Blizzard Entertainment is the creative giant behind games such "World of Warcraft" and "Hearthstone." Their most recent release is "Overwatch," a multiplayer-only game where you play as one of 21 heroes in a fast-paced, colorful world. The game is being advertised heavily, even appearing on the cups at Taco Bell. With all the buzz surrounding "Overwatch," the question is: should you get it?
"Overwatch" is a first person shooter, first and foremost.The action flows at a rapid pace, with explosions and particle effects abounding. However, in contrast to other multiplayer shooters, having a selection of other characters allows you to choose the perfect hero for your current mood. Maybe your aim is feeling poor today. If so, then you can pick a support hero such as Lucio and contribute to your team's victory just by your presence.
As a team-based game, teamwork is paramount to winning a game in "Overwatch." This is both a pro and a con, because working together with a team is a complicated task. With those complications, there are great rewards if you enjoy cooperating with others. Some people may not enjoy having to rely on their teammates to do well, preferring free-for-all game modes. "Overwatch" does not have any free-for-all. You will win as a team and lose as a team.
These losses are softened by the short length of "Overwatch" games. In my personal experience, "Overwatch" games will run at an average of around 10-minutes for each match. Other team based games, such as "League of Legends," can last anywhere from 30-45 minutes. The short match time has two main benefits. Frustrating losses will be over much quicker, which reduces how much irritation they cause. In addition, your overall play time is more flexible. "Overwatch" can fit into a short 20-minute break, or an hour of play time.
With these short game times and wide variety of heroes, "Overwatch" has a high replay value. For games, the replay value is how long that game can be played before it becomes stale or not fun to play anymore. Multiplayer games inherently have a high replay value, but at the loss of a campaign or story. "Overwatch" is not a game you play to engage in a story. "Overwatch" is a game that is played for fun, varied matches and a fresh experience each game.
As a multiplayer shooter, "Overwatch" is shaping up to be one of the best in recent memory. The game offers high replay value with a variety of heroes and play styles available. It does not have a campaign to play alone, and there is no free for all mode for when you do not feel like playing with a team. At a price of $60 for the Origins Edition of the game, "Overwatch" will be enjoyed long enough for that money to be worth it.
