Overwatch – a staggeringly fun game to play
BLIZZARD are experts in drumming up hype to near-rabid levels of excitement.
In light of this fact, one could be forgiven for thinking that Overwatch’s hype bubble would burst shortly after the release of the game, as gamers across the world realised that no game could meet such outlandish expectations. Astonishingly, this is not the case.
Overwatch is as refined as it is beautifully chaotic. This is a shooter that knows how to surprise without relying on audience blinding and gung-ho bravado.
Overwatch is never short of new ways to be thrilled and is truly greater than the sum of its parts.
Overwatch is both an exercise in forward-thinking video gaming of the future, and a heartfelt homage to the arena shooters of old.
Shades of Unreal Tournament and Quake can be seen in some of the hero characters, while others display more of the dynamism of the more modern Titanfall.
Even more typical Call of Duty style gamers are accomodated for in the Soldier 76 character.
In fact, the cast of characters is staggeringly diverse. Take two Tank characters, for instance: Roadhog and Winston.
Tank characters are identified by their massive size, and while both Winston and Roadhog are unquestionably large and have a ton of health, that’s about where the similarities end. Roadhog is a slow-moving pig man with a hook to drag people within range of his shotgun.
Winston is a hyper intelligent gorilla with insane mobility thanks to his leap and a defensive shield that helps keep the team alive.
The constant back and forth of jibes and snipes between characters suggests deeper story-related relationships between them and does an excellent job of immersing ourselves in these very likeable and distinct personalities.
There isn’t much bad to say about Overwatch. It is a staggeringly fun game, with some extremely well thought-out design choices and enough maps and characters to tie you over until the inevitable DLC surfaces somewhere down the line.
The one small caveat is this: playing alone is not even half as fun as playing with friends.