Wrecking Ball (Overwatch)

Wrecking Ball
Overwatch character
Created by	Blizzard Entertainment
Voiced by	Dee Bradley Baker (Hammond) Jonathan Lipow (Wrecking Ball)

Search Wrecking Ball (Overwatch) on Amazon.

Wrecking Ball, also known as Hammond, is a fictional, playable character in the 2016 video game Overwatch whose design is based on a hamster-controlled, quadrupedal robot mecha that can transform into a high-speed wrecking ball replete with grappling hook. The character was introduced in late June 2018 as the title's 28th hero.

Description

Wrecking Ball is one of the playable "hero" characters in the team-based multiplayer first-person shooter video game Overwatch. The character is a tank-class mecha robot driven by a smart hamster named Hammond. The mech's move set includes a bipedal combat mode with automatic assault weapons known as the "Quad Cannons", and a high-speed "Roll" mode in which the mech condenses into a ball armed with a "Grappling Claw". The grappling claw can attach to surfaces and use the mech's rolling momentum to launch into enemies and the air. While in the air, the ball can slam into the ground, sucking in and damaging enemies using his "Piledriver" move. Wrecking Ball also has an "Adaptive Shield" ability, which adds temporary shields based on the count of nearby enemies. His "ultimate" ability is "Minefield" that scatters a proximity mine minefield around the character.

Hammond does not speak human languages, but the Wrecking Ball mech translates his voice into one.

Development

External video

Developer update introducing the character

The concept of Wrecking Ball had been proposed early in Overwatch's development cycle, though never given significant development work, according to Geoff Goodman. Their original idea, alongside the spherical tank that could roll around, was to have the character's set be based on magnetism, with one ability to draw in enemy bullets, store them, and then fire them back at opponents. Skill features like the grappling hook came much later, but which Goodman believed cemented the character.

The introduction of Hammond as Wrecking Ball's controller did not happen until the Overwatch team started working on the Horizon Lunar Colony map, which tied into Winston's backstory. Previous, they had considered Winston, a super-intelligent gorilla as part of an experimental study at Horizon, as their most out-there idea. As they worked on the map, the team started connecting the idea of a hamster, a hamster ball, and other potential abilities to the Wrecking Ball concept, as well as Hammond's story fitting in with the existing Winston narrative. Wrecking Ball's release was an interregnum from preceding Overwatch add-on content, which was based on new villains and geopolitical conflict.

While Overwatch developer Blizzard had hinted at the character's existence, the game's official Twitter account conspicuously teased the character in the days prior to its announcement in late June 2018 as the 28th playable hero on the roster. Wrecking Ball was released for public testing the same day as the announcement.

Lore

External video

Wrecking Ball origin story, an official, animated short

Hammond's backstory was first introduced through changes made to the Horizon Lunar Colony map in May 2018, and later expanded upon the character's announcement. In the game's setting, Hammond is a hamster and one of the test subjects at the Horizon Lunar Colony, given heightened intelligence by the human scientists, from which he gained an affinity for mechanics. Amidst a test subject uprising, Hammond planned to escape to Earth alongside the gorilla Winston by tethering an escape pod to Winston's capsule. Approaching Earth, Hammond's capsule broke loose and fell into the Australian Outback, near the fictional city of Junkertown. He modified the escape pod to become a battle mech through which he competed in Junkertown's robot combat arena under the ring name Wrecking Ball, becoming its champion.

Reception

Within gameplay, Wrecking Ball's Grappling Hook ability was described as a positive addition to the game. The ability not only allows Wrecking Ball to be a more mobile tank compared to previous characters in this class, but enables him to reach locations previously only afforded to characters with significant vertical movement like Pharah or Widowmaker. This also enables the player using Wrecking Ball to pull off previously unused flanks on certain maps, which is expected to affect the metagame of Overwatch. Players also experimented with a custom game type in which they race in wrecking ball mode to traverse the game's levels the fastest. PC Gamer described the character as the game's most inventive.

While many journalists were struck by the outlandish premise of a hamster commandeering a mecha robot, the character's introduction was well-received by the game's community. Wrecking Ball's introduction reinforced values core to the Overwatch franchise, and akin to its other characters, carved a unique niche from simple if not bizarre premises. Through the game's story, which unfolds through the release of new in-game assets, players had expected the character to be a monkey companion to Winston, based on his scientific facility's backstory, rather than a hamster. Many players and multiple journalists complained about the name choice of "Wrecking Ball" and preferred instead "Hammond", which is shorter and easier to speak and abbreviate.

Further reading

• Goslin, Austen (July 5, 2018). "Overwatch's 28th hero is Hammond, sort of, and that's kinda disappointing". Heroes Never Die. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
• Marks, Tom (June 29, 2018). "Overwatch's New Hero Wrecking Ball Is a Ton of Fun but Extremely Weird". IGN. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
• Marshall, Cass (July 2, 2018). "Hammond brings a ton of joy back into Overwatch". Heroes Never Die. Retrieved July 7, 2018.

External links

• Gamepedia wiki for character stats and additional plot details

This article "Wrecking Ball (Overwatch)" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Wrecking Ball (Overwatch). Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

This page exists already on Wikipedia.

📰 Article(s) of the same category(ies)

• Cyrax
• Michael De Santa (Grand Theft Auto V)
• Michael De Santa
• Rock Howard
• Sektor
• The 3 Little Dassies
• Impostor (Among Us)

---