Almighty Overwatch

Overwatch is a beautiful thing. In so many ways, it takes the things I love about multiplayer shooters and mixes them up with things I hate about playing online. Despite getting as frustrated with the game as I did with Gears of War 2 online, I still can't put the game down almost a year after its release. If that isn't the sign of a good game (or that I like to punish myself), then I don't know what is.

The problem I have with Overwatch--really any objective based multiplayer game--is teammates. If they're not picking useless characters, they're not playing the objective. Now, I know I'm not in a place of power or skill where I can tell people who to play as. Everyone just wants to have fun with their favorite characters. I get that. But no, we DON'T need a Hanzo and a Widowmaker while we are on the attacking side. Few things are as disheartening as breaking through enemy lines, getting to the point, holding your own and taking down a few enemies only to see four teammates fighting on the other end of the map.

NOTE: I don't think I'm above this type of issue. I'll occasionally get wrapped up in killing a guy and lose focus of the objective. I don't do it too often, but I'm still working on it. As Hannah Montana once said: "Nobody's perfect."

Despite the problems that occur within Overwatch, the core gameplay and the uniqueness of each character make the game almost impossible to quit. Every character is usable in certain situations, and the speed of each game means that you'll never be stuck with a losing team for too long.

I think the thing that makes Overwatch easy to get into is that the game never explicitly tells you your kills-to-death ratio. By showing eliminations, you'll always feel like you're contributing in some way to the cause. The events also offer enough new skins to make me want to go back to earn them. Overwatch is here to stay, and we are all better off for it.