Overwatch is somewhat of a time machine, traveling back through the history of the shooter genre and borrowing ideas from iconic shooters throughout the years: the fluid arena combat of Quake the cutthroat precision of Counter-Strike the dynamism of Titanfall, and the reflexive firefights of Call of Duty. Gamespot's Mike Hardy touches on the many influences that shaped Overwatch, and how Blizzard, somehow, managed to blend them all into an excellent game: One of the few concerns during the development of Overwatch was if Blizzard, a company widely celebrated for their RPG and RTS acumen but zero experience with First Person Shooter, could deliver within one of the most crowded, and arguably critically demanding, genres of the industry. It's A Celebration Of Just About Every FPS From The Last 15 Years And Then Some That said, what's the game like now that it's in the hands of the public? Here's what the reviews have to say.

Granted, those who've had a passing interest in playing Overwatch have probably already gotten a taste with a slew of closed and open beta weekends over the past few months. Blizzard Entertainment's team-based, class-based first-person multiplayer shooter is their first new franchise in 17 years - perhaps you've heard of their previous titles: Diablo, Starcraft and Warcraft? To put it another way, Overwatch is a game where you and a cast of colorful characters with contrasting and complimentary abilities go around shooting each other in mildly futuristic locales around the world.

It's no exaggeration to say that Overwatch is one of the more anticipated games in recent memory (at least since the recent release of Doom).

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