When comparing Overwatch vs Gears of War 4, the Slant community recommends Overwatch for most people. In the question“What are the best online multiplayer Xbox One games?” Overwatch is ranked 2nd while Gears of War 4 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 Local splitscreen multiplayer
Nowadays, some titles tend to exclude local multiplayer, focusing primarily on online play but Gears of War 4 is an exception. You can play both the campaign and all multiplayer modes with your friends via splitscreen.
Pro Really fun horde mode
Horde mode is a multiplayer co-op mode where up to 5 players try to survive against waves of enemies. It features regular combat and allows you to build fortifications, which you can do by collecting resources from killed enemies and using the fabricator. This allows you to build blockades, sentries, and various other defenses, giving it a very tower defense-esque feel, which is also a lot of fun.
You can also choose between 5 classes with each class being better at something different. For example, the Engineer can build and repair defenses much faster than others and the Heavy uses stronger weapons that allow him to kill large enemies much faster. As a result, teamwork is very important, so when your squad is co-operating like a well-oiled machine, it just feels incredibly satisfying.
Pro Exciting gameplay
In Gears of War you and a squad of several other soldiers fight against the enemies of humanity, using various weapons such as rifles, a shotgun, and even a weapon that fires saw blades. It's very fast paced and a lot of fun, rewarding not only effective use of cover and accurate shooting, but also quick decision making on when to charge your enemy and take them out with your knife or your chainsaw bayonet. This leads to a lot of very intense, sometimes brutal, and always satisfying battles, making Gears of War 4 a really enjoyable ride.
Pro Excellent visuals
Gears of War 4 has some really outstanding visuals with high quality textures, great lighting, and excellent shadow mapping. This makes all of the armored human characters, monstrous lizard-like enemies, and the various lush landscapes filled with ruins look especially good. All of this is turned up a notch with the help of excellent weather effects, such as rain, lighting, and gusts of heavy wind that carry massive objects over your head, giving Gears of War 4 a very cinematic feel.
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 Poorly done story
The story has some cool moments, but it mostly focuses on pointless drama and issues that end up feeling like filler because they have no real impact on the story or character building. This coupled with a few plot holes will make you want to press the skip button and just get back into the action.