Do not anger the hamster. Shaking up the Overwatch universe, Hammond is Overwatch’s new hero and comes bursting in like a wrecking ball! Choosing to go by his pilot name, Wrecking Ball is a highly mobile tank that’s effective at flanking and disrupting enemy defenses. Whatever you choose to call him, here are 12 things to know about Hammond or Wrecking Ball, the pint-sized mechanic hamster!
While Overwatch lore hinted that a hero named Hammond would be coming soon, few expected Wrecking Ball and an actual hamster to pop out of the mech. This has split the Overwatch fanbase, with concerns that Hammond’s addition would ruin the game’s universe. However, many fans (including us) have already fallen in love with Hammond’s charm.
Hammond is part of Horizon Lunar Colony’s numerous animal experiments to assess the adaptability of animals living on the moon. Unexpectedly, Hammond managed to grow in both size and intelligence. While larger hamsters grow up to 300g and 15cm long, Hammond weighs in at 6kg and is 40cm tall. He’s probably had one too many Junkertown takeaways from his arena prize money.
Described as witty and conniving, do not let Hammond’s miniature appearance fool you. Armed in a giant mech and known as Wrecking Ball and the Scrapyard champion, Hammond is far from cute and cuddly. Like all of us, he displays frustration when losing and joy when destroying his enemies. Here, Hammond is casually lounging and enjoying a treat. We would be far from surprised if Overwatch’s new hero is self-seeking and joins the villains.
Given genetic therapy while on the moon, Hammond’s curiosity and intelligence grew as he interacted with the world around him. He would often escape his cell, scampering off to learn mechanic skills to one day plot his moonbase escape. His diligence paid off as he managed to latch onto Winston’s spacecraft with his makeshift capsule and land in the Australian wastelands.
Upon escaping, Hammond modified his escape pod to become the mech’s cockpit. Then, he entered the Scrapyard battle arena as Wrecking Ball to keep his Hammond identity secret. He skillfully climbed the ranks to eventually emerge as Scrapyard champion and earned enough money to refine his mech. Equipped with arm cannons, a grappling hook and mines, Wrecking Ball is a dangerous foe to be wary of.
Overwatch’s new hero enters the battlefield with a variety of skills. Part of Wrecking Ball’s toolkit is a grappling hook that allows him to latch onto anything on the map. This ability is physics-based and allows Hammond to literally come in like a wrecking ball with enough practice. This makes Wrecking Ball an ideal character for flanking enemy backlines as he swings about like Spiderman.
Being a hamster, Hammond has designed his mech to roll about like a hamster ball. It’s his main mode of transportation and allows him to leverage on momentum to get around quicker. Roll mode also allows Hammond to avoid damage by hiding in his mech since he takes critical damage from exposing himself in quadruped mode.
Unsurprisingly, Overwatch’s new hero has interactions with the other heroes. As fellow Horizon Lunar Colony specimens, Overwatch’s new hero and Winston were next door neighbours and appeared to be best friends. In this spray, we can see both Hammond and Winston enjoying peanut butter together in their younger days.
In this spray, Hammond is seen smirking arrogantly here while crossing his arms and sitting in his escape pod. This is likely paying homage to Vegeta, a main character from the anime Dragon Ball Z as both characters have similar looking escape pods and are in similar poses. This might be hinting that Overwatch’s new hero possesses the same level of arrogance and intensity that Vegeta is renowned for.
According to Overwatch’s concept artists, inspiration for Hammond came from a blend of Western and Eastern cultures. When designing Overwatch’s new hero, they stated Hamtaro and the Lemmings from Zootopia to be the main influences. Talk about a blend of cultures!
While Hammond is unable to speak, he programmes his mech to translate for him with an in-built soundboard. This makes for comical interactions between Hammond and his mech as everything from hamster laughs to profanities are first filtered through his mech. In stark contrast to the high-pitched squeaking, the AI then repeats his words through a deep monotonous voice,
As previously stated, Hammond’s design did get influenced by Hamtaro. The hoard spray confirms it as Hammond is happily enjoying his sunflower seeds with a leaf on his head. This is likely a direct nod to Hamtaro as everything from the leaf to the way he is sitting down is the same.
Hammond lovers and PETA might want to turn away here. When Hammond is celebrating by cheerfully activating an emote, he can still be shot by snipers. If Hammond is at low enough health, he’ll die from the critical shot, resulting in his body slumping over and his mech exploding. Sorry sight aside, the Overwatch team have truly outdone themselves here when it comes to character animations.
Hammond or Wrecking Ball looks to be a fantastic addition as Overwatch’s new hero from both a gameplay and storyline perspective. You can look forward to rolling about and smashing enemies with your mech in Overwatch soon!
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Time to jingle his bells!
‘Tis the season to be jolly and a little competitive!
For a-meow-zing staycays.
Ending the year with a blast (of fireworks).
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