Gaming
With players switching over to Blizzard’s new shooter, we look at which FPS teams will dominate.
Since the confirmation that Fnatic's championship-winning Battlefield 4 team will be moving onto Overwatch next year, there's been widespread interest in Blizzard's newest franchise from both competitive FPS players and eSports organisations.
With reports that Tempo Storm have been approaching top Team Fortress 2 teams like Froyotech, and the announcement that Planetkey Dynamics are building a team from Dirty Bomb players, we expect that players from a variety of shooters are already racing to see who can adapt fastest to the mechanics of Overwatch.
Whilst we can only speculate which players are secretly occupied by late-night training sessions on the beta version – for which testing is currently underway – we can be certain that the learning curve will be different for players from the various FPS games.
Whilst the core skills demanded by any first-person shooter are hand-eye coordination, fast reactions, and great awareness, Overwatch has a bunch of unique features that will provide fresh new challenges. Its expansive MOBA-like class system will encourage players to specialise in very niche roles, memorise an array of ability interactions, think up complex draft strategies, and will place more emphasis on complementary team work than ever before. Let's take a look at which teams we expect could thrive once Overwatch is released next year.
Fnatic: Battlefield 4
EA's Battlefield 4 has faced fierce competition from rival titles such as CoD and CS:GO, so it isn't a complete surprise that its top team might decide to try its luck with an upcoming title that promises to provide a long term competitive scene, and heaps of variety for players who put thousands of hours into the game.
For Morte, Fnatic's captain, and his team, the gulf between EA's realistic, familiar gameplay and Blizzard's quirky new title will provide a tough challenge. Skulking around a map looking for targets to snipe is all very well until a Reaper shadow steps behind you and delivers a devastating volley from his hellfire shotguns before moving off in wraith form.
Whereas Battlefield 4 has a limited number of classes, and straight-forward synergies to work with for experienced gamers, Overwatch's variety of unique abilities will encourage ambitious players to experiment with endless combinations and learn how to adapt to opposition line-ups. With new heroes being released, and regular gameplay patches, the best team will need to stay on top of the metagame if it wants to remain the best team.
Fnatic won't be able to rely on sheer mechanical skill if they want to repeat their Battlefield 4 success with Overwatch, but if they put in the work required they're sure to be a strong side.
Froyotech: Team Fortress 2
It was unsurprising that Grant 'b4nny' Vincent and his Froyotech team turned down Tempo Storm's offer – a low risk, high reward deal for the franchise which included no base salary. But far from suggesting the team has no interest in Overwatch, this decision might hint that Froyotech have high ambitions for Blizzard's upcoming game.
Truth is, Team Fortress players think they'll be the best at Overwatch, and they have a good reason to back this up. Described by some as a TF2 clone, Overwatch retains TF2's class system concept, and TF2 players used to playing with a shooter with MOBA variety will have a tactical edge over the competition. If the rumours emerging from the beta are anything to go by, the top TF2 players are already coming up with unique strats and will be greatly feared by the competition next year.
If Froyotech do make the transition to Overwatch though, they'll still need to up their game. Whilst TF2 is a strategic game, the meta is relatively static and most of the top players are still distinguished by their core skills: damage output, aim, movement. Despite a bunch of gimmicky weapons, top level matches are decided by how accurately you can place your crosshair on someone and pull the trigger. If Overwatch lives up to expectations it will bring a greater emphasis on character drafting, team-based synergy abilities, and outthinking opposition teams.
Planetkey Dynamics: Dirty Bomb
The tales coming from people who had the misfortune of playing against PkD in the apocalyptic wasteland of Dirty Bomb suggest that they were the top team before they lost interest, and they'll be a brutal competitor on the Overwatch circuit.
Outc1der and his team-mates are experienced players on multiple games; they've played together for a long time and they know how to execute team manoeuvres with mechanical efficiency. They made the decision to team up for Overwatch early on, and you can bet they'll be prepared. Like many of the other teams though, they'll have to adapt their tactics for Overwatch.
Standard FPS team pushes will be far more complex given the dynamic physics engine Blizzard are using for the game, which allows heroes to jump through the air whilst blasting away, or activate jetpack abilities to zoom across the map at a moment's notice. One second D.Va will be running around innocently shooting at you with her handgun, the next she'll be flying over your corpse in her enormous pink mech, blasting away with fusion cannons, before self-destructing and taking out the rest of your team.
For more eSports coverage follow us on @RedBullGames and Like us on Facebook.
.png)
