There’s one thing that’s perfectly clear from walking around this year’s PAX East; everyone wants to be the next Overwatch . MOBAs are so 2014, the new popular trend in gaming is hero-based competitive shooters. Now, Bethesda wants to throw their railgun in the ring, with Quake: Champions , which is the classic Quake gameplay you remember from LAN parties back in the day, now with new heroes and abilities.
I got to play Quake Champions , and I’m also an avid Overwatch addict. Everyone is going to make the comparison between these two games, but are they that similar? Can Bethesda carve out a niche in the hero-shooter genre, or will Quake Champions end up like Battleborn ?
Ways Quake Champions Isn’t Like Overwatch
It’s the classic Quake gameplay that you love, with modern graphics. The characters feel light and bouncy; it’s easy to bounce around the map and go back to your middle school computer lab, fragging noobs and spamming “lol.”
Quake Champions has a DOOM- esque art style, unique to Bethesda games. It’s bloody and dirty, full of dismemberment and gore, and not afraid to show a body exploding from the inside out. Overwatch won’t show a body explode, just a gorilla corpse fly through the air.
Each champion can use any of the weapons, just like Quake has always had. Your giant lizard monster can shoot the same railgun as the robot or the death knight.
The champions are much grimier and dirtier than Overwatch ’s “happy friends squad.” There’s Sorlag, a snake monster from another dimension who spits poison, Anarki, a cyberpunk warrior with a claw for an arm and my personal favorite, Visor, who is wearing a visor with no eyeholes.
Every champion has different stats, some have better speed and lack health, while others are tanks who can’t move very fast. It adds a level of depth to Quake that’s never existed before.
It’s 5v5 against 6v6, that counts as a difference.
Ways Quake Champions Is A Shameless Overwatch Clone
Every champion has an ultimate ability which can be activated to deal damage, escape a fight or tank some damage. They don’t recharge, the abilities have the same cooldown regardless of what you do, though you can pick up items that lower the cooldown by 10 percent.
Um, it’s a first-person shooter?
If Overwatch is the king of shooters, Quake Champions is the knight in the fields of battle, who isn’t afraid to cleave a body in half. It’s obvious that Bethesda took some inspiration from Blizzard’s crown jewel, but there’s still enough Quake in there to be it’s own game. I don’t see Quake Champions ending up like Battleborn , if for no other reason than the Quake fanboys will carry that game into success, regardless of what the rest of the world thinks.
Are you excited about Quake Champions or is it an Overwatch clone? Let us know you thoughts in the comments.
