Kristan Whitlock

There's always been a simple pleasure that comes from hopping into a digital world and shooting your friends. From Doom , to Goldeneye, to Halo , many of the greatest video games ever made allow you to enter a digital battlefield and wage war against your fellow combatants. Overwatch is the latest major entrant into that proud genre. Like other shooters that came before, part of the joy of Overwatch comes from being able to prove your worth in a competitive arena. Unlike many of those other games, however, much of Overwatch ’s appeal comes from the personality of its characters. These bombastic creations have the rare ability to draw you into the game’s world and feel a genuine sense of attachment to the ch

Another highlight from the patch is that two new skins have been officially added to the game, Oni Genji, and Officer D. Va. While both the map and the two skins were a part of the game's Public Testing Region (PTR) on Windows PC almost a month ago, this marks the first time that either of these features have been made available of everyone, regardless of platf

D.Va is certainly the most meta member of the Overwatch roster. As a professional StarCraft player turned mech pilot warrior, she’s essentially the ultimate anime hero. At only 19 years old, D.Va – a.k.a. Hana Song – still treats the act of battle like a video FPS game weapons. Her calls of "nerf this" and "gg" almost break the game’s fourth wall and make D.VA one of the most compelling characters in the g

With a captivating story and excellent character development, The Last of Us initially hooks players with its characters, but the gameplay is equally noteworthy. Limited ammo forces players to use stealth and melee weapons more often than guns. When players resort to their firearms, guns feel as deadly and unstable as in real life. Upgrades make weapons steadier and more powerful, while players who prefer stealth can make spiked bats—and Molotov cocktails for blind zombies. The game revitalizes the shooter genre with realistic combat where players are vulnerable, guns have the power they deserve, and zombies are terrifying beasts who must be terminated one at a t

Let's be honest, when Overwatch fans complain, it's with a grain of salt. We've got it pretty good. Blizzard is known for listening to their community and responding quickly to dissatisfaction or unintended consequences, while always keeping their fans informed. Overwatch 's development team is no different. It's like they are themselves an elite global task force recruited with one common goal: to deliver a fun and competitive gaming experie

**Overwatch ** is a game about diversity in hero selection, and everyone has their own personal favorite. Some people may play heroes near the bottom of this list. That doesn't mean that they are bad players; it only means that the hero may not be the strong

But for the sake of brevity, Overwatch is my Game of the Year choice for the fact that it showed me the power of inclusion and community when it comes to gaming. While it's still a heavily competitive shooter at heart, Overwatch 's ease of access for players has made it both appealing and fun to play, but without sacrificing depth and playability when it comes to mastering each of the game's Heroes. Though they don't happen all the time, each time I've gotten a "Play of the Game" has put a smile on my face just like the first time I started playing, and I'm eager to see just how long Overwatch has me hooked

Appropriately labeled the best game of 2016, Overwatch includes and expands traditional shooter mechanics to produce one of the greatest games ever made. Any fans of first-person shooters must play Overwatch —although they might become so addicted they’ll never return to playing other shoot

The presence of an enemy Symmetra can be irksome, but a Winston on a coordinated team can virtually neutralize most of her efficacy. There are a few characters who can bypass or handle her turrets, which is one of the main reasons a player picks Symmetra in the first place. Overall, Symmetra has her uses but is not the best choice in many situati

Blizzard promised us new maps in 2017, and boy did they deliver! The new king-of-the-hill map Oasis was released just three days into the new year. Now that's what you call making good on a promise. With 362 more days in the year, though, Overwatch players are wondering what else may be in the works for the development team. Oasis comes chock-full of backstory as a technologically advanced utopia society, founded by eight of the world's leading scientists. Despite having killer traffic (watch out, the cars will knock you off the map!) and boasting an amazing elevator of death, the three Oasis maps are actually quite symmetrical and seemingly basic. King-of-the-hill maps are fun, but players are also hoping to see more payload or multiple objective maps in the future. And although a flashy story is nice, fans also want to see more of the places they've already seen in Overwatch 's digital shorts and comics. Can we build upon the lore a little more before expanding the unive