I’m a pretty big fan of Overwatch, and that’s saying something because I typically despise first-person-shooters (FPS) and playing online. However, I feel that with Overwatch none of that matters and that has made it a big game-changer in my eyes. So the big question is… why?

Long story short, the concept of Overwatch is easy to understand. There are twenty three characters (and counting because the game is constantly improving) to choose from and five stages (and counting) to play. Each stage has its own objectives. For example, one stage may focus on escorting a payload or stopping the payload while another stage just wants you to take over a marked point. This is all depends on whether you are the Attacker or Defender, something that switches between each round.

That’s literally it, at least in the video game-verse. Outside of that, Overwatch has plenty of lore to follow if you just want to know about the characters and not play. You read right – you don’t even have to play Overwatch to understand it! I can’t tell you how many people have come together because of Overwatch (over 20 billion players and counting, and who knows how many have come for the lore?), including myself.

Originally, Overwatch was not supposed to happen for me. I had mistaken Tracer for a boy and then learned that it was both a FPS and online game (not like Splatoon, which is third person and online) so I had already changed my mind about getting it. Then before the actual release date happened, all the consoles allowed you to try it for free and so I decided to try it (but really my boyfriend wanted it). To say that I was blown away is an understatement.

The stages are nice to look at and appreciate (most of them are colorful). The characters are unique and not just because they have different battle styles and four categories: Offense, Defense, Tank, and Support. For example, Soldier 76 shoots a pulse rifle which is fast and easy to maneuver while WidowMaker is a sniper that requires timing and precise aiming. Neither of those your thing? You can operate a Mech with D.Va or just heal your teammates with the power of music from Lucio. And to make this all better, each character comes from a different country and speaks their native tongue when they’re the enemy (or have certain voice lines). Take that and add in different skins, sprays, and voice lines to be won and you’ve got yourself a really addictive game. Variety is the spice of life after all.

That’s not to say that there are some issues. While I play on console, where I don’t chat unless I’m playing with friends, the PC version allows gamers to type to each other and I have heard some stories about that. Blizzard is constantly working on balancing out the mechanics of each character, but I wish they would help out with those loot boxes one day (I only see the same sprays but it’s all good). Overall though, Overwatch is hands-down one of the best games I have ever had the pleasure of playing, and I feel everyone should play it at least once (if once is enough!).