Blizzard Shows off Anime-Style Trailer for Heroes of the Storm

Blizzard is known for a lot of things (a LOT of things, most of them good for some reason), but one inarguable virtue they possess that no other company is quite able to rival is their mastery of cinematics and CGI. When they make a trailer, it’s not just showcasing some aspect of their game, it’s an event that draws everyone from the gaming world to see how well you can animate a muscular, dirt-covered orc sweating a whole bunch. It’s part of the reason so many people were surprised that the feature-length Blizzard cinematic that was Warcraft was such garbage.

But anyway, Blizzard is at it again, but instead of a standard CGI trailer, they decided to try something new. Something different. Something… ANIME.

Mecha Tyrael and Rehgar are squaring off against the insidious Xenotech Abathur in a battle for the fate of the Nexus! Do they have the firepower to save the day, or will Abathur’s mechanized locusts prove too much for them to handle? Now you can arm your Heroes with the latest and greatest technologic advancements the Nexus has to offer with new legendary skins for Tyrael, Rehgar and Abahur!

As you could probably guess from the trailer and the video description, it’s promoting/celebrating a line of mech-themed skins that are coming to Heroes of the Storm. That within itself is pretty boring, there’s nothing special about Mech-themed skins (I’m pretty sure League of Legends kicked that off), but Blizzard branching off to explore new trailer styles… styles that work really well, I should add… that’s something that’s eye-catching.

Is this the start of some artistic revolution in Blizzard where the company boldly explores new and strange styles? Probably not, but the fact they’ve started branching out to comic books for Overwatch does suggest they’re not afraid to experiment from time to time.

Either way, big fan of it. Hope to see more.