For 2 days, the beta of Overwatch has been live and it is being streamed extensively. But what are the first impressions?
2 Days Beta – What are the Impressions?
After the first wave was sent out the day before yesterday and the second wave yesterday, more and more players are diving into the beta version of Blizzard’s first shooter Overwatch. Since there is no Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), streaming, screenshotting, and commenting are happening vigorously.
Especially on Twitch, the number of streams (and their viewers) has skyrocketed since then. While many viewers complain that Overwatch still strongly resembles Team Fortress 2 and thus has hardly any original ideas, the players themselves use completely different words. A small video from Overpwn shows the game’s tutorial:
Blizzard Keeps Promises
With Overwatch, Blizzard fundamentally pursues 2 goals. First, they wanted to finally create their own shooter (at BlizzCon, some developers said they often and happily played Team Fortress 2) and secondly, attract new people to the genre.
This plan seems to be working perfectly. With few exceptions, whose justifications often seem abstract (like: “looks really boring”), Overwatch is broadly well-received by all testers. Even people who previously had no interest in shooters are fully engaged in the futuristic vision of our world. The mission objectives and maps are easy to understand while still offering plenty of room for interesting strategies.
Especially the ability to change your character during an ongoing match is greatly appreciated by most players. While in MOBAs and similar games, one often hears statements like “With this setup, we have no chance against their group”, in Overwatch you can switch to another hero at any time and thus turn the tide.
Are the enemies too powerful? Let’s swap Tracer for a Reinhardt! A choke point needs to be defended and Widowmaker has no visibility there? Let’s swap the blue lady for Torbjörn, who can set up his turret!
Despite its current lack of game modes, Overwatch already offers tremendous depth and plenty of fun in the eyes of the testers.
Concerns About Balance
However, it would be a lie to claim that there aren’t any negative voices. Particularly the current game balance is still a challenge for some players, as the potential of many characters seems to know no upper limit. While the teleporting Tracer in the hands of beginners may embody a pesky fly on the screen, she is nearly unstoppable in the claws of a good player.
The same applies to the tank Roadhog, who not only has high health points, but can also heal himself almost instantly by half his HP, and that with a relatively short cooldown. Thus, the giant often withstands fire from multiple enemies if he plays his skills at least moderately well.
For some characters, coordination and communication are necessary; whether this can be achieved with typical “random groups” is something many players currently doubt – but with friends, it’s a blast. If only everyone had a beta access …
It’s certainly still too early to claim that the balance has really serious shortcomings in some areas. However, Blizzard has already confirmed that they will not shy away from possibly overhauling unusable or too strong characters.
