Blizzard Seasonal Update has perfected the RTS and now they’ve laid a fantastic foundation for the FPS. Though simple on the surface, Overwatch manages to create depth thanks to its 21 character roster and 12 intricately designed maps, consistently rewarding players that master their characters, learn the maps and work as a team. Putting a competent team together and snatching victory from the jaws of defeat is one of the most satisfying experiences a multiplayer game has offered in years. It could use a campaign, a few more game modes and refinement of its RNG system, but none of that distracts from the fact that Overwatch is an superb effort that will entertain players for an ungodly amount of time.

When developer Pixel Titans released a new trailer for upcoming nostalgia-bleeding, fast-paced shooter STRAFE, safe to say what they unveiled could be regarded as material that goes against the tide of contemporary "gameplay" promotion, trailers and all. The decision to take its blocky, pixelated aim at this thematic and quote-unquote cinematic direction modern games have often approached and blindly lavished over worked wonders for two completely opposing and quite ironically-positioned reasons. One: the developers are clearly confident enough to add a an extra flair of presentation and direction to their still ongoing project. And two: they’re more than willing to be the butt to their own joke -- opening up the flood-gates guarding not just the industry they’re a part of, but more prudently, of themselves as but one more studio in a grand sum of thousands.

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).

Zarya's weapon, the Particle Cannon, has two distinct firing modes that both gain additional attack power based off her use of her two defensive abilities. Her main firing mode is a short-range laser that maintains a straight line of fire and consistent output, which is outstanding for doing a great deal of damage to those who get within range. The bad news about this firing mode is that it's completely ineffective once an enemy gets too far, though Zarya's secondary allows her to fire an energy grenade in a fairly shallow arc. Both of her abilities allow her to create damage absorbing energy shields, which then directly increases the power of her Particle Cannon based on the amount of damage absorbed by said shields. The Particle Barrier allows Zarya to protect herself from oncoming fire, and it lasts significantly longer than her Projected Barrier, which can be placed on a nearby ally. Finally, her ultimate, the Gravitron Surge, pulls all nearby enemies into its aura and does a small amount of continuous damage to everyone trapped inside. The best Zarya players charge right into battle, activate their Particle Barrier and then stay behind one other ally, allowing for the simultaneous use of the Projected Barrier.

Genji's first ability, Swift Strike, allows him to dash in whichever the direction the reticle is facing, doing damage to anyone caught in his path. This particular ability has a unique hidden modifier, as its cooldown is instantly reset whenever Genji eliminates another player, thus allowing for a series of potentially devastating killstreaks. His second ability, Deflect, is the single best method for taking out Bastion (for those of you who think that everyone's favorite robot is completely over-powered and unstoppable). By pressing the appropriate command prompt, all incoming fire is immediately deflected in the direction in which Genji is facing, which allows you to do as much damage to enemies as they hope to do to you. Genji's ultimate, Dragonblade, is also insanely powerful when used correctly. In a nutshell, Dragonblade allows him to whip out his sword and do massive damage to enemies at close range over a duration of ten seconds. The main thing to keep in mind here is that enemies can still kill you when you're running up on them, so simply bum-rushing into chaos with your ultimate activated is a complete waste.

There is a way to get the content you want: Overwatch Gold. Overwatch once again stumbles over itself, though, as Gold isn't earned from playing well or as a microtransaction, but as a random drop from Loot Boxes or burning duplicates. For a game that relies so much on rewarding players for mastering their favorite characters, it doesn’t really give them many ways to unlock the content for the characters they like.