What parents need to know
Jump into the fast-paced, fast-paced action of Overwatch’s competitive matches between two squads of heroes and heroines with complementary abilities. Choose your character and use your skills to attack or defend a variety of objectives.
Don’t buy Overwatch 1! The game will be replaced by Overwatch 2 on October 4, 2022! And Overwatch 2 will be free!
Our Overwatch 2 article is available here.
Details
Release date: 24 May 2016
Developed by: Blizzard Entertainment
Published by: Blizzard Entertainment
Available on: PC Battle.net, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch
Type of game: FPS, competitive
Average duration of a game: 15-30 minutes
Estimate of the total duration of the game: Infinite
Themes: Fights, action.
Business model: Need to buy the game once. In-app purchases.
Number of players:
1 player per console or PC.
Teams of 6 players online. 12 players per game.
The game is no longer available for sale. Only Overwatch 2 is available.
| Players | 3+ | 7+ | 12+ | 16+ | 18+ |
| Neophytes |  | | | | |
| Intermediate | | |  | | |
| Experienced |  | | | | |
Difficulty
Because of its competitive online environment, to become good in the game, you have to learn the strategies in addition to learning the controls. Players on a team must work together to succeed.
Violence, fear, nudity?
Presence of violence. The characters shoot themselves with guns, knives, grenades. Remote or hand-to-hand combat. However, there are no blood splashes.
Language level used
The language level of the game is approachable for the youngest and teenagers. The characters do not utter insults or refer to adult themes. Players from both teams can use the microphone feature or built-in chat to communicate inappropriate messages. Be warned.
Positive message
Overwatch represents a variety of characters and encourages teamwork. The characters offer a wide variety of ethnic and physical diversity.
Minimum reading level required
Ask to read.
Additional costs ?
It is possible to buy additional content, such as costumes, different appearances for weapons and cosmetics associated with the player’s profile BUT it is not possible to choose the ones you want. Cosmetic items must be purchased via loot boxes. These are chests that contain 4 random objects. So if you want a particular costume, you have to buy these chests and try your luck constantly. There are thousands of objects, so many that are insignificant.
These chests can also be obtained by playing for many hours, but their appearance rate is low. This is of course designed to frustrate the player and entice him to spend real money on random loot chests.
On the image above, we notice a better purchase than the rest, on the far right, which is mainly a pretext to encourage the player to enter his credit card in the game and make a first purchase.
We know that when the player makes a first purchase, he is then more inclined to spend because he is used to it, he knows how it works, and he continues to play the game.
However, these cosmetic elements are not necessary to excel in the game, since all the characters in the game are accessible with the purchase of the game.
Players in games with in-app purchases may feel social pressure to comply by purchasing appearances for their character. These strategies for spending are much the same as in the Fortnite game.
Minimum level of execution on the controller required
The character can use weapons and skills. Several buttons are used and you have to know them well to defeat the opponents. Battles in Overwatch are fast-paced and require the player to adapt. All the buttons of the controllers are used, require good coordination and good reflexes.
Principle of the game
Overwatch is a competitive multiplayer game. Players choose characters to attack or defend an objective. When players die, they can often reappear relatively quickly afterwards.
The characters in the game normally have a role to play within a team: some characters like Mercy and Ana heal their allies, others, like Reinhardt or Roadhog have more life and protect their team, while others have powerful weapons and are tasked with killing members of the other team, like McCree or Soldier: 76.
The different characters have skills like explosives, fortifications, reconnaissance gadgets, or specialized weapons, which different players must use to win each round.
Local game modes
Overwatch doesn’t really have modes that play solo.
Online gaming modes
You can play online if you pay for your console’s subscription:
- Playstation 4 and 5: Playstation Plus
- Xbox One and Xbox Series: Xbox Live Gold
- Free online game on PC.
The basis of Overwatch is its multiplayer mode, where two teams of six players compete against each other. There are several ways to play this mode.
“Casual” mode
The player joins a team, chooses a character and must defend or attack the objective. This mode is a way to play without the pressure of the competitive mode, but some players are still demanding of their allies.
“Competitive” mode
The player joins a team, chooses a character and must defend or attack the objective. This mode includes a ranking system, which places the player with players of similar caliber.
Conclusion
Overwatch has been a very popular game since its release. Parents should be warned about its methods of making people spend as well as about its themes. The game is recommended for teenagers, because of the lack of adult themes. An excellent competitive game with fast and intoxicating gameplay.
More information about the game: Official page of the game on the official website of the game
