Review: Overwatch

In multiplayer the first person shooter genre is filled with veritable titans of the industry like Halo and Call of Duty that absolutely nail the mechanics of what they are attempting. In fact this perspective and type of game is filled to brimming with high quality experiences, so much so that it makes it very difficult to make a game that can stand with those titans with any sort of longevity. It’s fitting then that out of the ashes of a game called Titan itself rose Overwatch, because it does indeed stand head and shoulders with, and in my opinion surpasses, those experiences. Overwatch is quite simply the most fantastic multiplayer online experience I’ve ever had. 

Why You Should Play: Overwatch

Welcome to a series on this site where we shine a spotlight on games you should be playing and why. First up, Blizzard Entertainment's new Multiplayer FPS Team Based Shooter: Overwatch.

Title: Overwatch

Platform: Xbox One, PS4, PC

Developer: Blizzard Entertainment

People that know me know that I’m not usually a big fan of multiplayer first person shooters and, to be honest, am not very good at them. Usually I’d rather spend my gaming time delving into the deep single player worlds of games like Zelda or the Witcher series. However, Blizzard’s name often means quality and seeing Overwatch’s phenomenal character designs my interest was heavily peaked. That interest soon plummeted when I realized it was a multiplayer only shooter with no campaign. At that point I’d dismissed it out of hand and had no other interaction with it. Then I got my hands on it this past weekend and my entire perspective on it changed drastically.

I’m here to tell those of you that might have missed the beta why, even if you don’t usually enjoy your typical online shooter, you might adore Overwatch.

Overwatch Beta Impressions

So I finally got some time on the console version of Overwatch.  I'm not much of a PC gamer so this was the first time I got to try it out. After spending the last 2 nights playing I can say I am fully convinced that this game will be a huge success.

For starters everything just feels right.  From the shooting and ability's to the overall control scheme.  If you've played a shooter before you can jump right in with no problems and feel right at home.  Within minutes of playing this game reminded me of all the best parts of Team Fortress 2.  If you get a chance to watch GameSpots The Story of Overwatch Documentary you will see exactly why this is and where the team found there influences for this game. (check it our seriously its amazing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq-HwvYjLLg) 

The thing that stands out to me about this game so far is the balancing.  With 21 playable characters I was really scared that there would be overpowered characters that would break the game.  However I have been blown away by the fact that not one single character feels overpowered or under powered.  Every one of the hero's I played on felt like they were very unique and had a role to play in any of the matches.  In a match where we were taking a objective point I played as one of the tank characters of Reinhardt he is not the best melee character but with his shield the rest of the team was able to get behind me as we made a push.  Other games if your not getting kills your not really helping your team.  In this one I felt like everything I did was helpful and important to the round.  This is reflected in the final score as well.  No where did I see a k/d ratio that is so coveted in other FPS games.  It did a good job of celebrating the things that every player does well.

This is the first shooter I've played in a long time that I can see myself devoting a lot of time to.  (it also helps that its rated T and I feel okay playing it when my kids are awake, but that is another post all together).  After the game comes out I plan on writing a longer review about the final product but as of right now the beta has done everything right and I feel like Blizzard has another huge hit on there hand.

This is a must try open beta guys.  Go out and play it and just try it out.  You will be happy you did.