At Blizzard's campus in Irvine, California, a week before Wednesday's Overwatch Spotlight showcase, I sat down with other journalists from across the globe in a room packed with PCs to play the five new Overwatch heroes early. Well… to play most of them, as I tragically ran out of time before I got to play as Jetpack Cat in a full match. But I did get a feel for her in the practice range.
A few caveats: I only played a single game or round as each of the other four playable characters, splitting a competitive Gibraltar game between the two new damage heroes. That's not nearly enough time to fully understand the intricacies of their kits. And each of the games I played pitted the five new heroes against those same five heroes, so my observations about strengths and matchups are limited to a very particular team composition.
Still, it was enough time for a few key takeaways. I've broken down my experience and initial analysis of each hero below, alongside a minute or two of gameplay. But if you just want to see the action, here's the full game I played on the updated Watchpoint: Gibraltar map, split between damage heroes Anran and Emre.
Jetpack Cat will appeal to creative players and people who enjoy 'pure support' gameplay
Jetpack Cat is real, and she's the headliner among the newly released heroes. Although I didn't get to take the jetpack for a spin in an actual match, her kit felt intuitive while also allowing plenty of room for creativity. Her primary fire shoots Biotic Pawjectiles that seemed to pump out notable damage and healing.
Her kit-defining Lifeline ability drops a line that allies can interact with, allowing you to fly them around the map, offering lots of creative possibilities. Allies have to opt into the lift: "We'd rather this be a collaborative thing," said Game Designer Scott Kennedy, referencing frustrations with Life Weaver's ability to forcibly move teammates.
But if your first question, like mine, was, "What about BOB?" Dawson confirmed that you can fly Ashe's omnic butler around at your whim. (I like to imagine that BOB has a choice in the matter, he just always opts in.) Jetpack Cat's regular abilities are a resource-limited boost ability and a purr that heals allies and knocks back enemies immediately around her.
As for the ultimate… look, you're going to get memed on. You need to understand and accept that now. It's OK. It already happened to me.
Activating your ultimate pulls out a laser pointer, and confirming with primary fire sends Jetpack Cat careening toward the laser and picking up the nearest enemy. It took playtesters approximately zero seconds to realize that you could boost forward before the ultimate, giving people almost no time to react before they get dragged away to their doom.
I do think Jetpack Cat has meaningful offensive capabilities, especially up close, where she can minimize the travel time of her projectiles or just boop people off the map with her purr. But her kit also feels like it will attract the type of player who just wants to pump healing into their team without handling the responsibility of being an aggressive threat. Her primary fire and purr ability can quickly burst-heal a tank from low health, and the combination of permanent flight with a meaningful speed boost allows the hero to heal teammates without having to directly confront enemies.
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