Overwatch Character Guide: Zarya, Genji, Reinhardt
By offering players something that goes against the grain or, taking it one step further, warps the entire establishment prior into nothing short of practical tomfoolery, you help keep the notion that for all this medium’s praise, PR, pretentiousness and pointless gratification at its own numeric sales figures…video games are still just video games. That you yourself are more than happy to let either yourself or your own creation be the punchline, rather than the one delivering it. The kind of punchline that takes the appearance of a cute-and-cuddly, child-friendly platformer yet winds up dishing up a brilliant bait-and-switch, as much a cleverly-written pot-shot at what games represent (with quite the ending while I’m at it). It’s up to developers and publishers from hereon as to how far they’re willing to go, if at all. And for those willing to swallow their pride, they’ll realize that, albeit a short-term distraction, satirizing and giving joke to this medium, culture or indeed industry is what’s needed (among many more pressing issues) at this present time.
If you can go out of your way to make something (that could be deduced as) rather bonkers — knowing full well when and where to walk that perilous line between genuine and forced humour — you can at least walk away knowing players will credit you with falling into the «they made it even though they didn’t have to» sub-section. And believe me, alongside «surprisingly addictive» mini-games, 2D backgrounds and actual reflective mirrors, humour is another opportune asset that can go a long, long way to appreciating what said game actually stood for at the given time. Away from the regular check-list on what specifically to critique. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with having a game that’s entirely, unapologetically dry, perhaps perceived initially as far from comedy as one can get — narratively or otherwise. But, ironically, this is why a «one last thing»-type of satire or bit on the side, works far better than when it’s already wrestling for attention amidst a MOBA inspired game mode that not for one second takes itself seriously and is instead its own fuel for fun and folly. Even if it is for the intent to promote something else entirely (video game-related or not) I will commend any developer who’s willing, for example, to throw together the good guys, the bad guys and the in-between guys into some surreal comedy skit-meets-daily life send-off to a game’s campaign .
Blizzard is known for bringing the quality, for taking existing genres and perfecting it. It doesn’t take a genius to see that they have some fantastic designers over there who earn every penny they are paid. Every franchise is synonymous with being the best in the trade. So, when they said they were going to try their hands at the shooter, it seemed like a sure thing and now Overwatch is undeniably popular, with even Amazon running out of copies.
With Overwatch, the charming hero shooter from Blizzard, launching this week, we want to make sure that you’re as prepared as possible to help your team dominate. Overwatch’s main focus is clearly on the interplay between its dynamic characters, so in order to become competent, you’ll need to understand how every character works. Throughout the week, we’ll be publishing guides on each of the twenty-one launch heroes, three at a time, with the hopes that you’ll be able to recognize certain patterns on the battlefield.
Yesterday evening (December 1st, at the time of writing this) was the night of the annual Game Awards show, a lavish live-streamed spectacle where the best and brightest of the video games industry gathered in Los Angeles — in order to receive awards voted on by industry peers and journalists, celebrating the year in gaming. It was a good night for big-name hits like Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End , the reboot of DOOM and Blizzard’s mega-selling team shooter **Overwatch ** , as well as respected independent titles like That Dragon Cancer — and it was a chance for those in attendance to show off all-new trailers for upcoming tit
Safe to say that the expansion of the internet as not just a tool for communication, but hub for «creativity» (putting it mildly) has given users the means as much the confidence to feel they have a platform to express their feelings without coming across as aggressive, or even saying a solitary word in their respective language. They have the power to reflect the consensus of the wider community, be that their original intention or not. Being the video editing novice that I am, it never ceases to make me smile how even the most simple chop-and-change can shine a ravenously merciless light on, say, the over-indulgent marketing ploys of a game and turn what was a passively-forgettable moment into something entirely more worrying. Least of all when said game ends up being, to a considerable number at least, a rather lacking — if occasionally fun — experience . But anybody can load a video with crazy effects, whack the infamous ‘MLG’ stamp on it and find itself but the latest entry in a long-running, if staple, example of gaming culture having a pop at its own over-zealous indulgence and self-gratifying crotch-handling.