Echo Swoops In To Join Overwatch Roster

Overwatch officially announced that the new hero coming to the online shooter is none other than Echo. Revealed through the game's official Twitter account, Echo is described as "an evolutionary robot programmed with a rapidly adapting artificial intelligence." Fans of the game should be somewhat familiar with her as she was previewed during the Zero Hour cinematic for Overwatch 2 and even an earlier video before that titled Reunion.

In addition to joining Overwatch, Echo is also going to be playable in Overwatch 2. You can view her origin story in the video below:

If you don't have the time to watch the story, don't worry as we'll give you the rundown on where she came from.

Echo was created by none other than Dr. Mina Liao, the same person responsible for creating the omnics. The omnics later rebelled against the humans, which resulted in the Omnic Crisis. This eventually led Dr. Liao to accept Jack Morrison's offer and becoming one of the founders of Overwatch.

For Dr. Liao, all she ever wanted was to help make the world a better place. It appears that creating Echo is her last chance at redemption. Echo is therefore Liao's legacy and her promise to the world. The question that remains then is if Echo is going follow the path set by Dr. Liao or go the other way. If the previous Zero Hour cinematic is any indication, the chances are it's going to be the former.

Before Zero Hour, Echo also made an appearance in the Overwatch short titled Reunion. In this one, a crate is being transported aboard a military freight train which is then derailed by the Deadlock Gang. However, McCree is there to stop them and upon opening the crate, it’s revealed that Echo is inside. He then tells Echo that while he has been hired by Overwatch, it is her that they need. In an interview from Eurogamer with Game Director Jeff Kaplan back at BlizzCon 2018, it was revealed that he always wanted Echo to be in the game.

While the origin story trailer does hype up the excitement of this new hero, it doesn’t reveal any of her abilities. However, Overwatch may likely show what those abilities and powers are in a future video.

Overwatch is a team-based multiplayer first-person shooter where players form a team of six and choose from a roster of more than 30 characters. Two teams fight against each other to escort a payload across a map or secure and defend control points.