A new hero is about to enter the Overwatch arena. Doomfist will go live in all regions July 27. You can currently play as him if you log into the public test region, but he’s going to enter standard quick play and ranked matches in just a couple of week.
Doomfist is a new assault-style character. Unlike Soldier 76 or Reaper, Doomfist does not focus on firearms-based combat. Instead, this supervillain wails on players using melee combat and his giant, mechanical arm. To prepare players for this new kind of hero, Blizzard has published a video overview of Doomfist and his abilities.
When I played as Doomfist on the test server, I found that he felt similar to a Street Fighter character. Sure, he can shoot rounds from his hand like a shotgun, but he has a jumping uppercut that feels a lot like Ryu’s Shoryuken attack. he also has a charging ground slam and a rocket punch, which both have fighting-game equivalents.
Doomfist is such a change of pace that he could mix up how players design to compose teams. He does have to get in close to do the most damage, but he has the ability to provide those opportunities. And it makes me excited to try him in matches that actually mean something.