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2016 and 2017 have raised the bar for big-name games. From multiplayer-based shooters like Titan Fall 2 to Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, a strategy Role Playing Game (RPG), the standards have jumped to the highest level of quality. In everything from graphics to gameplay, we are undoubtedly living in a time of video gaming excellence.
Perhaps the greatest of these recent releases is “Overwatch,” a gaming industry superpower, breaking records and winning countless awards for its fast-paced, pure fun gameplay.
Hailing from Blizzard Entertainment, this game has won the titles of “Game of the Year,” “Best Multiplayer Game” and “Best Studio Direction,” as well as achieving the accolade of “Best ESports Game.”
ESports is a complicated way of saying “competitive gaming,” which is one of the fastest growing activities across the entire world. Gamers earn hundreds of thousands of dollars as a collective from franchises like Call of Duty each year. For example, the Call of Duty Championship is held each march in Los Angeles, California, and has a total payout of one million dollars. The first place team earns $440,000 alone. Damon Barlow, nicknamed “Karma,” has earned almost $250,000 from tournaments, not including revenue from his sponsors like Scuf Gaming and gaming media websites such as Twitch, MLG and even YouTube. Needless to say, professional gamers earn big money.
“Overwatch” ESports has taken competitive gaming to a new level with refreshing gameplay and an international spectrum of teams. The “Overwatch” World Cup included teams from Finland, Greece, South Africa, Argentina, Russia, Indonesia, Australia, the United States and many more, welcoming teams from every continent, except Antarctica. South Korea dominated the competition, beating Russia four games to none in the finals. Even the X-Games have taken on ESports.
“Overwatch” contains 23 characters or “Heroes” to play as. There are offensive heroes, defensive heroes, tank heroes (which are the largest and highest-health characters) and healers. Among the offensive heroes are Soldier: 76, Genji and Tracer, who appears on the cover of the game. Genji is a fast moving character who’s main weapon is a shuriken, or throwing star. Offensive players are meant to capture objectives, and escort payloads on time to win games while defensive heroes are meant to stop them. Defense heroes consist of Bastion, Junkrat and more. Bastion has a standard machine gun and a sentry turret meant to eliminate enemies quickly. Perhaps the favorite tank heroes are D.Va and Roadhog. Roadhog has a close-range weapon, and chain, used to pull enemies close to put them in firing range. The healers are responsible for helping players gain back health.
Quite possibly the most unique factor of the game is that each character has their own personality and backstory. Winston is the leader of all of the heroes. Lucio is a relatable character who loves music, and, when playing as Lucio, you even get to listen to his music in the background. Tracer is from Great Britain, D.Va is Korean, McCree is a cowboy and Bastion is a robot. Obviously, this game has variety, and is a standout in the gaming community.
If you are ever looking for a new, refreshing game, pick up Overwatch. You will not be disappointed. “Overwatch” hopes in the future to keep hosting tournaments and acquiring awards, so it is expected to be around for a while. We definitely encourage you to try out this wonderful game and see for yourself how much fun you can have!
