Do you prefer playing games alone or with friends?
We each have our own preference when it comes to that; sometimes we just want to have a little alone time to relax or simply, we play with our friends to have a good time and have some fun.
Nowadays, playing games has become a way in which we can catch up with old friends and make new friends online.
Games have become a platform in which people connect, over similar interests.
As I was navigating through the Blizzard [1] App a week ago, I noticed there was a Overwatch free weekend trial. Knowing that a few of my friends have always wanted to play the game, I suggested to them to give it a try.
For them, it’ll be the first time they play Overwatch.
But for me, it’ll be the first time in almost a year since I’ve played it.
Upon loading the game yesterday, I was immediately taken back to the first time that I played the game and the reason why I was drawn to it initially – the aesthetically pleasing and vibrant colors of the game.
I knew a few new maps were included and an addition of a couple of new heroes since I’ve last played which included the likes of Doomfist, Sombra and Orisa.
However, that didn’t deter me from playing the game.
We played a couple of rounds, and it was always came down to the wire – the dreaded overtime [2].
We laughed, we raised our voices in excitement as we secured objectives and unleashed our ultimates in unison to decimate the opposing team, only to have their Genji wipe us out with his ultimate [3] and earning the Play of the Game [4].
As I was playing the game and switching between heroes, I noticed some of them were noticeably weaker, did they get nerfed [5]?
“Why isn’t my Roadhog able to oneshot enemies with the hook and gun combo anymore?”
I knew the answer to it in my heart, but the sheer excitement of this intense, fast paced game that I was playing made me oblivious to it until each round was over.
With each defeat making us laugh over our questionable plays, and each victory that made us question: “What? How did we ever win?? HAHAHAH”.
During one of the queue times for a game, I remembered the reason why I bought the game in the first place last year – just to get the Overwatch cardback for Hearthstone. However, that quickly changed after a few rounds of the game.
I wasn’t a huge fan of First Person Shooter (FPS) [6] games; primarily due to the fact that I wasn’t exposed to many FPS games – my social circle mainly comprised of MOBA players.
Overwatch takes what you know about the FPS genre and gives it a full 180, for the better.
Overwatch changed my perspective of the FPS genre forever; with each game mode being different from the other; the unique cast of characters you can play and their skillset, and most importantly, the colorful and pleasant looking maps that the game offers, Overwatch has undoubtedly created a blue ocean outside of the otherwise bleak FPS genre.
From buying a game just for a digital exclusive to actually enjoying the game, Overwatch has definitely been one of the better games I’ve ever played on a computer.
This past weekend of playing Overwatch with my friends has made me realise the joys of playing in a party – something that I’ve not felt in a very long time.
Perhaps, I’ve been trying too hard on the Hearthstone ladder to get my final golden class (Priest), that I’ve long forgotten what playing games initially meant to me.
Do you get angry after playing games?
Do you feel like punching your screen after losing?
It’s always good to look back and relive the past moments of why you initially started playing games in the first place.
After all, we play games to enjoy ourselves, and playing with our friends just makes it a whole lot better.
And that begs the question, when was the last time you enjoyed playing a game?
Notes
[1] Blizzard or Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California, and is a subsidiary of the American company Activision Blizzard. – Wikipedia
[2] Overtime is an extension to the normal time given in a match. Overtime is awarded if an attacker touches the objective when, or shortly before, the timer runs out. If an attacker is on the objective, the Overtime bar is reset to full, and does not deplete until all attackers move off of the objective. If the game is in Overtime for over twenty seconds, the fuse depletes increasingly quickly when attackers are not on the objective. – Overwatch Wiki
[3] Ultimate or Ultimate abilities (Commonly referred to by players as ‘Ults’) are powerful abilities only available to a hero once their Ultimate Meter has filled. Progress towards an Ultimate persists through death.- Overwatch Wiki
[4] The Play of the Game, abbreviated to PotG, features various gameplay aspects highlighted at the end of each match. – Overwatch Wiki
[5] Nerfed or nerf in a video gaming is a change to a game that reduces the desirability or effectiveness of a particular game element.
[6] First-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre centered around gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective; that is, the player experiences the action through the eyes of the protagonist. – Wikipedia
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