Home Gaming Overwatch is really good at making you feel like a great player

Overwatch is really good at making you feel like a great player

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Missed a shot? It's fine, could still get a kill off something

Overwatch has finally kicked off its closed beta, and its servers are already densely populated with elated Blizzard fans trying their hand at a brand new, team-based shooter IP. Overwatch is, from the limited time I’ve had with it, really damned good. It’s got the usual issues with balancing and glitches that are exactly the reason why a beta is being conducted, but the underlying mechanics that build it are as solid as you could hope for.

There is one pillar of focus that Overwatch absolutely nails off the bat though. Whether you’re having a personal record breaking round or a shocker of a match with Widowmaker, Overwatch is incredible good at making you feel like you’re still winning. And it’s the best part of the entire experience.

Overwatch is a team game, but it’s hard not to slice a shooter in any way that doesn’t encourage just getting kills. Most of the time that’s the singular focus of an online shooter, and it can get in the way of the basking in the glory of just playing the objective, or playing a specific role down to a tee. Overwatch understands this, and actually lets kills take a backseat to players that just try to do things right most of the time, and it works to create a space that almost always feels rewarding.

It’s no better seen than in the game way of handling executions. Executions are, in essence, kills – but they’re awarded to every single play that was involved in any way. That means you can notch an execution next to your name for just doing a single point of damage, while a separate statistic measures who actually got the last hit. Bringing up the scoreboard details all of this in a small area on the bottom left, while information about your team and enemy characters takes up most of the screen space. Overwatch doesn’t want you to focus on it, and you really shouldn’t.

Aside from kills, the game tracks class and character specific statistics such as damage blocked, objective points taken and healing thrown out. All of these are collected during the match, and than almost randomly displayed at the end. During intermission, four players who ranked top of a specific tier of gameplay are put up for voting, with everyone able to pick who they believed deserved MVP of the match.

Overwatch makes you feel like a good player 1

It’s pointless and yet engaging – because for the first time the best player is rarely the one with the most kills. It could be the player who made sure his team stayed alive most of the time, or that one guy who always had his shied up for a push. It’s different, and it has noticeably positive effect on every single player. No one feels to need to hammer on about another’s poor performance, because you’re all too busy celebrating and conversing about the ways in which other players did so well. Blizzard has managed to subvert toxic behaviour purely by making everyone feel great about their contribution. And it works.

But by far the most compelling part of Overwatch (and the most genius too) is the Play of the Match. usually when a round ends in a shooter, the final kill is shown, again emphasising and encourage the single-minded nature of attaining that honour for everyone else to see. Overwatch again subverts this, instead picking a particular play that just stood out amongst the rest. These often comprise of incredibly fast multi-kills, but sometimes just zero in on a player who just did something extraordinary with their chosen character.

Widowmakers automatic sniper rifle is life

It creates so much chatter during the game, with most of us last night screaming when we though we had just pulled off a move worthy of the honorary highlight real. It’s the one thing I look forward to the most at the end of a game – win or lose – as players from both sides are treated to a play that is both entertaining and educational at the same time. It’s far better than just looking down the scopes of a rifle as someone pulls off another boring hip-fire kill on an enemy that didn’t even know what was going on.

There’s always a lot going on in Overwatch, and it really is a game that falls apart if your team isn’t at least trying to work together. But it’s also a game that revels in making sure players are having fun above all else, and it’s unobtrusive ways of making new and learning fans feel as though they’re making a positive impact on the game is probably its biggest strength. It’s rare to feel disheartened after a round of Overwatch, which just compels you to play another. And for an online game that needs a strong community, that’s all you really want to do.

Last Updated: October 29, 2015

19 Comments

  1. k this is where you stop writing about Overwatch because I did not get a beta invite. Blizzard are a bunch of scumbags. I own all of their games and not even a beta invite. This makes me sad

    Reply

    • Brady miaau

      October 29, 2015 at 15:16

      What criteria did you have to meet to get an invite? I suspect not being in South Africa or far from the their servers was one.

      Reply

      • SmurFyZA

        October 29, 2015 at 15:30

        They probably do have some criteria that you have to meet, but not that they make available to the public. Just sign up via your Bnet account. They claim it is random, but it really isn’t. All the popular streamers have access (free publicity). So I really call BS on it being “random”. Oh and you have to be a Lazygamer pleb. jk 😛

        Reply

        • Brady miaau

          October 29, 2015 at 15:36

          I am no mans pleb. Hah, the very thought. Perish it. Indeed.

          Reply

        • Kevin Lim

          October 30, 2015 at 08:20

          They never said it was random…. learn to read

          Reply

    • Geoffrey Tim

      October 29, 2015 at 15:17

      We have another overwatch article at 6pm. sorry.

      Reply

      • Brady miaau

        October 29, 2015 at 15:18

        well, I care. Sort of.

        Reply

      • SmurFyZA

        October 29, 2015 at 15:28

        Great…

        Reply

  2. Brady miaau

    October 29, 2015 at 15:16

    Sounds like a load of fun, even for ham fisted players like me.

    Sort of the Stars Wars Battlefront thing.

    Reply

  3. HairyEwok

    October 29, 2015 at 15:22

    Easy on the eyes, easy on the hardware – The D.

    Reply

  4. Kervyn Cloete

    October 29, 2015 at 15:36

    Sold.

    Reply

  5. Grand Admiral Chief SpaceNinja

    October 29, 2015 at 15:47

    Epic, cannot wait

    Reply

  6. Frik van der Hewerskink

    October 29, 2015 at 16:23

    Solid video guys, I really enjoyed it.

    Reply

  7. MakeItLegal

    October 29, 2015 at 16:57

    good video 🙂 voice quality needs a lil work 🙂

    Reply

    • Alessandro Barbosa

      October 29, 2015 at 18:29

      It’s mostly my fault. Using a headset mic while Darryn is using a proper one. Will get it sorted soon, but thanks! 🙂

      Reply

      • HvR

        October 30, 2015 at 08:45

        TakeAlot’s got a proper mic with kit for half price today

        Reply

      • MakeItLegal

        October 30, 2015 at 15:07

        hey , otherwise its improving hugely since the last time , cant wait to get involved next year ….:)

        Reply

  8. hvd hvd

    October 29, 2015 at 18:49

    this game is meh.it has no player progression at all mindless pvp.i guess its for the casuals thats what blizzard wants.i herd there are skins.either you pay for them or your gona lvl for them or something.but as i said no ladders,serious competitive multiplayer like in cod or halo 5.this game is fun for an hour then do something else.
    im sure blizzard will have tournaments at blizz cone like wow and try to make it an esport…ill pass

    Reply

  9. MakeItLegal

    October 30, 2015 at 15:05

    no beta either….who do we blame ? #betainvitesforall

    Reply

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