Overwatch – Blizzcon Impressions

At Blizzcon this year, Blizzard announced Overwatch! You can check out our article on the announcement Here. While at Blizzcon I got the opportunity to play a fair share of Overwatch, around 25-40 games of 2 rounds each.

To start lets talk about what Overwatch plays like and is similar to. Overwatch is a in my opinion a medium to fast paced FPS game depending on the map and hero’s that are being played. As to what it is similar to, well frankly the most common thing people compare it to is Team Fortess 2 and they’re not really wrong with the art style being in the animated and more “cartoon” than realistic approach as well as having the different “classes” that Team Fortress has. However it also shares a bit from other genres that you can find it similar to a MOBA where your heroes have abilities and some heroes counter other heroes.

Overwatch brings some great and fun gameplay to the FPS genre that many recent games have failed to do I feel. Each hero even of the same archetype (Damage, Tank, Support, Defense) feels wildly different so far. Going from the two tanks, Reinhardt for example is more of a frontal attack/defender and will be able to hold ground very steadly for anyone who is going to get behind his shield, yet at the same time is ready to charge headlong into battle and take someone out quickly. Winston, the other tank, while still a tank isn’t able to soak anywhere near as many bullets even with his area shield. However Winston is much more mobile than Reinhardt on the attacking side and can move vertically where as Reinhardt is stuck on the ground unless there’s a handy set of stairs nearby.

The skills from each hero brings a big change to the general FPS genre. Each classes skills generally consists of a defensive or movement ability plus a offensive ability and an ultimate ability. However that’s not always the case for example Torbjorn will not have a movement ability and both of his abilities are mostly defensive. One being his turret and the second being the armor pack giving allies a shield. Blizzard isn’t creating a mold with heroes in Overwatch instead are creating characters each unique from each other.

So, one of the important parts of an FPS is of course the maps. In the demo at Blizzcon there was three maps. All three I must say played great. All of them had multiple choke points however with multiple points of entry on almost any part. Some paths only accessible to heroes that are able to move vertically, be it Pharah with the Jump Jets or Hanzo just scaling the wall. Moving vertically generally gets you of course the natural high-ground advantage but as well gets you across the map quickly and sometimes into back entrances. Overall I am VERY happy with the way Blizzard has made the Overwatch maps and I have very high hopes for the future maps in the future to be revealed.

The second important part, for Overwatch at least is the heroes. Bringing the guns and the abilities each one plays different and after playing all of the heroes I definitely do have favorites. Not because they are innately stronger or of a higher tier of hero but because of the playstyle.

My favorite by far being Reinhardt. You’re able to be the force driving an offensive push by either charging in and taking out a vulnerable player on the ground or pulling up your shield and letting your allies shoot volleys of fire from safety. While on defense you can again allow your friends to defend from the safety of your shield but also guard a choke point yourself with relative ease by laying down some shockwaves with your E to hold them back and if they get too daring take them out with your charge.

Widowmaker is also another very strong candidate for favorite however. The strength of her rifle along with the grappling hook and venom mine helps. But one of her true strengths on defense or offense is being able to know where your enemies are coming from or are defending from. Her ultimate ability allows your WHOLE team to see through walls exactly where the enemies are and if you play smartly you can have this up a good 75% of time while dealing devastating damage to the enemy team.

With that said, I still enjoy quite a few of the other heroes. Mercy, Hanzo, Bastion and Reaper being up there in amount I played with and each fills a role in a match.

Overall Overwatch was very likely the highlight of my Blizzcon experience in terms of games I played. I enjoyed every moment of playing the game and it was not only fairly balanced for the stage of the game but virtually bug free from what I experienced. In terms of excitement for Overwatch I’m definitely all aboard the Hype train and hope to see a bunch more future news about Overwatch and the beta. Make sure you keep your eyes on it!

Again don’t forget to check out our launch coverage on Overwatch for some more pictures, videos and, information! If you have any questions about Overwatch please feel free to ask here or ask me on twitter @Vyce223!