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Temple of Anubis, mini-Overwatch edition Blizzard

Blizzard revealed three new maps for Overwatch’s Anniversary event. A tweet from the PlayOverwatch account shows brief footage of three arena maps coming to the game. They all look to be smaller versions of already established Overwatch maps. If they are anything like Ecopoint: Antarctica, these maps will be playable in 3v3 and 1v1 matches and allow for more story than their 6v6 counterparts.

Let’s break down the video and see where Overwatch agents around the world will visit to celebrate the game’s one-year anniversary.

Doarado- My favorite map in Overwatch is getting a little more… purple. Sombra’s battle station, the computer where she does all her crazy hacking that brought down Lumerico, is in clear view. I plan to actually use the sit emote, plop down in her chair and pretend to take down an entire corporation. There’s also a statue in the middle of the town square that looks like Soldier:76 pre-Omnic Crisis, but the bronze figure has a moustache Jack Morrison would never approve of.

Eichenwalde- One of the few maps Overwatch released after launch, this German battleground still has so much left to share. We know players are pushing the payload to get Reinhardt’s teacher’s armor back, but what about the rest of the soldiers with flaming hammers and Bastion units that got torn apart? I’m not sure this map is going to answer any of those questions. In the video everything looks super gloomy and nature-ridden, like the forest is trying to take back the town. Still, it is raining which is something we haven’t seen in an Overwatch map before.

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Temple Of Anubis work bench could be for Ana. Blizzard

Temple Of Anubis- In game, there’s no clear explanation as to why Overwatch agents need to fight in an Egyptian tomb. It’s one of the few maps, like Illios, that does a terrible job at explaining what is actually going on. I’m hoping this arena map version will give us a better insight into the inner workings of the game’s best/only mother-daughter duo: Ana and Pharah. In the video, we see what looks like Ana’s work station, cobbled together from old supplies and cinderblocks. Could it be from the time after the collapse of Overwatch, when she was forced to become a vigilante and work under the alias Shrike?

I expect great things from the Overwatch anniversary event and if it continues to flesh out the backstory of the game, I’ll be even more hyped. Most maps in Overwatch have secret, little hints that only true fans who dig around the field will fine. What will fans find in these arena maps, besides reddit threads claiming Doomfist is on his way?