The Game Fanatics have been keeping you up to date on Overwatch for more than a month now. The game has finally released, and it feels great to say everything that was so wonderful about the beta is completely transferred into the game with a few added bonuses!
Let’s kick it off with the modes and options in terms of game play, there are four options to choose from: Quickplay which is a mode that will drop you right into the action versing others online, Player vs. AI where you and a group of teammates battle computer characters, Custom Game which will allow a player to construct the parameters of the game to fight with friends online or there is the Weekly Brawl which is an online match that has different rules depending on the week.
There are also training and tutorial options for those that want it. The one downside so far is the lack of story mode; this game clearly doesn’t focus on story in-game and it remains to be seen what Blizzard will do with the Overwatch lore in the future. With such a fleshed out and interesting universe we can expect to see something done with, it but as it stands now, there is no in-game story to be played in Overwatch. You just jump straight into the action which is a bit disheartening. It would have been nice to learn and explore more about Overwatch; the game also can’t be played offline you have to be dependent on an internet connection or you’ll be missing out of almost the entire game.
Controls are easy to pick up but it depends highly on what kind of game you want to play – personally I play support – but offense, defense and tank options are available as well. An Offensive character like Reaper is not going to play the same as a healer like Mercy; each character has their own abilities and disadvantages, so choose your play style to what best suits your needs. The character selection options in this game are nonpareil to anything else out there – it may be the four years of liberal arts school talking – but to have characters of every race, gender and body type represented is great! That players can be the tough guy in a skull mask, the female body builder or a zen robot! It is a refreshingly progressive roster.
Rewards feel amazing to get in-game, for every new level you achieve you gain a loot box with different skins, sprays and voice lines for each character. Purchase loot boxes for real world cash or just play through and hope you get some good stuff each time you level up. The skins and sprays are charming or just totally bad-ass! From colour palette swaps to full on costume changes! I will never get over how amazing Pharah’s Thunderbird armor is!
The content for characters is equally matched by the polished sound design, voice acting and score for each level. The music is memorable and the maps are engaging, Overwatch really allows a player to explore different possibilities when it comes to approaching a match. No two games are ever exactly alike which really keeps a player on their toes, there is rarely any down time to be had and unlike in other shooters you are thrust into the action quite quickly. Combat is fast paced and simple, it can take a few rounds to get into the swing of it but once you do you’ll be able to operate at full potential.
And that’s not all Overwatch has to offer! The producers at Blizzard have promised more content and hinted at more characters down the road, all of which will be free add-ons to the game. The potential that Overwatch has to offer is only going to increase as time goes by, which like everything else in this franchise so far is pretty exciting.
Early on Blizzard was asked if the game would also feature an online mode that would allow players to fight cross-platform. It does it seem the idea was scrapped due to advantages some players on PC would have over console, but you’ll have no problem matching up with people on your own turf – so we can’t be too sore.
With all the hype and mania surrounding the Overwatches art, characters and story what happens if we negate all the build up? If we just see Overwatch as a game, rather than the phenomena it’s become? The answer is it’s amazing! I honestly just keep coming back because I want to play more! Even writing this review is sort of hard, because I want to get back in the ring! And so do the rest of The Game Fanatics Team – the game at its bare bones – is just really solid. Re-playable to the extreme, rewarding and most of all? Freakin’ fun.
If you want a game with tonnes of heart, beautiful imagery and superb online action, Overwatch is a no brainer, bud. It might even be necessary to go so far as to say that if you have online and you love co-op FPS, why don’t you have Overwatch yet?
