The series was 2 to 1 in my third placement match at “The Temple of Anubis” on Assault . The first two wins came easily, but a little miscommunication cost my team the 3 victory sweep we were looking for. If we wanted to avoid going into overtime, my team had to band together . My stomach began to do cartwheels, after winning my first two placement matches the pressure to keep it going was the only thing I needed to rally my team, strategize and get prepared for the next round.
Soldier 76 was my choice pick to compliment my team of Mei, Reinhardt, Reaper, Roadhog, and Mercy to defend the objectives. Round 4 starts and my team manages to hold the enemy team off for 4 minutes on objective A. With a minute left, the attacking team comes with a vengeance and manages to get us off the objective. The next 20 seconds felt like an eternity as we struggled to get remotely close to getting them off the objective. Realizing that victory was slowly slipping away, we had to do something.
30 seconds remained as Reinhardt led the charge shielding our team as we advanced forward. Time began slowly trickling down and if we didn’t make a move soon we risked letting them come back. Armed with my ultimate ability and Reinhardt with his, I yelled “Go”, Reinhardt uses his ultimate stunning 3 of the enemy’s numbers and shortly after I activate mine eliminating the 3 members stunned motionless. Mercy advances healing us and Reaper steps up having just gained his ultimate and finishes off the stragglers. For the next 19 seconds, we hold the objective winning the match and giving me another placement win and play of the game. Moments like these are the reason Overwatch is going to be the next big competitive front for gamers.
For those unfamiliar Overwatch is Blizzards first shooter to be released and the second game to be released on both console and PC. Overwatch is influenced heavily by Valve’s Team Fortress 2 which was released back in 2010 coined as a “Hero Shooter” by community members which was created because of each character possessing different abilities that makes them unique. Why make the Team Fortress comparison you might be asking, it was one of the most successful shooters on PC and Overwatch is the next in line to deliver this experience expanding on it in different ways.
Overwatch’s quick play mode is a great way to orient yourself into the game modes, maps, and heroes learning the basic. If you’re anything like me, there has to be something meaningful to invest your time in. Thankfully, Blizzard thought ahead, adding Competitive mode.
In order to participate in competitive mode, players must reach level 25 by playing quick play mode and the hope is that player’s grasp gameplay, champion and advanced tactics. Player’s then play a series of 10 placement matches that give them a score of 0- 100 which defines your skill level. Depending on your score you’ll either be maintaining your high score or climbing to achieve a higher score.
Video games are entering a new place within society. League of Legends is selling out arenas for its professional competitions. ESPN is now covering video games on its website. Colleges are giving scholarships out for players to play select games on their behalf . All these things point to video games becoming a big deal and Overwatch has the potential to achieve a higher place than all the games before it. Time will tell, but with a company like Blizzard with triple A titles such as World of Warcraft, and StarCraft under its belt, I think it’s safe to say Overwatch is here to stay. If you were curious about the match mentioned at the start, here’s the final moments I described.
