Review: Overwatch (PC)


Review: Overwatch (PC)

Tight controls and tight UI, rubbed me up the right way


I would never have pigeon holed myself as being a gamer remotely interested in the prospect of Overwatch. I’ve been an avid FPS fan for decades, but something about multiplayer FPS’s just didn’t sit well with me. I could go as far as to say I loathe them, even Overwatch to a degree didn’t spark a teaspoon of interest with me even after I had played the beta. That being said, I did end up investing in the game, mainly due to a mixture of peer pressure and fear of being left out, and I don’t regret it yet. I’ve sank probably around 14 hours into the game up to now, a small slice when you consider the amount of hours I’ve witnessed other players loose. It’s slick, tight and just very well designed. To be honest, this might be the most fun I’ve had in any competitive multiplayer FPS. Essentially, Overwatch is a 6v6 multiplayer shooter which sets objectives tied to mission types and maps for you and your lovely comrades to carry out. Although this seems exceedingly simplistic, their remains great depth as how to carry out these objectives, largely in part to the wealth and variation of characters at your disposal.

Junkrat

Both aesthetically wonderful and brilliantly designed maps.

I suppose I felt conflicted with my first play, I’d played Team Fortress and whilst I appreciated it was very well made, it just never felt interesting enough to pursue, but at the same time, such is my life, I was very late to the party with not a lot of people to play with. Whilst my initial thoughts of Overwatch were that it felt bare, I couldn’t help but admit how good everything felt, the controls were tight, the servers were exceptionally stable (though I can only speak for the PC iteration) and everything looked and ran as smooth as butter. To put it simply, it’s been a while since I’ve actually had fun in a cooperative manner with any multiplayer game (bar Rocket League), yet I found myself spending hours trying to decide which class felt right for me and enjoying everything about it thoroughly. Believe me when I say you won’t be short of choice when it comes to classes, there’s a total of 21 characters divided into roles of offense, defense, tank and support classes.

Overwatch - Reinhardt

Trusty Reinhardt, a powerful tank with a barrier field which can prove vital in pushing through enemy defenses.

Don’t be fooled by the classes though, each character is very diverse and specialised in their abilities, this is where the depth is cleverly concealed within, it’s taken me literally hours to get used to each character I’ve decided to use, the time spent simply understanding the mechanics and where each ability is best suited during combat. This worked in my favour, as I wouldn’t be considered any less valuable a member of the team than the eagle eyed cherry sniping in the corner. So often I simply preferred to be a support class, Mercy for example, she’s extremely easy to use, has some essential healing and reviving abilities and more importantly, gave me a role that was considered vital in any team. Obviously the essence of the gameplay is largely determined by how well you can work as a team, if you can be organised enough, plan you’re attack and know you’re role, then the outcome of your success is often reflected as a result.

Junkrat character description

Junkrat – easy to learn, difficult to master.

The game itself looks fantastic, an artistic flair is embodied with each character model, it not only looks like a labour of love, but it really helps diversify and make Overwatch stand out amongst the crowd. With its cell shaded tone, I realise that it might not be to everybody’s taste, but heck, I really love it and its this quality that permeates throughout the game, as although each character looks so stylistically different, almost alien to each other, they all look as good as they feel to play, sharing a beautiful world carefully crafted by Blizzard.

Overwatch team

Meet the crew.

I’m not sure how far I’ll end up going with Overwatch, but it’s certainly pulled me in for the time being. If I was to surmise my overall experience, it’s been entirely positive, the only times I’ve not enjoyed the game was usually at my own fault, or failure for the team to pull together and form a tactile plan. I imagine I’ll still be playing this in the upcoming months, particularly as its so easy to join a game, and especially as it seems to be the game of choice amongst my peers at the moment. That’s one of the only flaws I can think of to be perfectly honest, if you’re going a lone wolf, chances are you probably won’t come out with many wins, as the organised team is definitely at an advantage.


Author: Graham Taylor

Share This Post On

Submit a Comment