The Differences Between Overwatch and Paladins

Have you ever noticed the phenomenon in the film industry where there will

be near identical films released within close proximity of each other? Some

examples being Armageddon and Deep Impact, The Prestige and The

Illusionist, or more recently, The Jungle Book and the upcoming Jungle Book

 (very confusing).

There is no real mystery behind why this happens: It is because there are

thousands of scripts flying around Hollywood, meaning studios will option

them and then sit on them before moving into potential production. However,

if they hear that a rival studio is making a similar film, perhaps even

developed from the same script, they will spin their own version into

production in order to recoup some of the expenses they paid out. They

would rather split the profits with a rival than get no profits or return

on investment at all. Thus, you may well get two similar films released in

the same time frame.

The question is, does this happen with games? Not so often, to be honest,

aside from similar games within the same genre, or games inspired by

whichever series is in vogue at the time. See the countless Dark Souls

 inspired games or straight-up clones, those aping the success of DayZ

 previously, and in the future I imagine we will see the same for No Man's

Sky.

The games press tried heavily to compare Battleborn and Overwatch. Aside

from a slightly similar aesthetic, they were well wide of the mark as the

two games are practically in different genres. This unfair comparison

probably helped contribute to Battleborn's subsequent failure to find a

strong audience.

Two games that better fit the comparison are in fact Overwatch and the

recently released (on Early Access) Paladins: Champions of the Realm (from

here on in referred to as Paladins).

I have spent a lot of time with Overwatch now, both pre- and post-release,

so I decided to spend some time with Paladins to see how similar they are

and if there is room for both of them to be successful.

Art

Even without booting either game, you can't fail to notice how similar in

aesthetic the two games are: Vibrant, colourful and cartoony with

characters that ooze personality, before even uttering a word. Of course,

this style is not new nor unique, it is a staple of Blizzard games and was

arguably most recently popularised by Team Fortress 2, a third game which

also shares similarities with both Overwatch and Paladins. It is a style

that looks great and is more resistant to ageing over time when compared to

more photo-realistic graphics. It also means that in most cases the games

are more accessible to a wider audience, and is a good way of making your

game both endearing and recognisable. It should be noted here that

Paladins is slightly less demanding on your PC than Overwatch.

Characters

The two games both feature pre-determined characters (or heroes) which all

fill certain roles; There is no customisation of classes here like in games

such as Battlefield or Call of Duty. The characters fill staples of

videogames such as Tank, DPS, Heal/Support. Both games rely heavily on each

team utilising these roles well and adapting to different scenarios and

needs in order to be successful.

Viktor from Paladins

In either game your team is going to falter without the right mix of

different characters, or like in most games of Overwatch I experience,

everyone can just pick a Sniper!

Gameplay

Right off the bat both games are extremely similar, as both are class-based

first person shooters, again heavily inspired by Team Fortress 2 before

them.

Both Overwatch and Paladins differ from regular first person shooters as

there is no weapon cycling or ammo pickups. Each character has a set weapon

and must rely heavily on utilising skills which are mapped to certain keys

and unique to each character for each role, and then one ultimate skill

which must be charged before being used and if executed at the right time

can be a game changer.

Overwatch's Soldier 76

There is ongoing debate as to which game was in development first but

regardless of respective timelines, the similarities between the two are

quite staggering. The only real difference between the two games is that

Paladins is a little faster paced and features some MOBA-like elements

which themselves feel lifted right out of another Blizzard game: Heroes of

the Storm.

Even if Hi-Rez Studios can make a decent claim of not copying Overwatch

, the fact remains that they are releasing second and could now be accused

of capitalising on the massive success of Overwatch. They could have

perhaps made some subtle tweaks to their characters or the game to avoid

any accusations of being a copy of Overwatch. 

In conclusion, I think that both games are very good, though that could

purely be because I think Overwatch is very good.

Overwatch is not Free to Play whereas Paladins is. This means that due to

the MOBA nature of the latter game, the buying of cards and skills, that

Paladins runs the risk of becoming Pay-To-Win in the future, whereas

Overwatch will always be a more even playing field as its microtransactions

are purely cosmetic.

Overall, the decision must come down to where and when you want to spend

your money. If you can't afford the up-front cost of Overwatch, then

Paladins is a fine alternative, but if you can afford it then hands down my

recommendation is Overwatch every time.