Formerly available on Switch, Xbox One and Windows. Now available nowhere. Overwatch is a prime example of what makes Blizzard such an amazing developer. They took a genre - online FPS - that has become so bland and overused ad nauseam that they all mostly feel the same, and they made it look and feel fresh, new, and energetic. Also setting Overwatch apart from the hoard of me-too FPS releases in recent years is the fact that it's actually colorful rather than a mix of bland and sickly desaturated browns and greys. That alone is exceptionally rare in shooters today. One thing that really sets Overwatch apart is the diverse roster of characters, all of whom truly do feel unique. The two that I, personally, enjoy playing the most are Bastion and Phara with D.Va as a close third, though I do pull out Soldier 76 and Reaper from time to time to change things up a little for me. I'm not very good, obviously - it's an FPS, and I'm HORRIBLE at FPS games (video games in general, really, but especially FPS) - but DAMN, is it fun. I don't play it super often as I'm much more of a story driven gamer, but get a friend or two in a party, and it's unparalleled. You've got something like 20 or 25 characters (don't remember, too lazy to Google) to choose from spread out over five (I think) general classes, but each character feels completely distinct from the others. Every character has two special abilities and an ultimate ability. Bastion, for example, is normally a giant robot but can turn into a stationary turret with far superior firepower and ammo capacity with one of his special moves. His other special move is the ability to repair himself, and his ultimate move turns him into a tank with INCREDIBLE firepower for a short time. Bastion is, obviously, best suited for either defense or slow, methodical advances. There are also a number of game modes that cycle. You've got your basic point control conquest where one team defends and one team attacks, a spin on Domination where both teams vie for control a single control point, and an escort mode where one team has to escort a payload to the end of the map and the other team has to try to stop them. They're all similar enough in objective so that it doesn't feel like a drastic shift, but they're also just different enough to keep things from feeling stale (looking at you, Call of Duty). Now, I've heard a lot of people make comparison with Battleborne, but since I haven't played that, I can't speak to that. What I CAN say is that this is an absolutely phenomenal game, and anyone who enjoys multiplayer and has a Switch, PS4, Xbox One, or gaming PC needs to give Overwatch a try. If I, of all people, am recommending an online-only shooter, then you know it's got to be good. But we know the real reason the internet likes this game. |
I'm a teacher.And I like to play video games. I like to collect video games. I like to talk about video games, and I like to write about video games. During the day, I teach high school history; during the night, I spend my spare time gaming. Then I write about it. Archives
April 2024
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