Overwatch Game Review

Released: May 24th 2016

Developer: Blizzard Entertainment

Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment

Certificate: 12

Formats: PS4, Xbox One and PC

Format played: PC

New projects can be a double-edged sword in the gaming industry; either they shoot to stardom or fail horribly, resulting in much wasted potential. Despite entering in the relatively crowded space on the online multiplayer shooter genre, particularly in the PC market, Overwatch stamps itself onto the scene, complete with a look and style unlike any of its competitors.

The basic story at play in Overwatch follows a band of heroes disavowed by the government in the aftermath of a robot invasion and much like Valve’s Team Fortress 2, much of the narrative is contained within animated shorts online. The heroes remerge, this time fighting against each other and after a slick intro cinematic, you’re free to launch into quick match and training modes to get to grips with the game’s character focused design. As of 2017, twenty-three characters are available to choose from and each one features their own unique playstyle and weapons; with the exception of some healers, each one requires a fair amount of skill to master, alongside a devastating ultimate ability which, when charged up, can turn the tide of battle. Each match usually takes place across ten minutes, ending with player stats being toted up and commended by others, making for a relatively quick and easy game to set up. Arcade mode mixes things up a bit with three-round elimination matches and competitive mode features ranked matches across seasons with ten preparatory matches used to determine your overall skill level, an often-brutal challenge that requires impeccable teamwork and coordination. With some options for spectating and detailed player stat tracking, the final aspect of Overwatch is its loot crates which are earned either by levelling up or paying real money; luckily though, every item, be it sprays, character skins or voice lines are all purely cosmetic, leaving no chance for a pay to win scheme creeping its way in. The only real downside to Overwatch’s content is a reduced number of game modes which have been bound to specific maps; you’ll be capturing points and pushing a payload cart most of the time. But in the end, this really doesn’t sour the game’s fun factor and considering the free updates and seasonal modes further down the line, this is sure to be rectified soon.

Playing Overwatch is very much dependent on player choice; Four main classes make up the roster; offense offers the most aggressive playstyle, defence characters hold down objectives, tanks pack a large health pool and support heals the team in varying ways while not being too great in a fight. You’ll be blowing away enemies, supporting teammates and taking on objectives to earn points while keeping an eye on timers for your abilities which vary between characters. Movement plays a role as well with characters such as Hanzo scaling walls and Reaper teleporting from place to place. Some of my favourites include the group-healing DJ Lucio, bomb tossing Junkrat and the heavyweight laser-shooting Zarya. No matter which you choose though, a skilled team can often completely dominate the opposite side, making lone wolf endeavours very ill-advised. The maps are equally well-designed, offering all sorts of nooks and crannies as well as a helping of verticality to catch enemies unware. With some practice, you can take some shortcuts to flank the enemy or make a quick escape, particularly with DVA and Pharah’s jump jets which briefly enable flight. The game makes a real effort to emphasise the importance of team balance during every match, the character menu informing the player if they have: “No healers”, “Too many snipers” or other quick messages. As fun as the characters can be though, it’s the moments where the team synergises their abilities and ultimates that things are at their most exhilarating, even when you’re on the receiving end. In one game I was subjected to a Genji dragonstrike, powered up by Ana’s damage boost and his blade cleaved through the entire team without taking any damage. The game also sees fit to reward these awesome moments with “play of the game”, short clips that act as moments of glory for the best players; occasionally these can go to unskilled moments such as the turret-building Torbjorn but for the most part POTG offers another great incentive to play well. Some clips are saved to a recent games list upon exiting though personally I would like to see a full on saved films feature in the future.

Overwatch is a gorgeous looking game, with a cartoony art style very reminiscent of a Pixar film; the characters and the world they inhabit are all incredibly diverse and imaginative, pulling the player into every match. Add to that the number of customisable skins and things become even more vibrant and colourful. It all runs so smoothly as well, with not a single bug, glitch or hard crash and this meticulous attention to detail ensures that matches always push on without any hitches. Killstreaks and other announcements flash up on screen and a long list of carefully selected sound cues populate the ups and downs of battle to further the game’s focus on balance; if an ultimate has been fired off by the opposite team, a corresponding voice clip plays, giving you some time to get out of the way or move to counter an incoming assault. The voice talent gives all the characters their own unique personality while the soundtrack is incredibly action-packed, imbuing the action with a dramatic flair that’s hard to resist. Even if you’re not a fan of shooters, Overwatch’s presentation, with all its eye-catching facets, makes an impression all its own.

If all the fanfare and awards over the past year wasn’t any indication, Overwatch is a vastly entertaining shooter with few stumbles regarding both business practices and composition. But what really makes it such a superb multiplayer game is the immense care and detail that went into every character, map and technical detail. It’s fast and frenetic, but also possesses a steadfast organisation to its team-based mechanics, making it a fantastic new IP from Blizzard.

Rating: 9/10 (Brilliant)