A look at 2017’s Winter Wonderland skins
by JR Cook - 6 years ago show comments
Overwatch’s Winter Wonderland event started on Dec. 12 and gave fans a ton of other sprays, emotes, victory poses and 7 new frosty skins available only while the snow is on the ground.
If your drops have been cold or you just can’t decide which skin to spend your hard earned coinage on; don’t worry. We’re going to figure this out together.
Avalanche Bastion
Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Bastion looks all ready to hit the slopes with his puffball hat and sleek new color scheme, but those eyes. They remind me of Murloc eyes, but somehow more hollow and dead. Staring at everything and nothing at the same time, looking deeper and deeper into your soul with each passing moment.
Nope, no resemblance here.
Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
This strange, snow-robot-amphibian thing is confusing. Is he trying to be a snowmobile, a snowcat or some other… thing? Whatever it is, the snowy owl is adorable and definitely the best part of this skin.
Alpine: 76
Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
When this Soldier: 76 skin made an appearance I thought StarCraft had bled-through to the world of Overwatch. Although this skin does resemble the Terran soldiers, they’re not really identical. This skin looks more like Zarya’s Siberian Front legendaries than it does a Ghost.
See? Totally different. Credit: Blizzard Entertainment.
This will probably be one of the most popular skins of the event, though. Solider looks like an Imperial Snowtrooper mixed in with the type of guy that yells at you for cutting in line at the ski-lift just because you’re snowboarding.
Rime Sombra
Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
What is “rime?”
According to the dictionary, rime is “an opaque coating of tiny, white, granular ice particles, caused by the rapid freezing of supercooled water droplets on impact with an object.”
That makes sense, this skin is pretty frosty. It almost looks like a set of frozen armor. But the best part about that her Uzi is iced out as well and ends up being the best part of this skin.
Gold guns get bonus cool points. Credit: Reddit user TheRedstoneBlaze
Ice Fisherman Roadhog
Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
He is the Walrus.
With his snowshoes, warm hat and fishing hook our big boy is ready to go spend a day on the lake. Thinking about it, Roadhog is a lot like a walrus. Both like to eat a lot and lay around while also utilizing sharp hooks/tusks to kill and/or maim their opposition. Rivaled by Alpine: 76 and the next skin on the list, Roadhog’s is a strong contender for best Winter Wonderland skin.
Beachrat
Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Since he’s from Australia and theirs is a strange and backwards land, Junkrat is ready to head to the beach this holiday season. Yes, being in the Southern Hemisphere Christmas is in the Summer down under. That means everyone goes to the beach, grills out and all that good stuff. Along with his Summer Games cricket skin, Junkrat has probably represented his nation more than any other character in the game this year. What a patriotic little psychopath.
Snow Owl Ana
Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Bastion’s owl is cute. Ana however, is not a cute owl.
At this point it’s safe to say Ana has the market cornered on creepy skins. There’s her Ghoul from Halloween, the nightmare-inducing Lunar New year skin and now this. As with Bastion, it comes down to the eyes. They seem to follow you no matter where you go or what you do.
Ana must be like all those other grandmothers out there that, for some reason, just loves to scare little kids (I’m looking at you Nanna).
Casual Hanzo
Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
When he’s not murdering his brother or in a quick play match, Hanzo likes to unwind, throw on some sweats, lace up his Timbs and head downtown for some sake just like any other guy. I like to think he gave himself that nose piercing on his own with some kind of fancy bow and arrow trick, too.
Based on a single panel in last year’s Winter Wonderland comic, this skin could be a good example of the kind of relationship the Overwatch team has tried to build over time with the community that plays the game. A year and a half in and they’re still working to produce skins the community gets excited to see during each event.
Forget Alpine: 76 and his $800 down jacket, Casual Hanzo is this event’s best skin, no contest.
