DualShockers' Game of the Year Awards: The Case for Overwatch

Everyone remembers the games that changed everything. Wolfenstein 3D brought the industry into the 3D era, Final Fantasy VII made the PlayStation a direct threat to Nintendo’s empire, and Halo 2 brought online multiplayer to consoles. However, there’s not a recent game that sticks in player’s minds like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Infinity Ward’s risky leap into a modern setting ended up not only being one of the best games of 2007 but one of the most groundbreaking. The Modern Warfare's intuitive create-a-class, killstreak, and progression system forever changed multiplayer. To this day, recent Call of Duty titles still incorporates a version of this system. Now, in 2016, Activision and Raven Software are re-releasing a remastered version of the classic, but does it remain the ultimate Call of Duty experience, or has it aged horribly?


That philosophy not only extends from the FPS Game DLC's design and multiplayer, but also deep into the themes and characters of Overwatch itself. The game's shining optimism and diverse character designs run deep throughout the experience. More than anything, Overwatch brims with character and charm - Blizzard somehow took a talking gorilla, a sassy time-bender, a shotgun-toting reaper ( who has made for a hilarious parody Twitter account ), and so many other weird, wonderful characters and made them all feel a part of this shared universe and established wo
Aside from the complete visual overhaul, Raven Software has left the campaign intact as is, with all the same content, mechanics, and bonus modes. The same can be said about extra content, although now PlayStation users can collect trophies, something that wasn't patched in the original version. For those who’ve played the Call of Duty 4 campaign a lot over the past nine years, there’s nothing new for you in the remaster. The fact that nothing has changed is both refreshing, and a hindrance. Playing an old-school boots-on-the-ground, non-set piece oriented Call of Duty campaign puts things in perspective. A grounded Call of Duty game is entertaining, and, in hindsight, makes a lot of the recent games look out of control.


When attackers outnumber defenders while taking a control point on Assault, Escort and Assault/Escort maps, the defenders’ respawn time will slowly increase until it hits a maximum value or the defense manages to gain the upper hand.



Developer Comments: Until now, stalling an attack by repeatedly throwing yourself at the point has been a common defensive strategy on Assault, Escort and Assault/Escort maps—even when the attackers have a decisive advantage. Typically, this tactic doesn’t change the outcome of battle; it simply delays the attackers’ progr


No longer protects allies from knockback




_Developer Comments: This is actually reverting a change that we made a few patches ago, which made players immune to knockbacks if they were hit by an effect from inside her barrier. This had some negative side effects, such as making targets immune to knockbacks from effects that pierce barriers, like Reinhardt’s charge and Winston’s Primal Rage punches. Now, these will cause knockback again. This does not affect knockbacks from effects that originate from outside her barriers, such as Pharah’s Concussive Blast. Those will still be blocked by the barriers, not causing any knockback. _ Zeny

Where I could see myself enjoying a 5-6 hour single-player campaign with a loose story of some sort, I've had far more enjoyment from seeing the world of Overwatch unfold so organically. In every match that I've played, I've discovered some new bit of the world I hadn't uncovered before, whether it's a poster hanging in the Hollywood map, or a piece of dialogue between characters that opens up key bits of information about their relationships and bonds. More than pretty much any other multiplayer game I've experienced (save for maybe Team Fortress 2 ), Overwatch 's world and characters are incredibly likable, compelling, and engaging even without a campaign to establish them all, and it's all the more reason why Blizzard's design have kept me coming back to the game throughout the y


Ability cooldown now starts when the barrier is placed, instead of when it ends




_Developer Comments: This change should help Winston do what he does best: distract the enemy team and block damage. _ Z

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered had a tough job to complete. Not only did it have to match player’s nostalgic expectations, but also remain fun after nine years, and in some ways, it's successful. The campaign resonates today as much it did nine years ago, the Multiplayer is still a blast, and the visual overhaul is the best any remaster has ever received. What Raven has accomplished is impressive, but it has its limits. Their strict dedication to not tampering with the original formula means that the flaws from 2007 are clearly visible. Issues that were fixed in later Call of Duty titles are left unchecked in Modern Warfare Remastered, and it can drag the experience down. In the end, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered is a solid remaster that enhances the original game with beautiful new visuals and a little bit of extra multiplayer content, but Raven Software may have stuck to the original a little too much. A few tweaks would have gone a long way to fixing some balancing issues, but for those looking for a blast from the past, this works just fine