Paladins, A Discount Overwatch? Or Nah

Overwatch has made a big influence on the fps gaming market. However, Overwatch couldn't be so great or successful without Team Fortress 2. We have to give full credit for the hero shooter genre to Vale's Tf2. It's such a great game that spawned all these other cool shooters. A lot of Paladins players have been saying its a lot like Overwatch and Hi-Rez COO Todd Harris addressed the matter, in a statement provided to IGN.

"While Overwatch is a fine game, it was not the inspiration for Paladins," Harris wrote. "Game development is an interactive process with ideas coming from many past projects. For the hero shooter genre, the game that deserves the most credit is Team Fortress 2." Harris notes that, if anything, Paladins is a "fantasy version" of the studio's own class-based shooter Global Agenda, which itself was influenced by Team Fortress 2. According to Harris, "of the approximately 85 combat abilities currently in Paladins, the vast majority are from the game Global Agenda we made 10 years ago."

He continued: "Given the marketing of Overwatch many people do not even realize that some of our champions, like the mini-gun mech (Ruckus) and the ice block character (Evie), were available and playable in the Paladins Beta long before similar character abilities were shown in Overwatch. And specific features, such as Chests, were also demonstrated in Paladins ahead of Overwatch. People who are interested can see all this early gameplay footage on YouTube and come to their own conclusions." Todd Harris later took to Twitter, promising that he'd "post a bit more history / details tonight on Paladins subreddit." He's already done so, and it makes a strong case for Paladins being an evolution of Global Agenda, rather than a hasty Overwatch cash-in. (PcGamer)

I wish I could say a lot about Paladins but I'm currently having problems getting it to work on my computer. It's in open beta on Steam and anyone can download it whenever they want. I have played a few games from when it was working and I thought it was pretty fun.

The graphics are cartoony and colourful. That usually isn't my thing in games but Overwatch and Team Fortress 2 made me rethink that. The actual shooting style is not as polished or fluid as Overwatch. It feels more janky and less "weighty". For example I played as this ranger girl with a bow and her arrows didn't seem to have any heft when I pulled the bow back for shots. The actual gameplay itself is super fun! I had a lot of fun playing the closed beta and I wish I could get the game working again so I can play it.

Do I think this could be as successful or popular as Overwatch? Yes. Just for the fact that the beta is open now means that everyone can try it and the community can grow super fast and the devs can respond to problems and make changes accordingly. I also think this game should go the free to play route instead of the $40 pricetag that Overwatch wears. I don't think this game is worth $40 because it needs a lot more polish to have that extra shine that Overwatch has. There's also the fact that it gives Overwatch fans a taste of something different yet familar.

So if this game goes f2p (free to play) I think it could become as successful as Overwatch. Only time will tell. But generally Hi-Rez Studios makes great games that become popular in the esports scene. Can't see how this game would be any different in that regard.