There is a way to get the content you want: Overwatch Gold. Overwatch 2 Anniversary Event once again stumbles over itself, though, as Gold isn’t earned from playing well or as a microtransaction, but as a random drop from Loot Boxes or burning duplicates. For a game that relies so much on rewarding players for mastering their favorite characters, it doesn’t really give them many ways to unlock the content for the characters they like.
Blizzard has perfected the RTS and now they’ve laid a fantastic foundation for the FPS. Though simple on the surface, Overwatch manages to create depth thanks to its 21 character roster and 12 intricately designed maps, consistently rewarding players that master their characters, learn the maps and work as a team. Putting a competent team together and snatching victory from the jaws of defeat is one of the most satisfying experiences a multiplayer game has offered in years. It could use a campaign, a few more game modes and refinement of its RNG system, but none of that distracts from the fact that Overwatch is an superb effort that will entertain players for an ungodly amount of time.
To top all of this off, none of my teammates were communicating whatsoever. Needless to say, I was extremely frustrated and decided to start playing quarterback, directing my teammates through my microphone. After getting one Tracer and one Reaper to switch to Reinhardt, who rocks a giant shield that blocks enemy bullets, I hung in the background, healing everyone possible and positioning them on the control point in a way that I felt would be successful. Granted, my tone was far more authoritative than I would like to admit, and I’m sure that my teammates probably thought I was a huge jerk, but something very funny happened after I started to take control: we won. We had a completely unbalanced team that was doomed from the start, I chose a character whose main role isn’t inflicting damage and somehow I ended up empowering the team as a whole. This was such a different experience from anything that I had ever experienced in a shooter, and despite the initial frustrations, it was the single most satisfying multiplayer match I was a part of (in any game) in the past two or three years.
Mercy’s Caduceus Staff allows her to attach a healing beam to a single ally in her immediate area, and this should be done as much as humanly possible. There isn’t necessarily a point to playing Mercy if the Caduceus Staff isn’t the main focus of your activities, especially considering that Mercy’s secondary abilities all play into her knack for healing teammates. Guardian Angel is both Mercy’s most useful ability and the skill that most players completely forget to use. By pointing your reticle at one of your teammates, you’ll be able to rapidly fly towards them, allowing you to either get right up in the action or heal a distant enemy. The one thing to keep in mind with Guardian Angel is that you need a clear path towards your teammate, so you’re not going to be able to warp through walls or ceilings.
Now, when it was stated that it was a multiplayer only affair, I had decided to steer clear. People, for the most part, suck. I tend to grow bored or annoyed with these types of games. Still, I found myself in love with another game that might as well be sold as multiplayer only and am still putting the hours into it. Coupled with the universal hype and love that Overwatch has received from every outlet, and every person I have spoken to who has played it, it looked like I would be remiss to miss out. Getting in on the ground floor seemed like a great idea. After having put a bit of time into it, I find myself primarily grateful that I didn’t handle our review. The mediocre score I would have given it would have rendered me Internet Enemy #1.
Widowmaker, the sniper, does and that’s it. We had a couple of meetings early on that had to do with things like aim down sights and sprint, where we deliberately chose not to put them on all of our heroes. Those ended up becoming abilities that we could give to a hero to make them feel more unique. The other thing is that we wanted our game to feel like it had more of a “rumble” to it when you’re fighting on the battlefield. To us, we’re hearkening back to the Quake and Unreal Tournament days where the movement was really fluid. Something like aim down sights, which is really great in Call of Duty – and I love Call of Duty and still play it – but we strayed away from it intentionally to do our own thing.
It’s really that feeling of working as part of a team, mastering the characters and controlling the map that makes Overwatch such a joy to play, even without getting the content you want for your favorite character. In one match, my team and I made a last defense on a capture map. Our Bastion entered turret mode to spray one entry point, and Reinhardt held up his shield at another with Zarya close behind, supplying him with a personal shield. Soldier 76 sprinted to the front to deal heavy damage with Mercy flying behind providing a damage boose. All the while, a Widowmaker hid at the very back, ready to snipe enemies that somehow made it past our defenses. In a world filled with so many “go-it-alone” multiplayer shooters, having a game like Overwatch that offers so many unique ways to play as a team is refreshing and fun.