Who Watches The Overwatchmen?
Let me start this by saying that when this game came out, I was Overjoyed. I Overtly enjoyed playing it. Despite this fact, I can not Overcome my extreme disappointment in the fact that Overwatch has been crowned Game of The Year. This could be the frightening sign that the video game culture that we know and love might not just be changing, but could in fact already be Over.
Overwatch’s core game play is solid. It’s fun. It’s fast paced. The characters are all different, but great in their own way. The objective based matches force you to work as a team and play your role if you want to succeed. It’s all great for what it is, but a game like Overwatch should never be allowed in the running for game of the year, let alone walk away with the crown.
Overwatch is a competitive multiplayer only game. There is no campaign of any kind to be experienced. As a matter of fact, there is no story in the game whatsoever. You are left to draw conclusions based on Easter Eggs, voice lines, and skins. The lack of story built into the game should disqualify Overwatch from any serious consideration outside of “Best Multiplayer Game”. It is possible to find out about the characters and the story of Overwatch by going online to the Overwatch website, but we all decided that method of story telling was unacceptable when Destiny tried it with their Grimoire Cards back in 2014. To be fair, Blizzard at least delivers their story in video form, but it’s still not good enough. I should never have to stop playing my game to find out what is going on in it. That is pure laziness, and possibly just a ploy to get hits on the website in order to generate add revenue.
Even if you can look past the fact that they story only exists in the form of short videos that aren’t even contained in the game, you are still left with an extremely limited multiplayer experience. Overwatch has 1 true game mode, “Quick Play”. In that game mode, there are technically two game types, “Push The Payload”, and “Capture The Points”, but you can’t choose between them and they are map specific. There have been limited time games like “Lucio Ball” and “Junkstein’s Revenge”, but when they end, you are still left with “Quick Play”. You can also play ranked multiplayer, but the only differences are a slight sense of progression in the form of a skill rating, and queuing up with people close to your aforementioned skill rating.
I’m not saying that Overwatch doesn’t do anything right. This game is built on a cast of incredible characters that are all uniquely interesting and fun to play. Each one with their own set of strengths, weaknesses, and play styles. All of them working together to form one cohesive team. What I am saying is that is not enough to make this a great game. That is not even enough to make this a full price game.
Overwatch winning Game of The Year shows just how far our once great industry has fallen. To think that a game with no story and 1 game mode can be considered the best game of 2016, really shows how low the bar is set. It shows that not only is the video game industry shoving incomplete games down our throats, and charging full price for them, but also they they are getting away with it. Overwatch, although fun, is a monument to every way that game developers have failed us.
Video game companies used to stand for something. They used to be devoted to bringing engaging, high quality games that transported us into worlds of which we’ve never dreamed. Now it seems like they are just about making the bare minimum amount of game and flipping it for a quick buck. Between yearly installments of the same old garbage, and season passes that no longer cover all DLC, there is no end to their greed.
Who is to blame for all of this? Is it the game companies for being lazy and greedy? Is it consumers for accepting the status quo? Maybe it’s both. Regardless of whom is to blame, it’s upsetting to think this is where we are now. You can get a Game of The Year award by releasing a quarter of a game. You can charge full price for a digitally remastered game. One game can have 3 season passes. Where does it end? Where is the line in the sand drawn, and what happens when the industry finally crosses it? Do we boycott the game, the console, the industry? What can we do to stem the tide of mediocrity and greed? I really wish I had the answers.
I love video games with all my heart. Having the ability to escape my troubles, bond with friends thousands of miles away, and experience worlds where I’m more than I could ever be are all things that I truly cherish. But if something doesn’t change, we may all lose those special moments and the world will be poorer for it. There is not much that I can do alone, but as long as I have breath in my lungs and fingers with which to type, I will rage against the dying of the light. I won’t allow my games to go gentle into that good night.
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