Overwatch, the multiplayer shooter all of the cool children (and their pets) are enjoying, is having one other free weekend. That means you possibly can play at no cost from 7pm GMT on Friday by way of to 8pm on Monday. Weekends have a really liberal definition these days – what’s the world coming to, eh?
Well, that is awkward. We’re 4 strains in and I’ve already informed you all of the information. Luckily, I’ve acquired some ideas on the revised seize the flag (CTF) mode that landed with the Lunar New Year event.
It’s higher now! While CTF won’t ever exchange Escort as my favorite sport mode, Blizzard have made some modifications since their last attempt which have turned the mode from a so-so curiosity into one thing that I’d welcome into the common playlist. For now, it seems as its personal factor within the arcade – each in an off-the-cuff kind that solely hundreds up the brand new map for it, and in a aggressive mode that includes each that every body the earlier CTF maps. Here are the tweaks:
“Flag pickup is now instant, but flags cannot be picked up for five seconds after being dropped. Flags return after 4 seconds, and flag return is not interrupted by taking damage. Mobility and invulnerability skills drop the flag and, music plays while carrying the flag! Sudden death will now break ties at the end of a match. When time runs out, the round starts over, the flags are moved closer to the center of the map, and the first team to capture wins. All these changes will be applied to older Capture the Flag maps as well.”
The presence of that aggressive mode reveals Blizzard’s confidence that CTF is able to stand by itself two ft flags, and from the matches I performed this morning I don’t suppose that confidence is misplaced. Now you could immediately choose up the flag, it’s simpler to get it out of your opponent’s base – although as a result of some skills now make you drop the flag, it’s tougher to run all of it the best way again. The mixed impact of these modifications make for far more attention-grabbing, dynamic fights that don’t simply boil right down to each groups endlessly bashing their heads in opposition to one another’s defences.
The sudden loss of life mode is a good addition, the place each staff’s flags are positioned in weak positions solely a stone’s throw away from one another. I’ve solely had one match go to a tie to this point – one other signal that the mode’s been improved – which is nearly a disgrace, as a result of I like how frantic and harmful the shrunken enjoying subject feels. I’d fortunately play a sport the place the flags have been so shut for the entire match, so I wouldn’t be shocked if that seems as its personal arcade mode in some unspecified time in the future sooner or later.
The new map feels significantly sturdy, which is smart because it’s been constructed particularly for CTF. I’m an enormous fan of techno-temples, and the drones that hover round scanning the ruins of Ayutthaya are a wonderful contact. That neat aesthetic would rely for nought if it wasn’t additionally a well-designed space for taking pictures and flag-gathering, and it succeeds on that rely too. It’s small, which implies clashes occur extra usually, however Blizzard have packed that house with a number of routes that enable every base to be attacked entrance on, from above or from beneath. It can nonetheless be tough to nick a flag with out a coordinated staff, and stalemates nonetheless occur – however they’re rarer than on different maps, and rarer typically now that the flag’s simpler to select up.
There are moments the place particular hero skills shine in ways in which they don’t on different modes. A nicely positioned ice wall from a Mei can reduce off the flag bearer’s pursuers, and a nicely timed deflect from Genji can distract a turret lengthy sufficient for the flag to be nabbed. Every hero feels viable, and with the attainable exception of Torbjorn no hero appears very important both.
With all that mentioned, it’s nonetheless not good. Once one staff positive factors the lead, in the event that they play sensibly they’ll deal with sustaining a stable defence – which may sluggish the sport right down to a crawl, very like on most of the Assault maps (I’m taking a look at you, Temple of Anubis.) That’s a lot much less of an issue than it was although, and doesn’t cease me being glad to have an entire new approach to play Overwatch.
