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Overwatch

Blizzard has a long history of producing high quality multiplayer games, and Overwatch isn't going to cadet that trend. Last week'southward open beta gave us a representative look at how the retail version of the game will be when information technology launches on the 24th, and it seems to work as intended regardless of which platform you program on using.

For the ameliorate part of a decade, Blizzard was working on developing an MMO dubbed "Titan." It was somewhen canceled in 2014, but some assets from that project still alive on in Blizzard'due south new first-person shooter. And it'southward not just Blizzard's legacy that Overwatch is building on. In many ways, it likewise takes inspiration from Valve's Team Fortress 2. It's a team-based shooter focusing on wildly unlike classes, and the lively personalities of the characters evoke very warm feelings for many of united states of america with hundreds of hours of TF2 nether our belts.

From a technical perspective, Overwatch seems to be well-built. Both the Xbox One and PS4 versions feature dynamic resolution scaling, just they're both sitting at 1080p most of the time. Based on the comparing done by Digital Foundry, the Xbox Ane appears to drop below 1080p more oft, only it's non a widespread outcome. Yous'll encounter a slightly fuzzier image for short stretches, but that's certainly preferable to being stuck at 720p or 900p at all times.

The game targets 60fps on consoles, and it usually delivers. The PS4 version rarely budges from lx, and when it does, it seems to happen virtually oft when you lot're watching the kill cam. Over on the Xbox I, drops are a bit more frequent when yous're actually playing. Unfortunately, you're going to get some screen-tearing, but information technology's not enough to ruin the experience.

If you have the option to play Overwatch on the PC, that'south going to exist your best bet. Information technology comes equally no surprise that you'll be able to outpace both consoles in the frame rate and resolution department. On top of that, the draw-distance, lighting, and anisotropic filtering are all improved on the PC side equally well. The differences are still pretty minor though. If y'all but take access to a gaming panel, you lot're not missing out on all that much here.

If you didn't get the opportunity to play the beta yourself, yous can go a skilful look at Overwatch in activity in the video above. Our sister site IGN played through about an hr of the open beta alive on the cyberspace, and two full hours during the airtight beta.

I spent some time with the PS4 version over the weekend, and didn't see any notable issues with the frame rate or network performance. As for the gameplay itself, I had zero problem jumping in headfirst. If yous've always played an FPS before, y'all'll pick up the basics speedily. However, at that place are 21 characters spread across four classes, and they all play differently. It'll take some time to go familiar with the quirks of each "hero."

While the developer has said that this most contempo beta is exactly what we'll see at launch feature-wise, it's important to remember that all online games are susceptible to network problems. Fifty-fifty though Blizzard has an absurd amount of experience keeping servers up and running under heavy load, information technology's still possible that the launch could exist plagued with downtime. If that'south a concern for you lot, consider waiting until subsequently launch to buy in.