When comparing Overwatch vs Battlefield 1, the Slant community recommends Overwatch for most people. In the question“What are the best online multiplayer games on PC?” Overwatch is ranked 12th while Battlefield 1 is ranked 13th. The most important reason people chose Overwatch is:
Every gameplay mechanic is well though out and predictable making it great for competitive play. The game also features a competitive game mode that works great.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Competitive game
Every gameplay mechanic is well though out and predictable making it great for competitive play. The game also features a competitive game mode that works great.
Pro Unique FPS gameplay
Overwatch combines traditional team-based FPS elements and MOBA-esqe characters with unique abilities and weapons. You'll still be shooting and bashing your way to victory, but instead of picking different weapons, you'll be often switching between one of the many characters. Each character has its own strengths, weaknesses, and unique playstyle.
For example, there's Tracer that dual wields handguns, is pretty quick on her feet, and can rewind time when in a tough spot, which makes her well suited to hit-and-run tactics. However, she has poor aim and low health, so you have to be a lot more careful when playing as her.
Another example would be the very durable Reinhardt who has high health and armor. He's able to protect his allies and himself with a projected energy shield while moving at a slower rate. Unfortunately, his only real means of attacking is a giant hammer, so fast characters or characters with a long range can easily outmaneuver him.
As a result, Overwatch not only rewards accurate shooting, but also quick decision making and clever use of your abilities, creating gameplay that feels different from most competitive FPS games.
Pro Tons of unlockables to keep you playing
Each playable character in the game can have more than 90 different unlocks such character skins, color schemes, emotes, and victory poses. While these don't affect gameplay, they allow you to create a personalized character you can feel more attached to. This gives additional goals for both regular players and completionists, keeping the game interesting for a long time.
Pro Simple to learn and play
While Overwatch has MOBA elements, it's very simple at its core, you just shoot the enemy and take objectives. It may take a couple matches to get the basic down, but from then on it's gonna be a blast. This makes it a lot more accessible than most MOBA-esque titles that take a really long time to learn and master.
Pro Variety of maps to keep gameplay interesting
Overwatch currently has 16 maps, which includes a Moon colony, an encampment in Antarctica, and various futuristic cityscapes. The distinct themes, color palettes, and layouts make each of the maps feel and play differently, keeping the gameplay fresh for a long time.
Pro Beautiful graphics
Highly detailed character models, weapons, and environments, smooth animations, distinct particle effects, a vivid color palette, great lighting, and intricate shadow mapping make Overwatch a joy to experience.
Pro Well composed audio that is every bit as informative as the graphics themselves
The high quality of distinctive audio in the game keeps the player well informed of happenings around them. By giving the player sound ques as to what else is happening in game, you can easily suss out what type of weapons are being used around you, where someone may be located, by the sound of their footsteps, as well as vehicles may be close.
Pro Solid single player campaign that shows off many different stories from WW1
The single player campaign tells quite a few good stories, that are neither tied to one place or time, which allows the game to take the player through many different locales. This way the scenarios in the game stay fresh, both through graphical settings as well as overall story.
Pro Stable gameplay
Unlike a few other games in the series, the games launch and subsequent playtime has been solid throughout. No server issues, no buggy play, everything works perfectly fine and the game is optimized quite admirably.
Cons
Con Not for solo players
Overwatch is all about team compositions, cooperation, and communication. If you prefer a more solo-oriented playstyle, this game might not be as fun for you since it's very hard to win a match with your abilities alone.
Con No content creation tools
You can't create custom maps or game modes, which considerably limits how much the community can contribute for keeping the game fresh and exciting. This is a step back when you look at the Warcraft 3 map editor, which helped the game stay popular a decade after its release even without regular updates from Blizzard.
Con Lacking in story
Even though Overwatch has a very detailed world and distinct characters, it doesn't ever delve into the history of the world or overarching story of each character. All you ever get are vague hints in voiceover lines and writings found in the environment.
Con Not historically accurate
World War I was full of trench warfare and you rarely went across no man's land (the space between your trench and the enemy trench). In Battlefield 1, there are barely any trenches, grenades are hard to get away from, and the bullet drop for snipers is too much.
Con Low recoil for what is supposed to be slow and old weapons (compared to modern day counterparts)
The recoil of the guns in game is quite fast for what are supposed to be pretty old and slow weapons. Most likely this off balance feel is caused by trying to make the game as accessible as possible. Sadly for those that would be interested in a more simulation like experience will be a bit disappointed.