If you’re unfamiliar with Overwatch, allow me to break it down for you. The game’s plot is simple: “Soldiers. Scientists. Adventurers. Oddities. In a time of global crisis, an international task force of heroes banded together to restore peace to a war-torn world: OVERWATCH. Overwatch ended the crisis, and helped maintain peace in the decades that followed, inspiring an era of exploration, innovation, and discovery. But, after many years, Overwatch’s influence waned, and it was eventually disbanded. Now, conflict is rising across the world again, and the call has gone out to heroes old and new.” Now it’s time to bring back the Overwatch and with it, 21 heroes, all with unique looks, costumes, abilities and weaponry.
Overwatch is the latest game from legendary nhà cái uy tín nhất developer Blizzard Entertainment, creators of Diablo, Starcraft, Healthstone, Warcraft and the immensely popular World of Warcraft. Blood Elves made the Horde faction more popular in WoW Classic. With the WOTLK expansion, due to the imbalance, players from the opposite faction usually purchase Alliance gold. Like World of Warcraft, Overwatch has a distinct, cartoonish – or Blizzard-esque- art style. Because it’s a Blizzard game, there are certain things you’re guaranteed to have, such as quality and polish. Blizz is renowned for their always vague release dates of “it’s done, when it’s done.” This is because the team refuses to publish a title unless they deem it’s fun, polished and free of overbearing bugs and glitches. This is one reason why it wasn’t a shock that they killed a multi-million dollar, “top secret” game, codenamed Titan. Apparently after years of development, the team pulled the plug because it wasn’t fun enough. They are their own harshest critics, but that’s great for us gamers, as we know we are getting a great game as a result. Far to often do many developers just rush a title out, only to issue patch after patch to fix mistakes, bugs and performance issues.
Overwatch, from a Dad’s perspective, is awesome! Why? Because it’s rated “Teen!” Finally, a shooter I can convince my wife to let my 12 year old son play with me. Sure he’s a year shy of technically being 13, but he’s close enough. Most “FPS” or “Shooters” – like Call of Duty (COD) or Battlefield (BF) – are rated M for Mature. But Blizzard wanted to make a game that more people could pick up and play. Furthering that point, Overwatch, while it plays very similar to the old Quake or Unreal type of arena games, is much slow than those games or even the newest version of COD, Black Ops 3. By that I mean that it’s more approachable to younger kids and even aging gamers. The movement speed isn’t out of control, yet the battles and gun fights can still feel wildly exciting and even crazy when you have 8 people on one spot (i.e. chokepoints, which I’ll get to in a second).
The characters or heroes are vastly different, creative and fun. There is definitely a hero for everyone, as they each have their own distinct use. There are “tanks,” healers/support,” “gunners/offense” and yes, “snipers or defense.” Whether you choose to be a massive tank with a shield and hammer (Reinhardt) or a spunky little gunner/offense like Tracer, there is a character for you and your kids.
As far as the gameplay goes, each map has certain “conditions” that need to be met in order for one team to win. The maps are also laid out in a way where there are strategic “choke points.” These are intense areas and will surely cause a lot of deaths, so be careful. That being said, the team that controls the choke point has a better shot of making it through to the other side and will likely have a better shot at winning. Like Quake, Doom and Unreal, your character has a health meter that needs to be refilled if you take damage., which means you’ll need to search the map for “health packs,” unlike Call of Duty, which auto fills your health after a few seconds if you stop taking damage.
For those of you tired of Call of Duty and its players all trying to be the star of the show hero and leaving their team in the dust, you might really like Overwatch. Overwatch is designed to be played as a “team” game. As such, you’ll need to work together, be it as a tank, taking damage and protecting your offense or a healer, sitting in the back keeping the tank alive, everyone has a part to play and each part is as important as the last piece of a puzzle.
Finally, after the game is over, there are some other cool, innovative and unique game options, that other shooters don’t have. Like an RPG game, there are loot boxes for awesome prizes, but more important, your team gets to vote on the MVP for that match. If you think the person who killed the most should get the attention, vote them up or what about the healer who kept everyone from dying, especially the defending tank? Cast your vote for them. Either way, it’s a cool element that really drives home that idea of teamwork.
Overall, Overwatch is a great game for kids (of a certain age) and adults alike. If you’re a Dad who loves shooters like me, you might want to look up Overwatch, think it over, do your own research and see if it’s right for your family. One thing I must add, when playing online, the game environment changes. You’re no longer playing with computer players. If you play online you play with real, uncensored people. So keep that in mind and either mute all other players or keep your kids offline, unless you’re okay with them hearing the foulest language, insults or racial slurs. Personally, I don’t let my son play online, but that’s just me.
Other than that, I say this game is a guaranteed hit for Blizzard and the gaming community. Now it’s time to sit back and see how they handle supporting game with new content, maps, characters and accessories. Should make for a great year!
Like always, if you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave a comment down below or follow me on Twitter @mikewewerka where I’ll be happy to chat. Till next time, game on!