Another major factor in Overwatch’s superior focus is its combat readability. In other words, it’s far easier to recognize what’s happening on the screen at any given moment and react accordingly. It’s easy to figure out what powers each hero has, how they would use them in any given situation and the potential counters to each hero’s strategy. The sheer amount of lunacy on the screen at any given moment does make Battleborn exciting, but it’s often extremely tough to figure out the best strategy to take in a given encounter. What makes Overwatch special is that high-level play isn’t hindered by its combat readability, so both new and old players have the potential to plan out their moves in the best way possible. Battleborn, for all of its chaos and excitement, doesn’t necessarily do a great job communicating with the player (this can also be seen in its awkward menu system).
This focus on overall team success is part of the game’s DNA, and it shows both in-game and when you’re not actively in a match. There are plenty of leaderboards and statistics to let you know how you fare with each character, and the ability to try out each character in a ‘tutorial map’ is a very useful feature. In-game, there are plenty of ways to communicate with teammates. Aside from traditional methods like voice or type chat, pre-determined messages can be accessed on the fly, from simple greetings to more informational chatter.
Overwatch’s tutorial system does an excellent job at introducing players to the basics, but the lessons don’t end there. Every menu and on-screen cue does an excellent job of doling out information to the players at a comfortable pace; character select screens detail and explain each character’s roles, whether that be support, offense, defense, or tank. Specific abilities and weapons for each character can be accessed in-game, and you’re able to switch characters on the fly if need be. The game also assigns a difficulty rating for each character, allowing newcomers to shy away from more complex heroes. Better yet, the game will often tell you when your team is unbalanced, letting you know what roles your team is lacking.
Yesterday evening (December 1st, at the time of writing this) was the night of the annual Game Awards show, a lavish live-streamed spectacle where the best and brightest of the video games industry gathered in Los Angeles – in order to receive awards voted on by industry peers and journalists, celebrating the year in gaming. It was a good night for big-name hits like Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End , the reboot of DOOM and Blizzard’s mega-selling team shooter **Overwatch ** , as well as respected independent titles like That Dragon Cancer – and it was a chance for those in attendance to show off all-new trailers for upcoming tit
Take Soldier 76, for example. On the surface, he is the most recognizable of the bunch. To be honest, he looks like he was plucked from any semi-futuristic shooter, but his inclusion and design is an important one. Overwatch is a game that awards team and skill-based play, and Soldier 76 serves the important role of acclimating less experienced players into the game. His moveset is simple, with an ultimate ability that essentially allows you to hold down a trigger and rack up kills without aiming, and he also has a healing item, which helps to minimize the importance of avoiding enemy fire. He also has the benefit of handling like a traditional first person shooter, which is bound to resonate with fans of the genre. There’s also Widowmaker, a fan favorite who wields a powerful sniper rifle. While her moveset and weapons require more skill to successfully use, her character design harkens to the femme fatale types that are instantly recognizable, which makes it easier for newcomers to discern what her purpose is within the game.
Winston’s first ability, his Jump Pack, functions both as a way deal massive damage and a method for increasing mobility. This ability allows him to launch a large distance based on whichever direction the reticle is facing. Not only does this allow Winston to escape battle or get to an objective quickly, but it also gives him the power to harm any enemies in the immediate vicinity of his landing spot. While new players will often just launch forward, more experienced players know that vertical boosts will allow for localized damage.
We’d be lying to you if we said that we weren’t absolutely stoked for Overwatch, the upcoming hero-shooter from Blizzard. The combination of tight shooting, frenetic team-based combat and some downright awesome design decisions have made overwatch 2 Stadium Builds potentially the most promising multiplayer shooter of the decade thus far. With Early Access to Overwatch’s Open Beta beginning at 4PM PST tonight (the flood gates officially open to the public on May 5), we caught up with Assistant Game Director Aaron Keller to learn the answers to all of our pressing questions.
