Mei takes the lead in the new Overwatch animated short

The newest Overwatch animated short, unveiled by Blizzard today at Gamescom, is called "Rise and Shine," and features none other than everyone's favorite (and most heavily armed) climatoligist, Mei. 

The video was introduced by director Ben Dai, who made the very valid point that without science, the Overwatch team would be in deep trouble. And it's not always a glamorous job: Mei's morning routine looks about as exciting as mine. Except it turns out that on this day, she's slept in a little longer than she thought, and now she too is in deep trouble.    

The story gets off to a bit of a darker start than I would have expected, but you can't keep a good Mei down, as they say—and with a little inspiration from MacGyver (and a touching moment of self-sacrifice), she's back in action. But can she make her escape and rejoin the team? Watch and see!

(Hint: Yes, she can.)

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.