The latest addition to the ensemble of diverse heroes to play as, in Overwatch, would be
Sombra.
The mysterious Mexican hacker, formally a member of the los muertos group, has been
in the sights of many Overwatch theorists since the early access days of the game.
As of the 4th of November, she was formally introduced into the Overwatch universe and
not long after, was playable to the eager fans.
After playing numerous hours with her, i’ve gotta say...I really like her...like a lot.
I think I just click with her, kicking some ass, hacking some fools...she is certainly
welcome on my watch.
With that being said, she has a lot of interesting gear, that seems a little farfetched in our
real world, right?
Well I’m going to ask and hopefully answer a very interesting question, is she real?
Or should I say, Is her L33T hacking gear and abilities possible today?
Let’s get to it, shall we?
To begin with, let’s take a look at her main source of firepower...well technically
her only true source of firepower when you think about it...her Machine pistol.
Depending on the entry point, it can produce 2.4- 8 damage per shot, and you get a lot
of that in a short time span.
The machine pistol fires at roughly 20 rounds per second, being 1200 a minute, and by god
that is a lot of bloody bullets.
It's the main reason I believe her to be a great counter to tanks….just draining their
health away like nobody's business.
So guns are pretty real, but there are so many to pick from.
Which one is Sombra's?
In comes the machine pistol from Heckler and Koch, the Mp7.
It has a very similar visual style to Sombra’s Machine pistol, which was why it was my first
guess at the real world variant.
What else matches up is the way it functions.
As I have already mentioned, sombra’s gun fires a heck of a lot of bullets in a short
amount of time, which is exactly what the MP7 is prone to doing as well.
Despite being known to be highly accurate in short bursts, compared to numerous other
Machine Pistols, the MP7 is known to keep a stable accuracy going at full pelt.
Visually you can see that it works in almost the exact same way that our hero’s weapon
of choice.
In our real world, the MP7 fires 4.6x30mm rounds at a fair rate, but sadly it's a little
slower than Sombras weapon, which I may add is subject to change in future updates.
Anyway, the MP7 roughly fires 950 rounds per minute which is 250 rounds short of Sombras
firearm, but I guess we can let this slide, considering it’s still fires bloody fast.
Next up is Sombra’s Thermoptic Camo, basically when she activates it, she turns invisible
and gains more momentum whilst using this ability.
Although it isn’t the most useful, when trying to escape a large scale engagement,
considering the ability halts as soon as you take damage, it can work well at getting Sombra
places faster, and maybe flanking opponents round a less active lane in the map.
In the game, it lasts 6 seconds, with another 6 seconds to recharge.
BUT in real life, it is almost unlimited.
Well, sorta.
Take this with a pinch of salt, considering there is no video proof, only images- but
the Hyperstealth Biotechnology corporation, a company that has a large share in the world's
camouflage market, has produced a work in progress design for the future.
It’s still in a prototype phase, or we would have seen someone use it, or not, considering
it’s main function.
To hide someone. Anyway...
What is it?
Well, it’s literally an invisibility cloak.
It’s designed to bend light around the individual wearing it, making them essentially invisible
unless you get up all in their business.
It would be cutting edge for snipers, performing reconnaissance in specific areas, while requiring
some discreteness on the job, or say a pilot has to take a leap outta their crashing plane,
into enemy territory…
This cloak, if successfully used, could save their life.
There is some footage, that was leaked, concerning an individual appearing from thin air whilst
running towards a tank, which is reportedly the cloak being in use.
However no official confirmation has cropped up just yet, it could just be movie magic.
As for how it could work with Sombra, well it couldn’t make the individual any faster,
or agile...however it could make them disappear and allow them to reevaluate the situation
for another attack on opponents..
Moving on from being invisible, which is still pretty new to our real world, to something
that goes on almost everyday...hacking.
However, the hacking that sombra does -as her ability- isn’t your typical hack into
a system and gather data, it’s essentially a way of disabling her opponent's abilities,
in a way that an EMP would shut down electronical devices.
Conveniently her ultimate is called EMP, and is essentially an immediate hack on everyone
in a 10 metre radius.
So, we'll kind of combine them here.
In my opinion it’s one of the lower tier ultimates, unless used with precise timing,
however it’s also one of the more realistic ones.
As I mentioned in my Deus Ex TECH! episode, we can hack into devices today, and people
do on a regular basis.
But as I mentioned, the ability in the game, acts exactly like an ElectroMagnetic Pulse.
I know it’s not exactly a handheld weapon, that someone like sombra would carry around,
but bare with me.
In-come Boeing, with their Counter-electronics High-powered Microwave Advanced Missile Project,
otherwise known as CHAMP.
What is it?
Well it’s a missile that can be fired from specifically kitted out aircraft, or from
a setup on the ground.
The missile is a non lethal one, and it’s purpose is to travel across a target region,
and at specific points, use a concentrated Electromagnetic Pulse that will take out all
electronics and most communication from a building without any structural damage.
It’s the next leap in black-ops technology, allowing for special forces to enter an area,
or even a building without the targets communicating properly.
Although, we’ve had EMP’s for a while now, this more concentrated advancement will
allow for allied forces to participate in combat operations in urban areas, without
worrying or putting innocent civilians in danger.
I know what you’re thinking, Sombra ain’t gonna carry a big missile on her back, but
I thought it was an interesting alternative AND you never know, she could contact a few
people and get it sent out at a moments notice...because these things go in and out of their target
areas pretty darn fast.
Last but certainly not least would be Sombra’s Translocator.
It’s a throwable device that can be activated within 15 seconds of throwing it, and once
activated Sombra is pretty much teleported to it’s current location.
But teleportation is just a science fiction fantasy, it isn’t real, right?
That’s what I thought, however, Professor Hanson from the Delft University of Technology
in the Netherlands and his team have made some stunning progress.
Theoretically, they’ve formed a way to teleport things from point A to point B, but right
now in practice, they need to take baby steps...and by baby steps, I’m not trying to talk down
their work at all.
It’s incredible, but they’re beginning the practical side, with transferring data
from one point to another.
In Professor Hanson's' experiment, three entangled particles - a nitrogen atom locked in a diamond
crystal and two electrons - were used to transfer spin information a distance of three metres.
Four possible forms were transmitted, each corresponding to their own Quantum bit of data.
The end result?
Well apparently, they’ve sourced a secure way of transferring data with Hanson saying
“The information is teleported to the other side, and there's no way anyone can intercept
that information.
In principle it's 100% secure.” and the icing on the cake, every time they tried this
out… it worked.
I know some of you may not be super impressed by that, but this is great news for the big
sci-fi fans out of you.
Strides towards making teleportation possible is happening right now in the netherlands,
and maybe...just maybe someone will make it possible on a large scale in our lifetime.