The 24th May saw the release of Blizzards latest title, Overwatch. This team FPS shooter was made using some of the assets from their cancelled MMORPG development ‘Titan’. Now, when it comes to Blizzard launches, I’m a veteran these days. As such, I went into the launch with plenty of expectations, bugs, server queues, disconnects, but shocking I found all these lacking, resulting in a smooth and successful launch. This could be partially due to Blizzards use of AWS, Amazon Web Servers, set up to work as overflow capacity for when all Blizzard’s own servers are full, combined which what appears a very successful beta test, to stress test and iron out any final creases. Oh, and if you’re reading this Blizzard exec, you can thank me for my help in the beta with 100 loot boxes. Thanks very much.
But you know… A blizzard launch just doesn’t feel right without staring at a server full screen for an hour or two, so for all those others out there, who I’m sure secretly feel the same way, above is one I made earlier. All you have to do is stare at it for an hour and a half before you play the game. I know… I’m just too kind.
Anyway, with the beta only finishing a few weeks before launch, there are no big changes in the released game. An option to purchase loot boxes for real money has been added. Although, you get one free each time you level. There’s a few people raging on the forums about this inclusion, but in my view the prices are very reasonable and micro transactions are relatively the norm, these days. Blizzard have confirmed that all additional maps and characters planned for future release will be free to those who own the game and not paid DLC, quite generous of them, which is another reason I don’t mind the option to buy extra loot boxes. All the items available in the loot boxes are purely cosmetic and offer no advantage in the game itself, so there’s no element here of pay to win.
Purely in the interests of writing this article, I did purchase five loot boxes and I got from them a legendary skin, an epic victory pose and skin, a rare skin and a number of rare and normal sprays and icons, which I consider pretty good value for money really. If you don’t get what you want then the boxes can also drop coins which can be used to purchase the items you like in the hero gallery, which gives you access to the skins, voice lines, spays, intros and poses.
Clicking on the items allow you to preview them, even if you haven’t unlocked them yet. So you don’t need to worry about spending coins on items you then find you don’t like. Other than that, not much has really been added since the end of the Beta. There is still no option for competitive play, so if you’re only interested in that then you might want to hold off for a bit. It has been confirmed by Blizzard but is not yet live.
If you want to know more about my opinions on the game then you can find my beta review here.
