If i have to judge it as a standalone short - it doesn't work. The story (or lack thereof) is non existent and it feels more like a scene that was taken out from a movie or a episode from a TV series and someone upload it on YouTube and unfortunately for that reason it doesn't stand on it's own.
At least some of the previous animated shorts of Overwatch can still work on their own, because they are origin stories, that are used to introduce the famous characters, while the other animated shorts are the same as "Zero Hour" like "Infiltration", "Alive" and "The Exhibit" (or "Announcement" as it's known in the "The Art of Overwatch" art book) that don't work as standalone shorts.
The less can be said about the music, which ranges from average or melodramatic the first half of the short, but when the rest of the team arrives: it does get better (i do mean the music that they play on their arrival, which is great). The dialogue is passable at first, but just like the music - when the rest of the "Overwatch" characters arrive: the dialogue gets better, alongside with the interactions.
Now that we've taken care of the negatives, let's get to the positives:
Overall it's still a good animated short that is entertaining, but it's not the strongest that i've watched. Like i said - the story is missing here and that is the biggest flaw that i have with it.
At least some of the previous animated shorts of Overwatch can still work on their own, because they are origin stories, that are used to introduce the famous characters, while the other animated shorts are the same as "Zero Hour" like "Infiltration", "Alive" and "The Exhibit" (or "Announcement" as it's known in the "The Art of Overwatch" art book) that don't work as standalone shorts.
The less can be said about the music, which ranges from average or melodramatic the first half of the short, but when the rest of the team arrives: it does get better (i do mean the music that they play on their arrival, which is great). The dialogue is passable at first, but just like the music - when the rest of the "Overwatch" characters arrive: the dialogue gets better, alongside with the interactions.
Now that we've taken care of the negatives, let's get to the positives:
- the whole cast that voices the characters in the game and the previous shorts are back for this one and they are still fantastic.
- the cinematography is great. I don't know why, but i always find it weird that the shot composition is great in animated movies and shorts (there are still some that don't have appealing cinematography, but many of them have).
- the sound is great. I don't have any complaints there and i don't need to go in depth with the praising for the sound.
- the characters are also great. They had their build-up in the previous shorts and the interactions between each other is fun to watch.
- the animation is fantastic and Blizzard always have been great with their animation (just look at the World of Warcraft trailers).
Overall it's still a good animated short that is entertaining, but it's not the strongest that i've watched. Like i said - the story is missing here and that is the biggest flaw that i have with it.
