Over the past couple of weeks, you have undoubtedly heard people talk about a new IP from Blizzard called Overwatch. Blizzard usually has a pretty good track record (World of Warcraft, Starcraft, and The Lost Vikings, to name just a few) so a handful of my friends and I decided to check this game out during the beta. What we did not know at the time was that this weird mash up of Valve's hat simulator, Team Fortress 2, and the snorefest of the MOBA genre would take over our lives so completely.

Overwatch is a typical team based objective-centric FPS with a twist. All of the characters have different abilities that are on cooldowns, similar to a MOBA or like some RPGs. This cooldown helps to balance some of the more powerful abilities, and allows for vastly different play styles between characters. Instead of worrying about a loadout, like so many FPS games have been so fond of, each character has their own weapon and set of abilities, and you only have to customize a few tidbits of cosmetics, like pallet swaps and some extra dialogue choices, which are all earned through "loot boxes" (pronounced "crack").
Loot Boxes are packs of 4 cosmetic items that are dropped for a player at every level up, and during a few other instances. You can also buy them (YAY MICROTRANSACTIONS!!), but since they are cosmetic only, they really have no effect on the game.

Since the bulk of what makes Overwatch great is its roster, I thought I'd take you through each of the main characters and give a few brief thoughts from what I have played so far:




Genji: Genji was one of my least favorite characters to play as when I started, and is now one of my most played. The real key to his play style is finesse, which is something that most FPS games lack. As a result, it takes a bit of effort to try and wrap your head around his style at first. Being able to climb on roofs and walls helps you get around most hard defenses and makes Genji one of the most rewarding classes to choose once you get the hang of things elsewhere. Couple all of that with a cyborg-ninja motif and you have yourself a pretty awesome character class to play.


Tracer: Tracer is fast. I wish there was more, but that seems to be her thing. If you like playing Sonic in Super Smash Brothers, you'll like Tracer in Overwatch. Also, that cockney accent gets old fast (heh fast, get it?).


McCree: Of all of the characters in the game, I like McCree the least overall. Gameplaywise, a cowboy with a .45 works out as well as you would expect: repetitive. Stun, shoot, and repeat only works so well, and McCree really doesn't have too much scenario presence.  Most McCree players just sorta wonder around picking people off as they run into them.....snore town. His catchphrase for his ultimate ability isn't all that bad; hearing "It's high noon" across the map to let you know that you are about to be taken down is kind of great. The problem is that they wrote McCree as a one trick pony with other lines like "its high noon somewhere" and "it's almost high noon."


Pharah: Pharah has an interesting rocket platform. She trades the typical horizontal mobility of most classes with a jet pack and jump jets. In outdoor environments, a well played Phara can leave you with nowhere to hide. The real problem is that if you can't hide, neither can she, and chances are that you can take her out before any real damage is done. I really like the ascetic her armor conveys, and it gets even better with some of the alternate color schemes.


Soldier 76: Ahh, the most vanilla character ever created. Machine gun? Check. Sprint? Check. Grumpy old man attitude? Check. Soldier 76 is the "we need a Halo analogue" for Overwatch. He is mobile, tough, and does damage well. He is easily the most self-sufficient character, which is what makes him so boring.  It is a constant struggle between fun and effectiveness when I use him.   


Reaper: The Hot Topic shopper's choice of Overwatch class, Reaper is a damage output monster.  His shotguns are effective at close-medium range, and you can temporarily become invincible to run away when you realize you screwed up.  If you couple that with teleportation to close gaps faster, you get yourself one heck of a cruise missile.


Hanzo: My girlfriend took to Hanzo's play style in seconds after playing years of Team Fortress 2 as a Sniper with a bow. Being able to end someone almost a whole map away seems really good, and the better you get at keeping him out of trouble, the more kills you can rack up. Couple all this with an ultimate ability that begs to be toned down, and a monster is born.


Junkrat: Junkrat is a personal favorite of mine. He takes all the fun of playing TF2's Demoman and combines it with the annoyance of a COD character. His explosive trap is easily the most useful Swiss Army knife-like ability in the game, allowing you to jump higher, kill large groups, and push and move players around. 


Bastion: Bastion is for your friend who can't get the hang of two analog sticks at once. Find a corner, change to turret mode, and hold down the trigger.


Roadhog: For anyone who enjoyed Unreal Tournament's Flak Cannon, play Roadhog. He is a high health, self-healing tank with a flak cannon, and Scorpion's "Come over here!" style hook technique. Roadhog is always a problem to kill and always has some good scenario presence. Roadhog is probably my favorite character that I never pick.
 

Reinhardt: Reinhardt is easily the most deceiving character in the whole game. At first glance, he looks like he would be able to crush small buildings with his pinky toe. He is in a large suit of armor, stands twice as tall as some people, and carries a huge hammer. Unfortunately, the hammer is practically inflatable, and the armor is just for show. Reinhardt is a defensive class with a huge ONE WAY regenerating shield. While he really cannot do much on his own, being able to keep your team alive while they mash the other players can be helpful in a make or break situation. Just do not get caught with the shield down, or you are toast.


Widowmaker: A sexy sniper with a grappling hook. The really big advantage is that her sniper charges up in power, so it actively discourages the art of "quick scoping."Her gun has rapid fire out of scope, which makes up for the general lack of close range for a sniper class. These two points alone make Widowmaker one of the most well-designed classes in the whole game and really sets the tone for what Blizzard wanted to do. The accent and clothing choices could have been better thought out though.


D.Va: Starting out with a mech suit, which you can turn into a bomb and throw into the enemy lines is cool. Having one of the best guns in the game while outside your mech is also cool. Being able to summon another mech, fully restoring your health bar is priceless. Being a good player in Overwatch takes skill, for everyone else, there is D.va.


Winston: If Bastion is for your friend who can't move, Winston is for the one who can't aim. No, literally, you do not have to aim. Just be in the general vicinity of your target, pop up a bubble shield, and watch stuff die. Winston teams are for that time of day when we all decide to turn off our brains for a while.


Torbjorn: Torbjorn's hammer needed to be an ax, so that I could make Lord of the Rings references while I played, but otherwise it's pretty great. He is the analogue to TF2's engineer, since he builds turrets and crafts armor packs for his team. Symmetra got the teleporter ability, but that is ok, since Torbjorn kept the sweet shotgun...and boy is it sweet. It has a long range bullet shot, and a short range shotgun blast. It typically kills almost anyone in 1-2 well placed shots. Being so small helps you walk up to unsuspecting enemies (my favorite is walking through a Reinhardt with a shield up) and blasting away.


Mei: Mei plays a weird sort of area denial game that I just can't wrap my head around. Her Ice Wall ability literally blocks off a whole part of the map, and then she can become a roadblock herself! She self heals too, which makes her a pain to kill. Her gun leaves a bit to be desired, but typically she stalls you long enough that her team has shown up, in which case she funnels you with walls into a line of fire.


Zarya: I really have not played much Zara, nor do many other people. Every time I try, I decide that I could be having more fun elsewhere.


Symmetra: Symmetra is another character that I don't play much, but unlike Zarya, my team usually includes 2-3 of her. Symmetra took the other half of the TF2 Engineer's big abilities in that she makes teleporters. Her gun is neigh useless, but her tiny laser turrets pack a severe punch. Super useful on defense, I am never sad to see one on my team...she's just not me.


Zenyatta: Robots are cool. Buddhist monks are arguably less cool, but still ok. Zenyata is somewhere in the middle.  He is an odd support class, which plays more towards the frontlines than most support in any game. His main ability, which marks targets for extra damage, is pretty brutal if used with a coordinated attack. Zenyatta is pretty strong, but not my cup of tea.


Mercy: Mercy is the one character you do not want to see on the other team's roster. Healing and resurrection abilities spell out a miserable game for anyone not equipped to deal with it. Mercy is a basic medic otherwise, but surprisingly effective in a game with so many classes which can heal themselves/others.


Lucio: Lucio is a force multiplier. His area of effect heal or speed boost is pretty crazy to get around, as he can continually move around without having to focus on any sort of support; it just happens all around him. This leaves Lucio the ability to focus on pushing stuff around with his gun and generally just being a nuisance.  I just can't help but feel his design is just a little too stereotypical though.

Game modes are split up between different variants of "move the payload" or "king of the hill." It is fun, but I still think there needs to be a tad more variation. However, the maps themselves are beautiful and well set up. Each location has multiple paths, some even restrict character movement styles! High perches allow snipers to gain the high ground, while narrow corridors give close up classes a boost. More importantly, moving through the environment flows nicely and logically, helping to maintain the idea of a living world around you and providing you with a constant knowledge of where you are.

Speaking of visuals, Overwatch is bright and colorful, which is a great change of pace in the grim, dark world of the traditional FPS. Each individual character has their own visual and audio distinctions. You can easily tell a sniper from a tank all the way across the map. The overlay makes things work nicely as well, with custom reticules for gun types as well as colored outlines for enemies in your sights to make them pop out from the background; camouflage is not an option in Overwatch, nor should it be.

Unfortunately, the game lacks variety in play. Two main game modes split between a handful of maps is balanced, but gets old after a while. You can play Humans vs. Humans, Humans vs. AI, training, and whatever special skirmish mode they have each week (at the time of writing, it is random class assignment on death). The game really needs some sort of flag capture or bombing run mode. Blizzard has said they have plans to expand game modes in the future, so let's hope it actually happens (they patched Diablo 2 a few months ago, so I guess anything is possible). The prospect of "always online" really does stink though. You cannot even play against bots without an internet connection.

Overall, Overwatch is an enjoyable FPS for fans of all skill types. While the lack of a real story or additional modes is of concern, the breadth of character classes and maps (with the promises of FREE DLC roster expansions) really makes up for it. If you are looking for a quick, time waster game for when you have 10-15 minute sessions, or just something to play with a group of your friends over the internet, you could do much worse.


So I'm curious, for those of you who have played it, what are your thoughts on the game?  And what characters are your favorites and why?

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