So Overwatch is fun. In fact, I'm likely to write about it more often, but here is a general review written more for people who haven't played than ones who have, but ones who have might see some hot takes.
Unfairly labelled a MOBA and a competitor to Battleborn (though it still is, kinda, that second thing), Overwatch is a Team Fortress rip off with a larger, more dynamic, character set. The game is heavily, HEAVILY, geared toward team play thus getting it's "MOBA-lite" comparison despite being an arena shooter. It's also very easy to pick up and play, so newbies shouldn't feel left behind, while also having plenty of depth and strategy. You can sink hours into this game and still find new things.
Overwatch is about a bunch of heroes who used to be on a team called, well, "Overwatch", but after establishing world peace....or something....they've been called back into action.....for.....reasons. I don't know. Any lore or anything resembling a story is not in the game. Sure, there is a ton of supplemental content like cool Youtube videos and wikis and whatever. None of it is actually in the game and it's all very disconnected. I'm not sure why the characters are doing......anything really.*
*There SEEMS to be some call to get Overwatch back together....for reasons....but there has been several falling outs....for reasons. I only get this sense from scripted, pre-game banter. I could be way off.
The team is led by a gorilla scientist. A sentence I get to write.
So it's weird to say this next part but, the characters are BY FAR the biggest strength of the game. They each have well established personalities, even if they are a bit archetypal (looking at you edgelord Reaper), and their designs just ooze more personality leading Overwatch to be one of the highest searched porn categories.* Their skill sets also add to fleshing out their personalities as well making up for the total lack of "character motivation" a good character normally needs. The pre-game banter, and unlockable voice lines and emotes, all help as well.
*I wouldn't know....or anything.**
**Yes, yes, I know. Rule 34 and all that. Still, Overwatch porn flooded the internet exceptionally fast. I'm not the only one who has noticed (link is sorta NSFW, with censoring. Use caution). It's a testament to great characters when everyone can't wait to see them fuck. I'm not kidding.
That's the face of someone watching porn of themselves.
The characters are split into four classes: Attack, Defense, Tank, and Support. Attack characters are good damage dealers, tend to be more mobile, and two of them are OP with the right person (Genji and McCree). Defense characters are slower, usually have higher HP, two are turret types, two are harassing types, and two are snipers who can go fuck themselves. Support characters heal, well 3 of the 4 of them heal, one only does shields and can set up low power but crafty turrets. It's uh, it's weird.....Anyway. One has a speed boost and another can debuff enemies. Also, Mercy is almost identical to the Team Fortress Medic so an easy newbie character.
The tank class is strange. Out of 5 characters, only two seem like true tanks IMO, Reinhardt and Roadhog. Winston is best at disrupting lines and causing chaos, Zarya is like a Tank/Support hybrid who has a big learning curve, and D.va. D.va might be the biggest discussion topic among tanks because she isn't a tank. She's great at flanking, holding lines, and a super great sniper counter which I almost don't want to say because so few know this and it's like a secret with my buds. The tank class is always a discussion among Overwatch fans so far and I will go into more detail in a future post.
The game is set up with 12 maps on 3.5 modes. There are Assualt maps, Escort Maps, Control (king of the hill) maps, and hybrid maps hence the 0.5. Assualt has you capture two points by standing in a box. Escort makes you escort a payload....just like Team Fortress....huh. Control is yep. And, Hybrid maps have an assualt point to take first, then a payload to escort. Except for the Control maps, you play either attack or defense and after a round, switch. The faster an objective is captured, the more time you have to capture the next. Overwatch also has a (sometimes shakey) Overtime system that as long as somebody is "on the point", you can stop the opposing team from, or on attack claim, an objective (it sounds more complicated than I can explain).
The maps are surprisingly better than I initially thought in the beta, as well as during my first, I dunno, 20 levels. There are far more hidden hallways and possibilities for flanking than at first glance. Gaining character knowledge also helps exploit the maps in character specific ways. They also having varying locales like Russian factories, old western roads, ancient Egyptian temples, a....a quiet Latin American town.
What to the people who live here think of all this?
Now....I know I ripped Star Wars:Battlefront for having few maps and recycled modes. Why is it okay for Overwatch and not Battlefront? A quick 3 points.
- Overwatch is built for team play. Battlefront is not. Battlefront has 20 players on each team in its largest modes, making team play near impossible.
- Battlefront has no classes or any real different characters. Sure, you can play as a Jedi, sometimes. But it's basically random with 20 people, making any sort of strategy around a Jedi player like trying to convince the very likely 12 year old Darth Vader to wait for help rushing the next pointtttt "where the fuck are you going kid? No! Stop! *Dies*". Yes you can get new guns and equipment too but the vast majority of it is either worthless or overpowered so everybody just uses the handful that's overpowered. Overwatch actually takes balance into consideration.
- They are two different genres, technically. Battlefront is a big, raucous, brainless, soulless, grotesque movie tie in that was rushed out the door. Overwatch is about Overwatch. Battlefront is about getting you more hyped for Star Wars movies, as if they needed it. (Lets just say, Battlefront feeeeels more corporate. EA does that).
It's so glossy
Overwatch has a leveling system that doesn't really mean anything other than "this dude played the game a lot....maybe". There is a group EXP bonus too (which I have exploited as well as some others probably reading this, *high five*) but it's pretty negligible. I've noticed the level 25-50 players tend to be the saltiest, self proclaimed experts of Overwatch.....
Yep, I love this game, but there are some negatives.
The vast majority of the community is fine. Most people are quiet, which can hurt a team based game although sometimes things gel anyway. The synergy is sometimes just right even on a totally silent team. But other times, the synergy is wayyyyy off and everybody tries to do their own thing and get slaughtered. This leads to some people....getting a sense of "know-it-all" when they clearly do not. (Two snipers never, ever, ever works.....except like twice. But usually, it's a shit show). The community is slowly getting more salty (even myself at times) over bad character picks, people refusing to get on point when it's desperately needed (looking at you "always picks Hanzo player"), and Mei haters who can fuck RIGHT OFF.
Mei is bae. I'm sorry Mei is the least "Call of Duty" of any character, and good Mei's need to spam ice walls, but you HAVE to forgive the occasional bad ice wall. Sorry you're a fucking Genji on a defensive team fucking around in bum fuck Egypt while the rest of us hold this point and my ice wall stopped you from backing out of danger. Maybe not spawn camp????? I use ice walls to keep enemies from advancing on the point, block snipers, block turrets, and just general slowing them down. Also, sorry I blocked your shot, friendly sniper or turret. I'm sure THAT was the kill that would have solidified the win. Mei is fucking bae!
I've always liked characters with ice powers. Also, adorbs.
Whoa....Got a little off topic there.
Overwatch is VERY popular so of course there are going to be some asshats. That said, you don't have an RPG-like skill tree you need to climb in a single game. The legendarily toxic League of Legends type of community is unlikely to develop here. There is no "one way" to play a character. The saltlords are routinely outnumbered. There needs to be a punishment for rage-quitters (there used to be an exp penalty but I think it's gone. Even then, that is a lame punishment) but I think the bad teammates are easily ignored and/or muted.
The saltiest of issues are character picks but Overwatch ENCOURAGES switching characters mid game if things are going south. It's something, myself included, people need to get better at. Each character has counter characters and it is admittedly hard to ditch a character I have a good K/D with. It's obviously my teammates fault we are losing....right?
Learn as many as you can. Sticking to one character only will lead to some bad times.
Overwatch's rewards could be better too. You get a "Loot Box" every level, which are randomized skins, emotes, voice lines, sprays, etc. You rarely get anything you want, you can get dupilcates (?!?!) which are converted to in game currency, and just generally suck. Oh, also microtransactions.* As if loot boxes don't suck enough, you can buy them for real world money. The actual things you want? You can't buy (I'd still hate them here but less so). If there was an option to just get in game currency instead of randomized loot boxes, this would be 10x better.
*BTW, I don't do # outta 10 ratings in my reviews but the mere existence of microtransactions would drop this game a full point for me. We are not harsh enough on game companies pulling this bullshit. No, "It's just the way it is now" for me. No. It doesn't have to be. Leave that to shitty mobile games. And yeah, "only on cosmetics" is still a load a shit. It's...in the game. What am I paying for?
Luckily, this game isn't "pay-to-win" and it's mostly well balanced. Some character issues aside (see next Overwatch post), the game is very welcoming to every skill type. Hell, after practice, I'm starting to get better at my bad characters. Except Hanzo because fuck him.
There is ALWAYS a Hanzo.
Finally, I absolutely need to mention that Kill/Death ratio is pretty pointless in this game. As long as you contribute to the team, it's all good. Timing can matter, sure, but overall K/D is devalued. You cannot see teammates K/D. Ever. Also, some games, you just gotta throw yourself at the objective, death count be damned. Sometimes you need to throw caution to the wind. If a defensive team is holding a choke point, go Tracer or Reaper, get behind them, force them to defend the objective instead. Sometimes you gotta fly in as a Mercy and revive a bunch of dead teammates knowing you are gonna die in the process. Sometimes you gotta cover flanks as Symmetra and just sorta be in the background. Sometimes you gotta be Genji or Tracer on defense and just be a general fuckwad that tries to disrupt an offensive back line, have a GREAT K/D but be a huge reason the team lost because of the aforementioned fuckwadded-ness
Mostly though, Overwatch is just fun as hell. If you got the game on PC, hit me up and we can play together. If PC is not viable, give the game a shot on console (which felt more K/D orientated but I bet is getting better), or not and miss out. I got sold on this game by watching Youtube let's plays (mainly Jesse Cox's, who I don't even watch all that much). There is more in depth stuff I could say about the characters and strategy....so expect that post some time.
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Mei is bae. Some of you, fucking hate Mei. Just want you to know. You are very, very, wrong. You came across a good one, and suck at Mei yourself. I understand. Mei is unorthodox to play as and good Mei's are a problem. You're just jealous. Let it go....snow and ice reference unintentional.
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