Earlier this year, Overwatch broke the internet (and its own concurrent-player records) by adding five new heroes to its ranks. Two of these heroes, Anran and Jetpack Cat, joined the fray on the side of Overwatch, the game’s titular organization of do-gooders. The other three, however, had more nefarious intents. Now, Blizzard is balancing the scales with the introduction of a new Overwatch member: Sierra.
The studio officially revealed the upcoming hero in the animated short Summit Breach, in which Sierra attempts to stop Deadlock, a crime syndicate operating in the American Southwest, mid-heist. Sierra is ultimately unsuccessful in her attempts, and Emre and Freja take off with the stolen goods. However, this trailer does give us a first glimpse at how this new Damage Hero might play.
Similar to Emre, Sojourn, and Soldier 76, Sierra looks like your standard run-and-gun hero, equipped with a pulse rifle of sorts. While the gun has a rapid main fire, Sierra can seemingly also take aim with the weapon and dish out a powerful, high-caliber round that embeds itself in her enemies. What truly sets her apart, however, are her tech capabilities, as Sierra seems to possess the ability to unleash a drone strike as well as send her drone to a select location than use it as a grapple point. Blizzard has yet to release a full overview of her kit, but should do so ahead of her April 14 debut.
In addition to a first look at Sierra, Summit Breach also presented us with some interesting bits of lore and an unexpected direction the game’s story could go in. In the trailer, Sierra refers to the vault that Emre broke into as the Naughton Vault–presumably in reference to Victoria Naughton, the Overwatch scientist who led the Soldier Enhancement Program and experimented on both Solider 76 and Reaper, leading to their heightened abilities. It’s also worth noting this is the same vault that Solider 76 broke into prior to Overwatch’s release, i.e. the vault where he stole his pulse rifle and tactical visor. As ex-Overwatch members turned Talon agents, it could be that Emre and Freja are simply using their knowledge of Overwatch’s base locations to serve Talon. However, the ongoing story around the pair leads me to believe there’s more here than meets the eye.
Freja only joined Talon when she realized Emre, who has all but lost control of himself, was essentially being used as a tool by them. She opted to join Talon and stay beside her friend rather than abandon him, and to this day, she seems to be the only person who can still reach out to his humanity. In fact, Freja stops Emre from killing Sierra in the clip, disarming him and then telling Sierra, “You don’t want this fight.” This feels like an almost compassionate warning to the newest Overwatch member from someone trapped in a situation beyond their control. Could their trip to Naughton Vault be self-serving rather than in Talon’s interest? It wouldn’t surprise me if Freja is desperately looking for a way to free her friend–a way to restore him to the person she once knew.
Of course this is all speculation and we’ll have to wait until more unfolds before we get any answers. Currently, Overwatch is in Season 1 of its Reign of Talon event, though this new chapter comes to a close in just a few days. On April 14, Season 2: Summit kicks off, bringing with it Sierra and plenty of other updates.
