Five reasons you need to play 'Overwatch'

The creators of video games World of Warcraft and Hearthstone might have another hit on their hands.

Last week, the video game publisher launched Overwatch, a first-person shooter where players work together in teams, battling in competitive matches online as one of 21 heroes.

Teams of six players work together in different locations completing a variety of missions. One match type may require the team to capture and protect key points on a map, while another calls for the team to escort a vehicle to a specific location.

Having played this for a week, Overwatch is a spectacular experience every video game player should check out.  These are my five reasons why:

1. Kills matter less. Play something like Call of Duty or even Battlefield, and the first numbers players check are the number of kills they notch in a competitive match and the number of deaths (and let’s not forget score or the kills-to-deaths ratio).

Overwatch does a couple things to address this. First, it records kills as “eliminations.” If you do any damage to an opponent and they die while you’re still alive, you get credit. Of course, racking up a ton of eliminations is still a big deal, but there are so many other ways to contribute, such as healing, absorbing damage or providing other assists such as armor or recon. There's no need to measure your skills based on kills or deaths.

2. It focuses on you at your best.Overwatch is the rare shooter that encourages players by highlighting their positive contributions often. In between matches, the game will craft Highlights of your best performances, a recap of your best moments. Then there’s Play of the Game, where one player is honored through a post-match Highlight. Statistics found on your user profile are structured in a way to showcase your best achievements (most healing points, most eliminations, etc.). Instead of focusing on how good or bad you play, it’s all about player successes.

3. The cast of characters is incredible. They break down into four class types: Offense, Defense, Support and Tanks (lots of health, capable of taking lots of damage). The range of characters grows more diverse once you select a class. There’s the Japanese archer Hanzo sniping foes from afar, or the angelic Mercy healing teammates, or the gentle robot Bastion who will morph into a turret to quickly pick apart foes, or the speedy Tracer teleporting between enemies. Each character boasts a unique personality and skill set to satisfy any player’s style.

4. You have plenty of space to learn characters. Once you wrap a Tutorial, there’s a practice range with robots where you can study your character as well as matches you can fight with computer-controlled opponents.

Each character has a main weapon with specific abilities, as well as two powers that recharge in between uses. They also have an Ultimate ability which can turn the tide of a match. For example, McCree is a cowboy with a six-shooter who can either toss a grenade to stun enemies or execute a roll move to quickly reload.  His Ultimate is called Deadeye, where he pinpoints enemies through a special radar and immediately pops them with a series of shots. Everyone telegraphs their Ultimate with a signature catch phrase (McCree says “it’s high noon.”).

The practice options are plentiful, and allow players the space to master a character before hitting the battlefield.

5. Know your role.The Rock was right. Overwatch pushes players to work as a team, and that means when you pick a character, you maintain their place on the team. If you’re a sniper like Widowmaker, you don’t rush into battle and “run-and-gun” your way out of a jam. If you play as Mercy, you stay in the shadows and heal away. Put that weapon away for now. And no matter what class you are, certainly don’t think you’re going into a crowd of several enemies and escaping unscathed. Work together.

The one thing Overwatch really needs: Sharing options. How cool would it be to take that Highlight or Play of the Game and spread it around YouTube, or Facebook, or Twitter? There's no way to do that within the game. Let's hope that's included in a future update.

Readers, share your thoughts on Overwatch in the comments section.

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.