Ironclad - Co-op Story Mission

I wrote and implemented all the dialogue in Ironclad, the third Overwatch 2 story mission.

It was a lot of fun working with the actors who played Torbjörn (Keith Silverstein), Reinhardt (Darin De Paul), and Brigitte (Matilda Smedius) to capture key moments in the story and corresponding gameplay. After recording was complete, I also enjoyed hooking up the lines to their contexts in the Overwatch team’s proprietary visual scripting toolkit, Statescript, and fine-tuning the behavior to ensure that players had a polished voiceover experience regardless of the speed at which they completed the mission.

A video of the mission is included below.

Overwatch 2 Story Mission Script Excerpt - IRONCLAD (2023)

INT. - TORBJÖRN’S WORKSHOP - EARLY MORNING

(I was responsible for the in-game story & dialogue, not the intro cinematic, which I’ll quickly summarize below.)

REINHARDT and BRIGITTE visit Brigitte’s famous engineer father, TORBJÖRN, at his workshop in Gothenburg. They hope Torbjörn can find a way to remove the subjugation helmets that the terrorist group Null Sector has been grafting onto Omnic civilians. (Omnics are sentient androids common in the world of Overwatch.) Surprised by BASTION (a reformed warbot who serves as Torbjörn’s assistant), Reinhardt—who fought similar warbots during the Omnic Crisis—launches an attack, but Torbjörn intervenes. Shortly thereafter, the subjugated Omnic’s helmet begins to beep, and Null Sector attacks the city.

[ GAMEPLAY BEGINS ] 

BRIGITTE

Null Sector command ship overhead! Thousands of drop pods incoming!

TORBJÖRN

We have to activate my defense network. Come on!

The four player-controlled characters (Brigitte, Torbjörn, Reinhardt, and Bastion) exit the planning room and enter the foundry, which is full of complex machinery and vats of molten metal.

TORBJÖRN

We’ll use these Magma Cores to power up my turrets and shoot down that command ship.

REINHARDT

What, these little things?

BRIGITTE

Each of those contains the energy of a volcanic eruption.

TORBJÖRN

That’s right. Now, help me move them along!

The players begin to push a payload cart with three Magma Cores in tow. A dull, rumbling crash is heard on the far side of the foundry’s doors.

REINHARDT

Steel yourselves. Null Sector is right outside.

BRIGITTE

Let’s show them some Swedish hospitality!

EXT. - GOTHENBURG STREETS

The doors open, and Null Sector enemies drop from the sky. A giant Null Sector command ship looms in the background.

REINHARDT

I see the command ship! Looks even bigger than the one from Rio.

BRIGITTE

I think it’s the same size, but… you know what, it doesn’t matter.

The players fight off the first wave of robots and get the payload moving. Torbjörn sizes up the ship floating over the city.

TORBJÖRN

What’s that ship made of, titanium?

BRIGITTE

Your cannons will go right through that.

TORBJÖRN

They should have used Hyperion alloy.*

* (Later in the mission, players will confront a giant robot armored with Hyperion alloy… which will not prove easy to destroy.)

A brief in-game cinematic shows a monstrous V-shaped robot that swoops down and drops an expanding purple death zone before flying away.

REINHARDT

What is that thing?

BRIGITTE

I’ve read about this. It’s called a Vulture. Stay out of its interdiction sphere.

Our heroes proceed down the road toward the first station of Torbjörn’s defense network. More Null Sector robots attack. Various dialogue options are possible during this combat, creating variety in case the players die and need to start over from a checkpoint; one option is below:

REINHARDT

I don’t like this Bastion unit. He’s stealing all the glory.

BASTION

(Quizzical beep)

BRIGITTE

Don’t listen to him. I’m glad you’re helping.

Torbjörn stops the payload beside an ornate fountain.

REINHARDT

Where’s the turret? Are we in the right place, Torbjörn?

BRIGITTE

It’s the fountain, isn’t it, Papa.

TORBJÖRN

Great eye. Let’s deploy a Magma Core from the back of the truck.

The players activate a Magma Core from the chain behind the payload.

REINHARDT

The fountain? Brilliant work, Torbjörn. We’ll give Null Sector a spritzing to remember.

TORBJÖRN

Hold on. It takes a second.

BRIGITTE

Energy levels configured. Assigning a target now.

The fountain transforms into a giant anti-aircraft cannon, which fires a barrage at the Null Sector command ship overhead. The shots cause a considerable explosion, and part of the ship falls into the sea.

BASTION

(Impressed whistle)

REINHARDT

Now we’re talking! Aha! Yes!

The cannon finishes firing and deactivates. 

REINHARDT

I can’t believe those little bullets made that huge explosion.

TORBJÖRN

Well, Brigitte aimed right at their fuel cells, so…

BRIGITTE

Let’s target the engines next.

TORBJÖRN

Great idea! Come on, I have another turret up ahead.

As our heroes advance down the avenue, the VULTURE robot seen earlier reappears. This time, the players get to fight it. (This mission is the first in which a Vulture appears, and players were struggling to understand the connection between the enemy & its deadly purple projectile—so we went a little heavy-handed with the instructions, as you’ll see below.)

TORBJÖRN

There’s that Vulture again!

BRIGITTE

Shoot it down, and keep out of its Interdiction Sphere!

The players fight off the Vulture and other Null Sector units, advancing the payload until it stops near the harbor. 

BRIGITTE

That’s the last of them for now.

REINHARDT

Where did Torbjörn hide the giant turret this time?

When the second Magma Core is activated, it glides toward a nearby tourist center. 

BRIGITTE

The tourist center? Really, Papa?

TORBJÖRN

Nobody hangs around those places. They take one brochure and leave.

The tourist center transforms into a giant anti-aircraft cannon, which fires multiple barrages at the retreating command ship.

BASTION

(Elated beeps)

BRIGITTE

Yes! Multiple direct hits. We’re dealing critical engine damage.

REINHARDT

It’s getting away! Shoot it more!

A siren begins to blare as a gigantic Null Sector TITAN lands in the harbor, creating a massive splash.

REINHARDT

Wha!

BRIGITTE

Titan! Get down!

The Titan unfolds its enormous weapons.

TORBJÖRN

Wrist-mounted artillery… Hellsiege missile launchers… those weapons are immense.

REINHARDT

It’s charging its chest hole!

The Titan unleashes an arcing blast from its chest laser that destroys several buildings along the bay. It turns and begins to walk left along the coastline, toward Torbjörn’s workshop.

TORBJÖRN

It’ll flatten the city. We have to stop it!

This concludes the script excerpt, but I’ll summarize the rest of the mission:

• The players activate a third turret (Torbjörn: “Hold your thumbs!”), but the barrage is unable to pierce the Titan’s Hyperion alloy armor. (9:26 in attached video)

• The players must return to the Ironclad foundry and charge up a massive prototype railgun, which Torbjörn has never fired before, in a desperate attempt to fend off the Titan.

• Players who survive the Null Sector onslaught long enough to power up the prototype railgun (Reinhardt: “Do we still have time to build a catapult? Just launch me out there, I’ll take care of this thing.”) will find that it is indeed powerful enough to pierce the Titan’s armor, destroying it and saving the city.

[End of Script Excerpt]