Forget Junkenstein’s Revenge, this new Overwatch Workshop PVE mode is playable right now

In the latest Overwatch patch, Blizzard introduced a dummy bot feature for Workshop modes. Basically, anyone can program non-player-controlled heroes for the first time. Without it, only a certain set of heroes have built-in AI, so PVE modes weren’t very unique. With Horizon Breakout, we can finally see what people can do with these new tools.

Don’t shy away from this Workshop mode because of its corny trailer. Pug’s Horizon Breakout is a PVE mode where a group of up to four players fight against waves of increasingly difficult AI Winstons. It’s very similar to Call of Duty’s Zombies mode where you fight against enemies and unlock sections of the map with various upgrades. In this case, it’s different heroes. You start out as Ana and can purchase heroes like Genji, Widowmaker, and Soldier: 76 with currency earned from killing Winstons.

The difficulty ramps up over time with the Winstons gaining armor and eventually using their Primal Rage Ultimate Ability to slam you around the map. You seem to heal over time if you’re by yourself, but the trailer says Support characters gain currency from healing. I’d assume you’ll need one if you’re with friends. Otherwise, it’s kind of tricky to keep yourself alive against Winston’s Tesla Cannon. Some heroes seem more useful than others because of how much the Winstons will jump onto you. Genji’s mobility increases his survivability against the gorillas, versus a hero like Widowmaker. So you’ll want to choose carefully if you’re on your own. I stuck to Genji and used my dashes to get me out of range of the Winstons.

There’s some slight issues with the AI being unable to catch you on the moving bar over the second objective, but it seems balanced pretty well. You occasionally pick up power-ups like one that freezes the Winstons or slows them down. Eventually the Winstons start to overwhelm you and you’ll find yourself dead pretty quickly. Playing alone is totally doable, but it feels like it would be significantly more fun with friends. And considering we have to wait a month before we see Junkenstein’s Revenge returns for Halloween, you should load this up and give it a try. The Workshop code is 2VEGX — just make sure to check the video if there’s any updates to it!