This isn’t a first for the video game industry and it’s certainly not one that should be heralded as anything but a pleasing distraction from the ample drone of marketing claiming x, y, z and so on. It certainly helps alleviate the noise of timed exclusivity, pre-order incentives and other aspects pertaining to financial agendas as opposed to…the love and joy of the medium. But the issue I’m meaning to deviate towards is not what trailers are meant to feature or even represent - developers/publishers are perfectly fine with detailing the abundance of content and activities players can get invested in or may even benefit from if they choose to go down a specific route.

Besides the size of this update, the rate at which this Heroes of the Storm update arrived is particularly noteworthy. Since they resumed in 2022, most of these updates have had two to three months between them, and about a month between the patch's arrival on the Public Test Realm and the live release. Not only did this patch arrive faster than usual – less than two months after the last Heroes of the Storm update – but it also came the same month as it hit the PTR. While this could mean nothing, Heroes of the Storm ’s 10-year anniversary is on June 2, leading many fans to wonder if the increased attention could herald something big in store for the MOBA's big milest

Tracer's signature move is her Blink, which allows her to warp in any direction up to three times in a row. The key here is to make sure that you always have at least one blink at your disposal, as getting caught in a standard one-on-one firefight without movement abilities almost always leaves Tracer at a major disadvantage. One of the cooler aspects of her Blink is that it can totally be used to get across large gaps, allowing her to sneak around characters like Bastion and Widowmaker. Tracer's Recall ability allows her to rewind time in a manner similar to that seen in Super Time Force, allowing her to move back to a previous position. What makes this ability particularly special is that Tracer's ammo and health counts will be restored to whatever they were at that particular point in time, so this ability is absolutely crucial for fighting against characters with far more health than her. Finally, her ultimate is the Pulse Bomb, which is essentially a sticky grenade with a massive damage count and relatively low area of effect. Bear in mind that the Pulse Bomb can totally kill Tracer, so if you're looking to throw it into a crowd of enemies, make sure that you have your Blink or Recall available to get out of the danger zone.

If you can go out of your way to make something (that could be deduced as) rather bonkers -- knowing full well when and where to walk that perilous line between genuine and forced humour -- you can at least walk away knowing players will credit you with falling into the "they made it even though they didn’t have to" sub-section. And believe me, alongside "surprisingly addictive" mini-games, 2D backgrounds and actual reflective mirrors, humour is another opportune asset that can go a long, long way to appreciating what said game actually stood for at the given time. Away from the regular check-list on what specifically to critique. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with having a game that's entirely, unapologetically dry, perhaps perceived initially as far from comedy as one can get -- narratively or otherwise. But, ironically, this is why a "one last thing"-type of satire or bit on the side, works far better than when it's already wrestling for attention amidst a game that not for one second takes itself seriously and is instead its own fuel for fun and folly. Even if it is for the intent to promote something else entirely (video game-related or not) I will commend any developer who’s willing, for example, to throw together the good guys, the bad guys and the in-between guys into some surreal comedy skit-meets-daily life send-off to a game’s campaign .

Perhaps it'll be a bit easier to collect my thoughts on overwatch 2 mauga once the beta period is over, thus giving me a bit of time to ruminate on what has been the best surprise of my time here at Hardcore Gamer to date. Right now, I find myself stuck in a mode of childlike wonder that rarely comes along and the last thing I want to do is ruin this through academic over-analysis. I haven't had a multiplayer experience that has come along and completely enraptured me quite like this in seven years; on top of all of this, any semblance of being jaded as a result of playing too many games has all but vanished as a result of Blizzard's impeccably polished arena shooter. Since you all probably would like to see a bit of negative criticism in here to balance out the single most glowing article I've written this year, however, I'll leave you with this: I really don't like the feeling of knowing that I already need to write off hundreds of hours of my life.

Of course, no Heroes of the Storm update would be complete without some balance changes . Chromie and Tracer all saw buffs and nerfs to a few of their talents. Johanna and Zul’jin did as well, though the former’s Shield Glare had its mana cost increased, while the latter’s You Want Axe? trait was improved. Auriel, on the other hand, received buffs to her Bestow Hope trait and several of her talents that will aid her healing, damage, and survivabil