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Overwatch: How its heroes make it eSports material
Blizzard’s upcoming FPS has shown off its MOBA-like roster of heroes, which has us excited.
Overwatch: How its heroes make it eSports material
© Activision Blizzard
For the past few weeks Blizzard has been releasing gameplay videos of their first foray into class-based FPS, Overwatch. When the game was revealed at last year’s BlizzCon, a lot of buzz surrounded it mixed in with faint cries of “Team Fortress 2” when more details were released. Those faint cries sound more like a deafening roar now that we have a better idea of how the game works, and what the classes can do, after seeing the heroes of Overwatch in action.
Medics and Engineers weren’t invented by Valve, but Blizzard sure have taken a lot of inspiration from the competitive team shooter – and with good reason. TF2’s bright, but sadly short-lived, time as an eSport proved the complexities of team composition combined with the simple tactics of a well-designed objective map can make for some exciting gameplay. And Blizzard definitely appear to have gotten that first point down.
Team-based shooters live and die on the strength of their class synergy. Valve knew this after Team Fortress Classic and did little to change how a small number of classes complement and counter each other in the sequel. But Overwatch seems intent to mix things up, taking the expansive abilities of some of late-age TF2’s alternate weapons and sharing them out between a larger pool of characters.
With 14 to choose from, the balance could be difficult to perfect in the same way, but it does also mean a greater chance for fluidity between some set roles. As gameplay follows an attack/defence script, there are clearly defined purposes for each character. And they have just the right abilities to create some clutch plays from both sides.
As you can see from the gameplay of Tracer, this is the natural development of the Scout – with added caffeine and time-travelling capabilities. The offensiveness of the character doesn’t just work in the attacker’s seat either, as even defending a point provides plenty of utility for the hero. In a professional setting you can definitely see the potential use of her backtracking ability when pushing up to an attacker’s forward support nest and using her ult to stick a grenade to a tank or engineer-type hero. Speaking of whom…
Torbjörn is the epitome of defensive classes, providing both an armour buff for allies via packs he can throw down and a massive, automated turret. Alongside Bastion, the robot who actually becomes a turret, and Symmetra, who can throw down smaller mini-turrets and a teleporter, this trio covers all the ground TF2’s Engineer did. By splitting apart the responsibilities, it seems to have a richer, fuller team dynamic, it will be necessary to have larger teams – or sacrifice one ability for another.
It’s those tactical choices that make Overwatch an exciting eSport prospect. Team shooters rarely have much overt and obvious strategy at play for spectators. Of course in Call of Duty or Counter-Strike there are map-specific changes in attack direction, but rarely any loadout changes to counter another team. The character choices look set to influence a match in a way much like MOBAs now, though with only 14 to choose from it doesn’t look like there will be much of a pick/ban phase.
In between the attackers and the defenders there are every other gradation of support from tank to healer, and some of their subtle differences appear to make massive changes to the flow of battle. Take Zenyatta, for instance, the robot monk. On paper a healer, but as his gameplay shows, capable of massive damage output and killstreaks.
Compared to Mercy, the more traditional healing-gun class, he almost appears to be a DPS build. Mercy’s gun, too, is a mix of the TF2 medic’s original health-giving nozzle and his later addition, the Kritzkrieg which increased attack power. By swapping between these two at clutch moments, the medic has a strong influence on how battles around choke point play out. And it’s also nice to see her wings giving her an additional mobility boost, seeing as the entire enemy team will be looking to pick her off.
Overall the currently shown roster looks like it has all the trappings of competition play. Alongside the clean UI (a proud Blizzard standard) and the simple range of abilities each player has, Overwatch’s gameplay should be easy to follow and commentate on, a major boon for the fledgling eSport. We’re excited for more news this Fall at BlizzCon.
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