In the time that Overwatch has been out, 15 maps (not including the event maps and event variants of those 15 maps) have been released. With five main types of Overwatch maps to pick and choose from, the game has loads of diversity. The five main map types are “Assault”, “Escort”, “Hybrid”, “Control”, and “Arena”.
Each player and character can utilize the various points of every map in many ways. If your character can fly, grapple, or teleport, you will be able to reach new heights and new locations to utilize your character’s potential. If your character can not, you will be able to move in with your fellow ground troops and reach your objective in a straightforward method. However, even if you’re stuck to the ground, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a backdoor. Many spots are hidden throughout the maps and may not be the obvious route to the opposing team, therefore, everybody on your team has the potential to be awesome.
Blizzard has designed each map with every character’s ability in mind. This thinking during the creation process has allowed for many game-changing, and unexpected plays to occur, giving the player all of the possibilities that they can find attainable. Without a further ado, let’s show off the the the top Overwatch maps!
Assault - Hanamura
Hanamura is one of Overwatch’s more ambitious maps in terms of design. Based in Japan, the artistic representation is heavily catered to Asian culture, as it should be.
Players on the attacking team must make their way from the starting point of the map and capture two points against the enemy team. The opposing team must keep the attackers at bay and try to keep the opposing team from progressing to the end. Once the attacking team captures both points or the defending team has kept the attacking team off of the point until the allotted time has ran out, the match will end and the respective team who has completed their objective will win.
The Hanamura map has many notable backdoors available for players to utilize when going against the opposing team. While a large majority of these entrances are in plain view of both teams, they’re still accessible for both parties to either progress or detain. A good example of one of these entrances can be found at the wall between the spawn point and the first objective. If you look up at the wall, you will find three holes. Each of these holes has a platform available for standing on, which players can quickly utilize to attack, hide, or jump away from without being noticed (if either opposing team is looking at eye-level to the ground).
The other way that this map is designed causes the attacking team to “funnel” into the defending team’s base. While there are multiple access points in which the attacking and defending team can utilize to stop or progress, the attacking team is still going into a room of expecting defenders. This set-up allows for many losses, primarily aiding the defending team for quick resets of their characters after a death.
Hanamura’s ability to aid both the defending team and the attacking team causes much stress to both parties. There are many shortcuts to getting to your desired destination, due to the ability that many characters can traverse unexpected terrain and obstacles. An example of this is directly located after the first point is captured. A large gap with death awaiting beneath you is what separates you and a 20 second shortcut. If your chosen character can make the jump, you and your team may benefit greatly. As this shortcut is well known, however, many opposing enemies are conscious of that location and will consistently make sure nobody is utilizing it to attack their point. This jump can also be jumped the other way, for the defending team to easily return to the first point to quickly get back into the fray.
Escort - Watchpoint: Gibraltar
Watchpoint: Gibraltar is easily high on the list of Overwatch’s most fun escort maps to play. Based on Europe’s Iberian Peninsula, the map is off the coast of what seems to be a mountain, but is actually a large monolithic rock.
The goal of the map is for the attacking team to escort a payload from the beginning to the end. The defending team’s objective is to stop the team from progressing the payload as much as they possibly can. The further the attacking team is from their objective, the more beneficial it is for the defending team.
For the payload to move, the attackers must stand near or on the payload. This makes progression feel slow for the attackers, and keeps the defenders on their feet. In Watchpoint: Gibraltar, many attackers will go ahead of the payload, attempting to clear a path and to distract the defending team from heading past them and going for the payload. The further the distance between the attacking team and the defending team, the faster the attacking team can move their payload.
Watchpoint: Gibraltar’s map setup allows for both teams to be at the advantage, depending on their set-up. Defending ground troops like Bastion, can get to areas of the map where it would usually be more time consuming in quick succession, allowing for unexpected strategy. Attacking troops can also take these same routes and sneak up on the defending team to clear a path.
Watchpoint: Gibraltar’s straightforward escort map makes face-to-face fights with your opponents seem very intense throughout the entire duration of the match.
Hybrid - King’s Row
Imagine a map where you combine the concept of both assault maps and escort maps. Now picture pure insanity from start to finish. Based in England, King’s Row offers a diverse cityscape in which players can traverse and tackle their objective in the many ways available to them.
With many areas praising height and the ability to fly, King’s Row offers new opportunities to unleash an aerial assault against your foes. On top of that, it’s first objective point in which the attacking team has to capture, has many areas where the defending team can set-up and be ready for unexpected combat. After a trek through the city once the attacking team has captured the point, just like Hanamura, the attacking team is funneled into an enclosed war-like zone.
Even then, both the attacking team and the defending team can have the height advantage over the other, hopping on the top of rooms and walkways in which the opposing team may attempt to use for their own advantage. These advantages can be entirely game changing making it hard for either team to come back after a continuous onslaught.
King’s Row’s ability to keep players on their toes from beginning to end makes for a very intense experience, and continues to make players on the edge of their seat, even since the game’s release.
Control - Lijiang Tower
No other map-type is more stress-inducing than the control type map Lijiang Tower, which is based in the country of China. With three various segments, Lijiang Tower grows more and more intense as each round progresses.
Much of the intensity from the Lijiang Tower comes from the three locations that are included in it’s arsenal. Each map features multiple points of entry to the control point, and makes for wonderful gameplay. Two of the maps’ control points are located outside, while one map is almost entirely inside.
All of the maps feature multiple entrances that players can utilize to gain access to the control point to take charge and run the game for their team. These entrances are in form of windows, large doors, drops, and more. One well thought out move could in theory (and in practice) kill every opposing player who is contesting or controlling the point.
To win a control map match, players must hold a point for an allotted time against the enemy team. Opposing teams may contest the point, causing the team in control of the point to refrain from winning until all members of the team contesting are removed or killed. This makes this map-type very stressful. Staying alive has never mattered more in Overwatch.
Lijiang Tower does an amazing job of keeping players on their toes with fast access to the various control points, and consistent face-to-face combat with the opposing team.
Arena - Ecopoint: Antarctica
The last map on our list is Ecopoint: Antarctica. While the map has been used for various reasons and types of games, it’s consistently referred to as an “arena” map. The map contains many rooms in which every player and person can access. Players may even enter the opposing team’s spawn room if they feel the need.
This map is featured in games where players will face off in an elimination style match, knocking players out one by one until the opposing team has zero players alive. This experience causes players to think before making their character selection choices, as your death could be the reason your team loses a round.
Another feature that many have found to actually love is the fact that Ecopoint: Antarctica features zero health packs. With no health packs available, healers and support characters become an almost necessary selection to utilize. This added feature of not including health packs makes players very conscious of their character selection and method of attacking other players.
While many will normally run and gun, players will usually have a timid form of offense on this map in particular, for good reason. With many rooms that have multiple entrances, exposed floors or ceilings, open walls, or a lack of hiding spaces, players feel conscious and vulnerable of every choice they make during incoming attacks.
Ecopoint: Antarctica brings diversity to the table of Overwatch’s arsenal of maps and entertainment.
In Conclusion
In a game centered around combat against opposing teams, players are usually at the mercy of the map. If a map is created with bad design or leaves a player unable of making quick decisions, players will find themselves outsmarted time and time again by either the map itself or their enemy. Blizzard has proved their dominance in the field of creating video game worlds that feel alive, are immersive, and feel intuitive to the player, and their work in Overwatch is no exception.
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