Explore the streets of Junkertown (and meet its mysterious queen)

Junkertown has hit the PTR, and we get an inside look at the wasteland post Omnic crisis.

By Cass Marshall Aug 30, 2017, 1:05pm EDT

Maybe both? — I don’t know if I want to step to her, or have her step on me.

After The Plan, which teased both Junkertown and Junkrat’s mad plot to re-enter the city and get revenge via copious amounts of wealth, spite, and explosives, fans have been excited for the map to hit live. It’s not quite there yet, but it is on the PTR. It’s not quite in a final state yet (for instance, the ‘take away’ sign is freshly tweaked), but there is a lot to take a gander at. For instance, we get an inside look at the abode of Junkrat and Roadhog, our first look at the town’s mysterious queen, and some potential new character teases.

Junkertown is an escort map; we follow Roadhog and Junkrat’s pile of wealth all of the way to the queen’s throne room, at which point the payload presumably detonates and delivers the Junkers’ revenge. Of course, in order for them to succeed, they’ll need to work their way past the checkpoints and the enemy team.

Junkers’ Delight

The map begins in the Junkers’ home, outside Junkertown proper. We see the signature motorcycle and sidecar that have shown up in other Roadhog and Junkrat media, parked carefully. It seems to be their most prized possession.

The two presumably eat breakfast together every morning. This is super cute; Roadhog has a bigger chair (and bowl), while Junkrat has more, well, Junkrat sized portion.

It’s not really clarified who’s bed this is, or whether they share it, but I’m not sure it has the capacity to hold a Roadhog.

Finally, they have a little loft with a TV and couch (and a few brews). Hey, even international criminals need to relax sometimes.

Junkrat, bless him, needs a reminder of the plan before he leaves.

Once you’re out of the Junkers’ habitat, you move into the first stage of the map.

Getting up to Junkertown itself

The payload is surrounded by ramshackle buildings, and there are plenty of places for a sneaky Genji or Tracer to flank their foes. This isn’t a very great place to live—there are less generators, no businesses, and more open space. It seems like this is part of Junkertown that spilled out from the city itself, perhaps from people too dangerous or disliked to live in the city.

The railways and hidey holes will make the approach to Junkertown tough, but possible. (I’m already dreading thinking about the Widowmakers who will tag me in spawn from this angle.)

The sky box offers us a view of the Australian landscape—lots of open ground, a wind tower, forests.

There isn’t the same crowded chaos of densely packed residential area. It’s unclear why these areas aren’t settled, although proximity to Junkertown might be an issue.

Finally, you’ll hit the first checkpoint: Junkertown’s gate, usually sealed. The payload and its riches are the key to enter the city and continue your assault.

Welcome to Junkertown

The first enemy spawn is in a bar and lounge for the denizens of Junkertown,

The entire thing feels very thematically (and visually!) similar to Borderlands 2’s hub city of Sanctuary. There are some Mad Moxxi’s bar vibes all throughout this spawn point.

It’s pretty clear that Roadhog and Junkrat aren’t welcome, and frankly, they should be feeling pretty lucky that they survived the end of The Plan.

Especially when this is the lady in charge of things. This is the only glimpse we’ve gotten so far of Junkertown’s Queen, but she definitely looks like she’s in control.

She also has unique callouts for Junkrat and Roadhog should they reach the first point, admonishing them for showing their faces or admitting their bravery in returning. It’s interesting that she calls Roadhog by his proper first name of Mako, but Junkrat is just... Junkrat. Does she have a previous history with them, or is she just affording Roadhog a sign of respect?

Despite the frosty reception, Junkertown is booming with business.

Sure, it’s a little ramshackle, but this part of Junkertown actually looks a little bit respectable! Respectable...ish. Respectable adjacent.

But all good things must come to an end, and we move into the next section of the map after the next checkpoint.

Holding court

With the first two checkpoints conquered, its time to head into the home stretch, and the most dangerous part of Junkertown.

Betting and brawls are a typical part of the Junkertown experience. Just ask Wrecking Ball, who has claimed the title of Champion. I’m sure it’s all legitimate, good fun.

Okay, so, this probably isn’t teasing our next set of heroes... but it is super charming to see a couple of old dudes just going ham on each other via mech battle.

Wait. That means Junkertown has access to mechs the size of like, three Roadhogs. That actually seems extremely bad! Sure, they’re not as good as the new Russian models shown off in Infiltration, but... maybe someone should check in on this? Maybe Overwatch? C’mon, Winston, this seems like a legitimate problem.

Well! Everything should be fine as long as you can bring the payload down this stretch. I already know that Torbjorns are going to put their turret on that rotating platform and I am already incredibly angry about it.

Well, it’s not as though it’s a bad walk to - OH MY GOD. Yes, the limbs absolutely twitch and stretch out. They’re uh, not a fan of omnics around here, it looks like.

We also get a glimpse of Junkertown weaponry.

It is absolutely, wildly impractical.

Finally, there’s the throne. It’s currently unoccupied! Which is a shame, it looks comfortable. She keeps an omnic head around, I guess in case she wants to monologue Hamlet style. Sure, there are worse uses for a decapitated robohead.

Okay, so, all of this is wildly dangerous. But! It all seems super isolated to Australia. It’s not like the Queen could hire, say, a mercenary force, or just straight up influence global politics via vast amounts of wealth, right? Hahaha.

Oh.

Junkertown is currently live on the PTR, but it won’t be hitting live servers quite yet. Will the map become less deadly? Probably not. In fact, the inhabitants of this world have quite a dilly of a pickle to deal with.

Explore the streets of Junkertown (and meet its mysterious queen)

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Junkers’ Delight

Getting up to Junkertown itself

Welcome to Junkertown

Holding court

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