Overwatch Vs. Battleborn: Which Is The Better Hero Shooter
Yesterday evening (December 1st, at the time of writing this) was the night of the annual Game Awards show, a lavish live-streamed spectacle where the best and brightest of the video games industry gathered in Los Angeles - in order to receive awards voted on by industry peers and journalists, celebrating the year in gaming. It was a good night for big-name hits like Uncharted 4: A Thief's End , the reboot of DOOM and Blizzard's mega-selling team shooter **Overwatch ** , as well as respected independent titles like That Dragon Cancer - and it was a chance for those in attendance to show off all-new trailers for upcoming tit
Speaking of positioning, Widowmaker's two core abilities allow her to either get to a new position quickly, or protect the one she's currently holding down. The first of these abilities, her Grappling Hook, can be aimed using the reticle, and will quickly propel her towards the surface it's fired at. Not only is this awesome for quickly reaching positions above the playing field, but it also works wonders when you're looking to get out of a jam. Widowmaker's second ability, the Venom Mine can be fired with an arc, and deals damage over time when triggered. This toxic gas mine isn't just great for crowd control, though. If you've ever played a military shooter that allowed you to place claymores behind you while you snipe, you'll be happy to know that the Venom Mine can have a similar effect. Finally, her ultimate, Infra-Sight, allows your entire team to track the positions of all enemies in real-time, instantly countering any flankers and generally setting you up for success.
Zenyatta's two core abilities are remarkably similar to one another, though they have completely opposite effects. The Orb of Harmony can be thrown onto any ally in the area, and so long as they remain in sight of Zenyatta, they will become the recipients of non-stop healing. However, there can only be one player sporting an Orb of Harmony at any given time, so if you decide to heal another player, this will result in the first orb disappearing. This ability is fantastic for when you need to keep your Mauga tank guide healthy, maintain an ally's health during their ultimate or when a big push is on the horizon. Conversely, the Orb of Discord can be passed onto a single enemy, and while they are in Zenyatta's line of sight, they will receive extra damage from all incoming attacks. If you ever encounter a foe who is wrecking your entire team, or if you simply are looking to take out a tank or pesky sniper, this might just be the best ability for the job. Finally, Zenyatta's ultimate, Transcendence, only lasts for a couple of seconds, but can make the difference between a successful push to victory and a blind bum-rush. For a few seconds, Transcendence makes Zenyatta completely invulnerable and heals all of the enemies in the surrounding area. If you're looking to win an overtime period, this is one of the strongest tools at your disposal, despite the fact that it doesn't do any direct damage.
Soldier: 76's abilities are both simple and incredibly useful. His main, low-cooldown ability, Sprint, is exactly what it sounds like: a dedicated button that allows him to run fast. Outside of heroes like Lucio and Tracer, who have dedicated techniques that allow them to move fast, Sprint allows Soldier: 76 to escape battle quicker than the vast majority of heroes out there. If you're someone who despises the fact that Overwatch doesn't have a dedicated sprint function, this might just be the character for you. In addition to this, his other main ability, Biotic Field, enables him to place a small healing area on the ground around him, giving him the chance to regain health and get back into a fight right away. Finally, Soldier: 76's ultimate ability, Tactical Visor, gives him a few seconds of automatic, 100% accuracy aiming (yes, this is a straight up aimbot), and is perfect for eliminating a host of defenders on a given objective. Needless to say, if you're looking for the most balanced hero of the entire roster, you should give Solder: 76 a hard look.
Another major factor in Overwatch's superior focus is its combat readability. In other words, it's far easier to recognize what's happening on the screen at any given moment and react accordingly. It's easy to figure out what powers each hero has, how they would use them in any given situation and the potential counters to each hero's strategy. The sheer amount of lunacy on the screen at any given moment does make Battleborn exciting, but it's often extremely tough to figure out the best strategy to take in a given encounter. What makes Overwatch special is that high-level play isn't hindered by its combat readability, so both new and old players have the potential to plan out their moves in the best way possible. Battleborn, for all of its chaos and excitement, doesn't necessarily do a great job communicating with the player (this can also be seen in its awkward menu system).