search for higher ground. This would lead to some very intense fights for territory even more when players are attacking or defending an objective.

This mode would be best served for those characters who can climb, fly or, in the case of Lucio, ride up the walls. Though conceivably it could be opened to every character if there are enough vertical structures on the map and there is a time limit to when the floor will “become lava.” It would force players to really find new and interesting ways to play and in its first year that has been one of the strengths of Overwatch’s new game modes.

Overwatch Unknown Battlegrounds

Borrowing, OK more like stealing, from the video game zeitgeist of the moment, this mode would take inspiration from survival arena shooters. There have been 1v1 duels added to Overwatch but nothing close to a free-for-all mode. This could add that feature while putting a little bit of a twist on it which is the perfect Overwatch thing to do. Though most maps are linear they is a lot of ground to cover in some of them. This mode would see five or six players, all playing alone, scattered to different spawn points about the map. It would be an elimination mode where being killed once ends your turn in the round and slowly the available map would shrink until everyone is gathered into one bloody area.

Overwatch’s matches are typically very quick and the games that inspire this mode (Player Unknown Battlegrounds, H1Z1, etc.) are the exact opposite. Still there could be enough of a spin put on this mode where it still feels like Overwatch but it also something different than the usual game mode fare. If nothing else by slowly limiting the map space it would be the first Overwatch game where everyone finally ends up in the same location as the payload.