The dust has settled, the hype has faded and what does Overwatch leave us with? Well, a game that takes from its predecessors and feels surprisingly familiar. I came into Blizzards game blind just a few weeks ago after all the hype faded expecting a Team Fortress 2 knock off and i was pleasantly entertained. Overwatch is a character driven team based shooter in the vein of Super Monday Night Combat and Team Fortress 2 . This is Overwatch’s biggest draw and the best part of the game.

The characters are separated into 4 categories depending on their characteristics.We start with offense which include cowboy’s ninjas a missile shooting robot goddess and the grim reaper. This group is designed to dish out enormous damage and be very mobile but countered with low health.

The defense classes are very good at holding points using either long-range snipers or ability’s to slow or stop enemy movements. We have a robot sentry, a Chinese Mr.Freeze, an Australian demolitions expert, a dwarf with a turret and a french sniper. Now just like offense, their weakness is lack of health and ability to deal with offensive class’s up close.

 

The third class is the tank and as their name might imply they are the class that can soak up damage and keep on chugging. In this bracket of hero we the likes of a Starcraft 2 pro riding a mech, a Russian female body builder, an Australian with a hook shot, a scientist gorilla and paladin. Their entire roll is to soak up damage and keep everyone from shooting their allies with defensive buffs and crowd control, however some of the characters break the game by being too good at other roles.

Finally we have the supports whose sole purpose is to keep the team in fighting condition. The cast ranges from an Egyptian sniper medic, a DJ using music to heal, a German mad doctor type, a Hindu cyborg goddess, and robot Gandhi.

Now, game play wise the game is slightly slower than Team Fortress and a little more floaty. The guns feel like they do enough damage and the characters feel appropriately fast, however the levels look great but the lack of them is a bit of a sore point.

 

Sadly this games closest competitor is a game with 7 years of updates and it really isn’t fair to compare it just yet.  Overwatch is a fun game in its own right but only time will tell if it’ll be as popular next year because the ball is in Blizzard’s court.