RandomReview: Overwatch

Review: Overwatch

Developer: Blizzard Entertainment

Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment

Format: PC, PS4, Xbox One (reviewed)

Released: May 24, 2016

I think I have an addiction. It’s been ruining my life in the recent days. It is the sheer utter brilliance of an addiction - one that grabs you away from reality and forces you to change your own schedule for worse.

I’m talking about Overwatch. Yes, Overwatch has consumed me recently with its excellence in creating an enjoyable class-based shooter. Let me explain.

I’m not the type of person who really enjoys multiplayer-based shooters, actually. I have tried things like Team Fortress before, but I haven’t found myself feeling grabbed into it the way many people are. I needed something there to keep me going. Most multiplayer shooters involve microphones, and as an introverted individual, I don’t feel comfortable speaking with others online - much less strangers in a lobby. Overwatch is more intriguing. It’s wonderful how many little interactions you can have with one another in this game without actually using a microphone. I haven’t heard anyone speak at all during the course of my playtime in Overwatch. The game features a wheel of dialogue options for you to choose from which are used to communicate different things. A simple “Hello” may suffice, or perhaps you’ll let your team know that your ultimate is ready.

Despite the endearing simplicity of this dialogue system, the dialogue wheel is much too sensitive - at least on consoles. There are plenty times where a mere “Hello” instead results in a “My ultimate is charging!” This is an annoyance at times, whereas the chaos of a match can lead to your death just because you have to hold down the analog stick a few more moments just to make sure you pick the correct dialog option. Although, the dialogue wheel can prove quite useful at times. I found one instance where Lucio told the team, “Group Up On Me!” followed by a “My ultimate is ready!” The team grouped on him and took an advantage from his Sound Barrier. Things like that can really help in a match, which is why I love it.

GradeAUnderA reference?

Besides the dialogue options, there are a few minor, but friendly ways to interact with one another. I found one instance where me as D.Va and a teammate as McCree tried to put our spray on top of the other’s until the match started. It had me a giggling mess for a few moments, which was awesome. No mics. Just fun. That’s the joy I’ve had about Overwatch. I don’t need to grab friends to enjoy a multiplayer game. Nobody on your team is trying to grief you or anything. It’s all very enjoyable.

Microtransactions do appear in the game. Although I am typically against microtransactions as most gamers are, I don’t feel like these are as bad. Upon raising a level or using a microtransaction, you will receive loot boxes, which give the player four random items. The items can involve new sprays, voice lines, skins, highlight intros or emotes. None of which enhance the player in anyway besides looking nice. Some of the sprays, like the Pixel ones, are only unlocked via achievements/trophies. So I can sort of flex in a match by showing off my Pixel Pharah logo. So in this case, the microtransactions aren’t that bad. As long as it doesn’t enhance the user in anyway, it’s okay in my book, but the concept is still generally displeasing. I just wish there was a different way to earn credits besides getting duplicate items. I don’t want to buy credits, of course, but perhaps earn them from accolades in matches. Something like that maybe. It’s troubling when you unlock plenty of things via loot boxes, only to find that they’re divided among heroes you don’t use often. I feel lucky to have the most items unlocked for D.Va and Widowmaker, but the ones that come after (Hanzo, Bastion, and Roadhog) are heroes I don’t use really. It’d be nice to have a way to get credits.

All of the heroes feel unique and different in their own ways, which is a great change from standard shooters. Occasionally, they’ll even chat with one another. My personal favorite is between Mercy and Reaper. Where Mercy innocently asks, “What happened to you?”, Reaper responds with “You tell me, doc.” Lovely. There’s plenty of interactions of that sort. I’ve noticed Widowmaker say “And a legend falls…” when she shoots down Soldier:76 or Reaper in combat.

Heroes are split into four categories: Offense, Defense, Tank, and Support. Of those categories, the game will suggest what heroes your team requires in order to be balanced. It’d be wise to listen. One hero can make a difference depending on your choice. Of course, players are able to switch between heroes at will while in their spawn area. On defensive modes, you’ll see subcategories like “Sniper” or “Builder.” Although there are only two of each, it’d be good to add them to your team’s roster to improve it’s overall defense. I wouldn’t say any hero is similar to another, either. They’re all really easy to use. Overwatch also allows you to view a hero’s info at any time with the touch of a button. Each hero is rated out of three stars in terms of how difficult they are to use. Personally, I think this can help ease some people into the game with certain characters. I generally use the two star characters like D.Va or Lucio. None feel Overpowered in any way, either. They’re all given hard counters. People thought Bastion was OP for a while, but Widowmaker, Genji or Hanzo absolutely wreck Bastion. If anyone is OP, it’s definitely Genji. Maybe Tracer too. Those two heroes are just pests to play against and can tear apart an offense if the user is competent enough, which is not fun. I would put sanctions on those two, maybe Genji more so than Tracer. Although Tracer is an annoyance, Soldier:76 can take her out rather easily. I saw Genji literally contest a point by jumping in the air from a post in the middle of the point over and over. He stalled long enough until his team respawned. Genji is OP and an annoyance when someone who is good with him plays.

Offense heroes generally are used for... Well, offense. Purely offense. Many of them are better as harassment heroes, like Genji, Reaper or Tracer - but others like McCree (Anyone else get a John Marsten vibe from McCree? I mean, he even has the Deadeye!), Pharah and Soldier:76 are capable of fighting out in the frontlines with the Tank heroes. Every hero has a unique design. I love Reaper’s design. Probably my favorite take on a grim reaper-themed character in gaming so far, mostly because I can’t recall any other instances I enjoy. He also has one of the most badass reloading animations out there, where he just drops the guns he currently has and grabs two more from thin air. What a boss. The Offense heroes are also generally easy to get a hang of as well. When I first jumped into the Open Beta, I took a liking to Pharah right away as a go-to character. I achieved plenty “Player of the Game” awards with her. Now she remains as one of my favorites. I sort of use her as artillery at times, by finding a vantage point and lobbing rockets down on the enemy position. Besides her, all of the offense heroes feel very nice to use. Genji may be too difficult for new players, though.

Next is Defense. These characters are annoyances to play against, but I wouldn’t say that they feel cheap in anyway. They’re easy to counter once you know their tendencies. The ones that comes to mind in that sense are Mei and Junkrat. Once prepared and seasoned enough in the game, you’ll know what to do when facing these two. Defense also features the two snipers, Hanzo and Widowmaker. I prefer Widowmaker over Hanzo personally, mostly because her goth skin is amazing - but I just like her playstyle more. Despite that, I see people using Hanzo often, so it’s probably just me. One of the game’s builders, Torbjorn is here as well, who I use on occasion when the team needs a builder. He’s more of a frontline builder than the other hero builder, which helps in chaotic defensive matches. He’s also really easy to get kills with, since anything his upgradable turret kills counts towards his own kill count. Lastly, the infamous Bastion is here. Bastion earned a reputation for being OP back in the beta, but he’s not really that OP. He is definitely OP when paired with Mercy’s damage boosting, which basically allows Bastion to cut down literally anything that comes into sight. Combined with the fact that Bastion can repair itself, he is definitely a defensive monster when paired with Mercy.

I’ve noticed that across the categories, the amount of heroes in each shrinks. It makes me wonder if Blizzard will eventually add more heroes to help even things off between each category. Offense has six heroes, while defense has five. Tanks have five as well, but support only has four. When it comes to Tanks, the one you’ll be seeing a lot of probably is Reinhardt. I guarantee you’ll see Reinhardt within your first few hours of playing Overwatch. He’s an absolute monster with his shield and plowing abilities, which makes him a good focal point for a team to get behind on offense or defense. You’ll probably see Winston and Roadhog from time to time as well, who are tanks of their own right. I’ve noticed that a majority of tank characters are great in close range, while of course stacking plenty of health. I don’t see people using Zarya, really. Mostly because I feel like she’s difficult to use and get a hang of, I suppose. If you play against A.I. you’ll end up seeing her a lot since she’s one of the few A.I. heroes programmed into the game. I don’t like Tank characters much, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed D.Va. She’s awesome! From what I hear, she’s a gamer too, which is pretty cool. She has quotes like “Ugh… AFK!”, “GG!” or things of that nature. Her boosters allow her to get to the fight rather quickly after respawning, and I feel like I’m a very competent player with her. I like boosting up to sniper positions and tearing them a new one. So awesome to see them back up in fear from this young girl who’s like nineteen but sounds like she’s twelve.

Support heroes are the last category, and have the least amount of heroes out of the twenty-one available. These heroes include Mercy, Lucio, Symmetra, and Zenyatta. I love Mercy, since she can both heal and damage boost allies, but she gets killed a lot. If you don’t care about dying, Mercy might be the way to go. She isn’t very mobile, and her backup pistol is the weakest weapon in the game, but she can change the momentum of games with her ability to resurrect allies with her ultimate ability. Symmetra is really cool too. I had to read up on how to use her at first, but I realize that she can be a very good defensive hero. She’s the other builder in the game, putting down Sentry Turrets and Teleporters, which allow allies to return to the fight quicker. Her constructs are very fragile, however, so they need to be placed at choke points where the enemy won’t expect them. So it’s a strategy you must have with her in order to utilize her abilities best. She’s also one of the few heroes (if not the only one) that can shoot through Reinhardt’s shield with the energy orbs she launches. An overall cool character. Then we get to Zenyatta, who is a healer like Mercy or Lucio, but he’s not as effective, in my opinion. Mercy and Lucio are much more direct with their methods, but Zenyatta feels like a really cool character too. He can increase the damage done to specific enemies with his Discord Orbs, which proves useful. My personal favorite is Lucio though, who’s probably my favorite character overall. Lucio, unlike Mercy and Zenyatta who have to target specific teammates in order to heal them, Lucio uses a AOE via his healing music. His blaster does decent enough damage to certain enemies, and he’s pretty fast when getting back to the fight. His ultimate, Sound Barrier, can give allies an advantage in the middle of a match. He’s also the chillest character in the game, who in the chaos that is an Overwatch Quick Play match, just jams out to his music amidst the chaos. “This is my jam!”

The game consists of only four different game modes. Although they do vary enough between consecutive matches, it’s surprising that there aren’t enough of these available. It’s part of the reason why some are feeling iffy about the price tag in terms of the content available. A minimum of four modes feels a bit too low for this kind of game. The games are usually played on offense or defense, where one team has to defend a position from being captured, while the other has to try to capture it. These usually consist of another position afterwards, or a payload that needs to be escorted after taking the point. At other times, a payload will be the central focus of the mission and needs to be escorted by one team, while being pushed back by the other. The other mode included is “Control.” Each team tries to capture and maintain a common control point until their capture percentage reaches 100%. This game mode is played in a best-of-three format. If an objective is not yet completed by an attacking team, an “Overtime” period will start ticking down, where the attacking team has a small window to redeem themselves. These modes are very enjoyable despite there being so few. The fact there’s so few available allows new players to face a shorter learning curve than they’d expect.

The modes are played on a variety of maps that are inspired by real-world locations. I really think they’re pretty varied and enjoyable. I do think that some characters are better on some maps than others, though. Defending the first point in Temple of Anubis has great vantage points for Widowmaker and Hanzo, but there is a severe lack of vantage spots around the second point. Maps without any chokepoints or bottlenecks can be hard for Symmetra to set up effectively on as well. It really encourages you to become efficient with several heroes. My tip is to get the hang of one hero from each category, so you don’t have to worry about switching to someone you’re not comfortable with. Also try to avoid picking the same hero as someone else. Variation is key to success. The maps look great, however. The art style chosen with this game is not graphically impressive by any means, but it looks beautiful on some maps, especially with “Hanamura.” So there’s a certain novelty to behold with the style the maps are done within. That goes for the characters as well.

These four modes are played in four styles of play - Quick Play, Play Vs AI, Custom Game, or Arcade. Again, with the lack of content. Besides the Training modes, these are the only ways to go about playing. There’s no campaign, which is disappointing in some aspects, but I think a Star Wars Battlefront (the PS2 versions) type of campaign would’ve worked, that resembled the multiplayer in a lot of ways. Quick Play is definitely where you’ll spend most of your time, but I recommend playing against some AI to brush up on the heroes you want to use.

Going into AI first, I can see how it’s definitely appealing to new users. Easy is like ridiculously easy. Only the noobiest of noobs will have trouble. I like to think of myself as a good Overwatch player, but not ridiculously good like MLG level. I think I’m just alright at the game. Competent, for lack of a better term. Medium AI feels much too easy though. As long as you have a decent healer on your squad, you’ll wreck the Medium AI. Hard AI feels like a big jump from Medium, perhaps too much of a jump. I do like the challenge though, but it seems like others don’t. It’s harder to find a match against Hard AI than it is for Medium. Unfortunate, since Medium isn’t really fun besides being a place to test new heroes. There isn’t even a good variety of enemies! The AI uses the same heroes over and over. Reaper, Zenyatta, Roadhog, Zarya, Soldier:76, and Bastion. Every time. I do hope they look at the AI mode and see things to fix within it, because I think it could be a lot more popular given a few improvements. Some variety to the AI heroes, along with some more variety to the AI cosmetics would be nice. Perhaps make Medium a tad more difficult as well? I don’t understand how this can be a game mode when it doesn’t feel enough effort has been put into it. It just feels like a testing ground for heroes you don’t use often, while the Hard AI is the real challenge that you can never find a match for.

I haven’t played any Arcade, really. I played a match or two, but it’s hectic. It’s a challenge mode, sort of, that resembles quick play besides some special rules put in place. Cool to see, but not my thing. Maybe you’ll like it, but I don’t. I have a similar go around with Custom Game. It’s where you invite that guy who says “1v1 me m8” and tear him a new one. Or it’s your escape. Fill each team with AI and you can just chill out. Maybe even start up a league. Quick Play is where you’ll spend most of your time, though. You will get put into a match relatively quickly. The most I’ve ever had to wait is seven seconds.

And that’s it! That’s all the content in the game. There’s a training mode, of course, but that’s not really necessary to go into. I do recommend it for new players, but it’s your run-of-the-mill tutorial mode. One for basic gameplay, one for playing around with each hero, one for playing against AI to practice. Not really too special. While the game is 40 bucks on Steam, I got my Xbox copy for 50 via Amazon. Everyone else will get it for 60 on console. Seems a bit high for this lack of content. I like 40 as a price for this game, at least until more content is added on. Now with that said, I feel like the game is fun enough to grab right now and get into. If you’re confident in it from the beta, then I’d say grab it. It’s almost too much fun once you start playing. Overwatch deserves the great reception it’s getting. Is it better than Team Fortress? In my opinion, it is. Having heroes instead of generic classes feels so much more interesting and it provides a different experience than other FPS games. Overwatch is a wonderful game, that I highly recommend if you’re looking for a fresh experience.

9/10

Excellent

Edit: Forgot to add some things...

Love the fact you can map buttons in the options. You can turn off the kill cam and kill feed as well, which I love.

Kills are also titled as "eliminations". Kill assists aren't really a thing unless you're a healer. As long as you do damage to an enemy, you'll be credit for an elimination. The amount of damage done leads to the amount of points you get from it. I don't know specifically how it works, but that's the gist I get. It's a good way to keep you from feeling worthless. Just wanted to add those in as things I liked, but forgot to add.