Zarya‘s character design alone won a lot of hearts when she was first announced at PAX East this year. We now have a new video of this Russian bodybuilder in action straight from the Overwatch team, and her kill count is just as refreshing and fabulous as her pink hair and atypical body type.
It’s also worth noting that she was the most recent character announced for Overwatch alongside McCree, and is the last of the bunch to get her own gameplay video, so we may be waiting on brand new characters from here.
Zarya’s role as a tank is immediately defined as the match starts, when she protects the overeager player on Tracer with her Projected Barrier ability, possibly saving them both as she turns to grab a kill on Reaper. She frequently shields the player furthest forward as her team rushes in, highlighting her excellent utility on a team. A bit less obvious is the interplay between her Particle Barrier, which absorbs shots to empower her Particle Cannon, though the synergy of both abilities is on display throughout the match as she mows down the opposition and is only very rarely killed.
One of the most interesting moments is when Zarya uses her Ultimate ability, Gravitron Surge, to round up most of the opposite team, and then uses her Particle Cannon to both break the twenty kills mark and take out three opposing players with one shot. Her Ultimate seemed a bit lackluster in preview videos we’ve seen, but in action it’s definitely more potent than it seemed.
My favorite move out of Zarya is probably her least effective, though. In melee range, she’ll occasionally lower her gun and just straight up punch people, showing off her bodybuilding roots. It’s a small thing but it’s one of those details that makes Blizzard’s games so polished. Also, you get to punch people, so win-win.
