This is what makes Overwatch all the more frustrating to me. There is a great game ready to be born out of this mess. Blizzard tends to know what they are doing. That is why I am confused regarding how this game has achieved such universal praise, despite its shortcomings. The developer can do much, much better. In its current state, the free-to-play Gotham City Imposters offered much more in the way of depth with a similar tone and varied abilities. How Blizzard can get away with charging $40 (or $60) dollars for less than WB's beleaguered shooter, and then riddle it with microtransactions, is beyond me.
Bastion is different from most of Overwatch's heroes in that his main ability alters his main weapon. His standard configuration, Recon, allows him to move freely and gives him a moderately powerful assault rifle designed for medium range encounters. His Sentry configuration is his most useful, and potentially most frustrating, setup. In this mode, Bastion is completely stationary, but has a turret that can do insane damage at close, medium and long range. Needless to say, running straight into Bastion when he's hanging out in his Sentry configuration is straight up foolish. Add this to the fact that his other ability, Self-Repair, allows him to heal himself, and it's easy to see how Bastion can be frustrating for those who just bumrush an objective without thought. Oh, and let's not forget that Bastion's ultimate, Tank Configuration, best winston stadium build not only makes him more mobile and gives him a powerful rocket launcher, but it also decreases the size of his hitbox significantly.
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.
Perhaps the biggest troll of the entire roster, Junkrat thrives on blocking off pathways and causing straight up chaos on the battlefield. His main weapon, the Frag Launcher, allows him to lob and bounce explosives that have a short detonation delay (unless they directly impact a player). Because of this, Junkrat is able to utilize cover, large walls and corners all while still being able to cause massive amounts of damage to opposing teams. If you're not constantly firing grenades and using projectiles to force players onto alternate paths, you're playing this character incorrectly. In addition to being able to manually launch grenades, his Total Mayhem perk automatically drops grenades upon player death, meaning that you can essentially play as a martyr if all else fails. Not only does Total Mayhem work as a method of frustrating other players, but it's absolutely devastating against characters who dare to get too close.
Mercy's Caduceus Staff allows her to attach a healing beam to a single ally in her immediate area, and this should be done as much as humanly possible. There isn't necessarily a point to playing Mercy if the Caduceus Staff isn't the main focus of your activities, especially considering that Mercy's secondary abilities all play into her knack for healing teammates. Guardian Angel is both Mercy's most useful ability and the skill that most players completely forget to use. By pointing your reticle at one of your teammates, you'll be able to rapidly fly towards them, allowing you to either get right up in the action or heal a distant enemy. The one thing to keep in mind with Guardian Angel is that you need a clear path towards your teammate, so you're not going to be able to warp through walls or ceilings.
The first thing you need to know when playing as Mercy is that you're not in it for the kills. It's entirely possible that Mercy might be the only character you have a negative K/D ratio with, and that's actually totally fine. The name of the game with Mercy is to heal your teammates, and as such, pulling out your Caduceus Blaster should be a last resort. Think about it: any moment you're using your relatively under-powered offensive weapon is a moment where you could be letting one of your teammates die. Granted, Mercy wouldn't have a pistol if she didn't need to use it at times, but it shouldn't be the main item that you use when picking this character.
Now, when it was stated that it was a multiplayer only affair, I had decided to steer clear. People, for the most part, suck. I tend to grow bored or annoyed with these types of games. Still, I found myself in love with another game that might as well be sold as multiplayer only and am still putting the hours into it. Coupled with the universal hype and love that Overwatch has received from every outlet, and every person I have spoken to who has played it, it looked like I would be remiss to miss out. Getting in on the ground floor seemed like a great idea. After having put a bit of time into it, I find myself primarily grateful that I didn't handle our review. The mediocre score I would have given it would have rendered me Internet Enemy #1.