Adam Analyzes: Overwatch’s Doomfist

Ever since I first tried out Overwatch, I’ve slowly been trying to come out of my comfort zone and not only play actual player matches, but to also try out different characters. With moderate success, I’ve managed to do both, with only a few salty wounds to show for it.

But with the upcoming release of Doomfist, the newest character to Blizzard’s team shooter, there are bound to be some changes to the landscape. Doomfist is set to be released on public servers July 27th, but he is available for play-testing and debugging on Overwatchs Public Test Region servers. Since I play the game on PC, I figured that I might have something to check out. Worst case scenario, it’s just something else in my computers hard drive. (Actually, the worst case was getting some Legendary-rarity loot, since PTR and public servers don’t share the same loot drops.)

Doomfist!

Going into this, I was thinking to myself, “Where is Doomfist going to place for me?” In this game, I have a few tiers for the characters.

There’s “Characters that I picked up right off the bat,” which consists of my main Roadhog, as well as Mei.

Then there’s “Characters that I picked up after some practice,” which includes the likes of Reaper, Pharah, Reinhardt, and (to some degree) Lucio and Mercy.

Then you have the characters I’d like to play, but can’t get the hang of, which is pretty much the sniper characters, as well as Tracer, Genji, McCree, Zenyatta, and D.Va.

After that, you have the characters that I leave to other players, and at the bottom of the list are the characters that I consider are for the lazy. If you play Bastion or Torbjorn, congratulations, you just made the list.

After playing a few matches and messing around in the practice range, though, where does Doomfist fit?

The answer? After a bit of time, I believe I’ve found myself a new character to main.

Doomfist fills you with POWER!!!!!!!

I suspect that a lot of people will also be picking him up, even if Terry Crews isn’t voicing him, but based on his abilities, I’m amazed at how fluid his play-style is to my way of playing.

Doomfist has a 4-round shotgun gauntlet that automatically reloads for mid-range damage, but his true power, of course, lies in his fist gauntlet. He can do a rising uppercut, jump forward for a damaging shockwave, and can charge up for a forward dash that can wreck foes big time. On top of that, any damage done by the gauntlet gives Doomfist protective shields, so on top of his 250 base hit points, he can get an additional 150 shield points. His abilities also have a relatively short cooldown, which I expect gets extended when he goes live. His ultimate move, Meteor Strike, sends him skyward, lets you control his landing point, and anyone caught in the blast radius suffers serious damage.

Doomfist also has some very cool skins based his Nigerian upbringing, but his sprays are, no joke, the best thing about this new character. Blizzard must’ve had a ball with this, as Doomfist references other media such as Street Fighter with a Shoryuken input spray, Killer Instinct with a “Combo Breaker” voiceline, and to top it off, the whole character reeks of One Punch Man.

When I first saw these references, I was giggling like a school girl. While this is definitely intended to be goofy, the character is meant to be more of a serious threat to the world of Overwatch, which I’m pretty sure is why Terry Crews wasn’t cast as his voice. The man can pull off dangerous and bad-ass, no problem, but people love him because he can be extremely goofy and silly at the drop of a hat. His performance in the movie White Chicks and his line of commercials for Old Spice is a testament to that. There’s nothing wrong with giving a character a humorous twist, but for someone built up as a threat as Doomfist, I believe that the voice actor cast, Sahr Ngaujah, is a damn good choice.

 

UPDATE: JULY 27th, 8:41 PM

Well, Doomfist is now live on the public servers, and like I said, people already love him. There is one thing I want to clarify, though.

While attacking with Doomfist’s gauntlet DOES give him shields, it’s not permanent in the sense that it stacks on top of his health; rather, it steadily drops as time goes on, even if Doomfist isn’t taking any damage. On the flip side, this explains why his special moves have such a quick cooldown.

My apology’s to anyone that may have been confused.