DISCLAIMER: I understand that any threads centering around recent Blizzard announcements tend to drum up conversation about the company's controversial designs as of late with regard to their actions toward players who've voiced support of Hong Kong, but in this instance I'd kindly ask that we not derail this particular thread as that has no bearing on this specific piece of art that I'm trying to highlight/praise.
Blizzard has long prided themselves on enlisting some of the most talented CGI artists in the industry to craft their class-leading CGI trailers, in-game cutscenes, and animated shorts. When it comes to big-budget pre-rendered CGI video content for games, I think most people would agree that Blizzard has remained at the top of the mountain for decades. That said, I think that they've really ascended to new heights with their Overwatch 2 "Zero Hour" cinematic trailer.
The whole trailer is absolutely joyous to behold, IMO, but it's this particular moment that I'd like us all to discuss:
Genji's arrival alone was probably the coolest thing I've seen all year.
Now, listen. I'm a generally hard-to-impress 30-something cynic who finds most bombastic bravura cinema (e.g. the Marvel movies) to be hackneyed and ineffective when utilizing similar tropes in their big climax moments, but I am sincerely gobsmacked by how well-executed this scene is. I understand that to some people the hopeful, Pixar-influenced style of Overwatch's many animated shorts/trailers comes off as cheesy or predictable. I can see how that would be someone's perspective. But I think it's just how well the animation/sound teams come together to absolutely nail this heroic, positive vibe in their various animated works that makes these appeal to me where similar pieces of recent cinema do not.
It helps that I personally love the large majority of the hero designs in OW and their surrounding world/lore, and while the conveyance of this sprawling universe might feel minimal in-game it really comes to life in these trailers and animated shorts.
Everything about this scene is near-perfect in my eyes. Genji's last-second arrival (looking the coolest he's ever looked in that hoodie) followed by the arrival of the other heroes set to pitch-perfect music elevates this to something altogether inspiring and goosebump-inducing for me.
I could go on and on for days about the sound design/mixing in all of these OW trailers/videos, but maybe I'll save that for another post later in the thread. I do want to highlight one little detail that I thought was worth commendation, however.
Look at the palpable, believable sense of relief and surprise in Winston's eyes here as he sees his old friends arrive in the nick of time:
That is perfection. It's the little details like this that put these OW trailers above even the other impressively animated Blizzard CGI productions for me. There's real emotion being effectively communicated here to where the viewer can feel it. They can believe that these heroes possess real emotions and motivations because they are so convincingly rendered, animated, and voiced in these videos.
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Here's the full trailer for anyone who hasn't seen it yet:
Blizzard has long prided themselves on enlisting some of the most talented CGI artists in the industry to craft their class-leading CGI trailers, in-game cutscenes, and animated shorts. When it comes to big-budget pre-rendered CGI video content for games, I think most people would agree that Blizzard has remained at the top of the mountain for decades. That said, I think that they've really ascended to new heights with their Overwatch 2 "Zero Hour" cinematic trailer.
The whole trailer is absolutely joyous to behold, IMO, but it's this particular moment that I'd like us all to discuss:
Genji's arrival alone was probably the coolest thing I've seen all year.
Now, listen. I'm a generally hard-to-impress 30-something cynic who finds most bombastic bravura cinema (e.g. the Marvel movies) to be hackneyed and ineffective when utilizing similar tropes in their big climax moments, but I am sincerely gobsmacked by how well-executed this scene is. I understand that to some people the hopeful, Pixar-influenced style of Overwatch's many animated shorts/trailers comes off as cheesy or predictable. I can see how that would be someone's perspective. But I think it's just how well the animation/sound teams come together to absolutely nail this heroic, positive vibe in their various animated works that makes these appeal to me where similar pieces of recent cinema do not.
It helps that I personally love the large majority of the hero designs in OW and their surrounding world/lore, and while the conveyance of this sprawling universe might feel minimal in-game it really comes to life in these trailers and animated shorts.
Everything about this scene is near-perfect in my eyes. Genji's last-second arrival (looking the coolest he's ever looked in that hoodie) followed by the arrival of the other heroes set to pitch-perfect music elevates this to something altogether inspiring and goosebump-inducing for me.
I could go on and on for days about the sound design/mixing in all of these OW trailers/videos, but maybe I'll save that for another post later in the thread. I do want to highlight one little detail that I thought was worth commendation, however.
Look at the palpable, believable sense of relief and surprise in Winston's eyes here as he sees his old friends arrive in the nick of time:
That is perfection. It's the little details like this that put these OW trailers above even the other impressively animated Blizzard CGI productions for me. There's real emotion being effectively communicated here to where the viewer can feel it. They can believe that these heroes possess real emotions and motivations because they are so convincingly rendered, animated, and voiced in these videos.
_________________________
Here's the full trailer for anyone who hasn't seen it yet:
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