Overwatch is great for developing your skills with teammates, but for those times when you want to lay waste to anything and everyone, the Deathmatch mode has you covered. In the latest Deathmatch map, “Petra,” you’ll have plenty of spots to ambush your enemies.
Petra, coming soon to Overwatch, takes place at an archaeological excavation and preservation site, and the buildings and terrain we see are similar the “Temple of Anubis” map. It looks to have quite a bit of vertical movement opportunities, as well, with a two-level temple and a cliff perfect for Widowmaker or Ana to set up shop.
On lower levels, we see some high-tech equipment, including a hologram of the planet and several computers. This area is much more constrained than elsewhere on the map, making it the perfect place for melee and short-range characters like Winston and Reinhardt to deal some damage.
There also appears to be some degree of environmental destruction in the map, which is uncommon in Overwatch. Near the end of the demonstration video, Doomfist slams down into the ground, sending a few characters plummeting below as pieces of the floor crumble away.
Overwatch has continued to evolve since its 2016 release, with new free maps and characters coming to the game. The latest character, Brigitte, is the daughter of Torbjörn and makes use of a flail weapon to deal damage at close range. Her “rally” ultimate ability gives a short-term boot to speed Brigitte as well as an armor boost for her allies.
Characters available since launch have also undergone significant changes. Hanzo, long reviled for his perceived ineffective abilities, recently had his “scattershot” replaced by “storm arrows.” The new ability allows him to fire several shots instantly, and his double-jump can be used to more quickly reach vantage points.
Overwatch is available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. The game doesn’t currently support cross-platform play of any kind, but director Jeff Kaplan has expressed interested in the feature. A number of other games allow Xbox One or PlayStation 4 players to interact with PC players, though no game currently lets Xbox One and PlayStation 4 players connect together.
