I confess I’ve never had much interest in competitive gaming. My husband adores online shooters like the modern Call of Duty and Battlefield entries, but I spent all of last gen playing strictly single-player games. I just didn’t think I had a competitive bone in my body. He could spend an entire weekend playing the same game over and over and never get bored. How? “It’s exciting! No two matches are the same,” he would say. But I didn’t get it. I never really understood the fighting game community, either. I love fighting games and admire the skill regularly demonstrated by members of the FGC, but am admittedly pretty terrible at them myself. It took a few unconventional competitive games to make multiplayer gaming click for me.
Overwatch was the first competitive game to catch my eye. Say what you will now about the drama-filled community or the revolving door of balance changes and complete character overhauls, but I still appreciate the game’s aesthetics and simple concept. Seeing the launch roster for the first time was a pleasant surprise. The characters were stylish and varied, featuring a teenage competitive gamer in a Neon Genesis Evangelion-inspired mech, a talking gorilla scientist and a futuristic cowboy. The maps were colorful and charming. The game was unlike anything else I had seen from the genre, even with the Team Fortress 2 comparisons. Even the trailers for the game channeled Pixar movies more than other video games. It was a far cry from the dusty deserts and gritty military gear of many of its contemporaries.
That game made me interested in competitive shooters for the first time. The mechanics in Overwatch make it easy to get into. Every character has specific abilities for offense and defense, plus an ultimate. There are no loadouts or gear to micromanage. You can switch characters when you die if your current choice isn’t working out or the situation calls for different tactics. It probably doesn’t have lasting appeal to fans of other shooters (like my husband, who doesn’t care for it), but it’s a great choice for casual shooter fans like myself.
Another casual-but-competitive surprise came from Nintendo. From the moment Splatoon was announced, I was cautiously optimistic. The aesthetics were marvelous, like a modern, marine-based Jet Set Radio world. The gameplay also blew my mind: A competitive shooter where the objective isn’t to kill as many people as possible? What better way to market a shooter while maintaining your family-friendly image? The mechanics make it easy for anyone to pick up and play, including children and people who have never played a shooter. The game is also ridiculously fun. I play Splatoon 2 multiple times a week, and it’s never gotten stale. There is just something absurdly satisfying about painting the maps that I never really got from eliminating other players in traditional shooters (even Overwatch, honestly). I feel like I could introduce this game to my dad and he’d have fun, despite not playing any video games since the ’90s.
Finally, I think Tetris 99 is worth a mention. I’ve been playing it since it was surprise-announced during a Nintendo Direct, and haven’t had this much fun with the classic franchise since Tetris DS. Of all the games to get a battle royale spin-off, I don’t think any of us expected our parents’ favorite game from the ’80s. As someone who hasn’t played Fortnite or Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds, I was instantly hooked by this free-to-play multiplayer game. Playing against so many other people while still enjoying a game of Tetris is an engaging experience. Like Splatoon, Tetris 99 offers fun competitive gameplay for those of us who aren’t hooked by more traditional competitive games such as fighters or first-person shooters. I’ve heard anecdotes from others about introducing online gaming to their parents and non-gamer significant others thanks to the addictive power of Tetris. I think that’s great!
I’m happy to see multiplayer gaming branching out into a variety of genres and skill levels. I bear no ill will toward the military FPSes or complex fighting games out there, but I’m glad to live in a world where gaming genres are expanding to include all of the different interests and skill sets of players. The more the merrier, I say.
Kay Talks Games 