9 Reasons Overwatch Is The Most Exciting Gaming Franchise In Decades

8. Every Character Is Worth Playing

Balancing an online shooter is usually something that takes months of playing alongside the rest of the globe to perfect, but Blizzard have clearly been hard at work ensuring each and every one of their 21 characters are both fun to control and essential to the battlefield.

Defence characters can set up turrets and blockades, whilst the opposite will rain hellfire through bombardments of rockets and laser blasts. Middle-tier healers and supports can hold their own in a one-on-one skirmish, but exist mostly to buff other units and advance the team as one. Plans to take strongholds and other areas are made up and executed on the fly, with the ability to switch characters whenever you die being a nice breath of fresh air.

Need to go on the offensive to wipe out an enemys defensive line? Spawn in with three rocket launcher-equipped heroes and decimate it. The enemy making their way through town with a guarded objective? Swap to someone who specialises in obstacles and throw down some huge elemental walls and shields in their way. The whole thing feels tactile and responsive, pick up n play but with a great deal of depth and balance lying just beyond the surface.

Whether youre playing for 30 seconds or 30 hours, its a ludicrously enjoyable experience through and through.