Antje Culler

Everyone has that one game they must keep at arm's length, lest its wiles tempt them back into another multi-hour, multi-day, multi-week session. For me, that's Klei Entertainment's Oxygen Not Included. I love how it combines a creative sci-fi direction with real-world physics and thermodynamics. It perfectly nails the right balance of mechanics and flavor to keep me sucked in forever. And with a new update having been released, I have an excuse to go back once again. Oxygen Not Included is my digital lotus fruit. But I am not Odysseus. I lack the willpower to resist. So once again, I return, a lack of oxygen forming the bars of a prison built for me. And what a joyous prison it

While fairly brief, Defense Matrix is an effective on-the-fly shield that adds to her damage-absorbing nature. Players can also rock the Fusion Cannons and Micro Missiles , as they're infinite and don't require reloading. Finally, there's her satisfying Self-Destruct Ult, which blasts anyone nearby into obliv

Place an orb on the target that debuffs them, increasing the damage they take. The Orb of Discord will remain on its target while they are within Zenyatta's field of vision, but will be removed if the target is out of range for 2 seco

To put it into perspective, a headshot with your weapon from far away will deal about half a small bar of damage for a squishy character . Moreover, the Support characters on the enemy team will most likely heal their teammates faster than you can damage them from that ra

He can heal self-heal by deploying his Biotic Field , and can easily sprint across the map without triggering cooldown. His Ultimate, Tactical Visor, automatically targets enemies within its range absent the need to

On one hand, an understanding can be had with locking new players out of these matches. What's the point in someone new to Overwatch going head to head against veteran players? Considering the amount of time it might take a casual player to make it through 50 matches, the number seems sufficient to quantify the level of ability you need before heading into your first placement match. However, 100 matches to unlock the entire player roster feel unnecessary, especially in a game that prides itself on an ever-growing hero roster that caters to all varieties of playsty

Using Transcendence to block these Ultimates can save your team, while allowing them to counterattack against the source of the Ultimate. However, don't be afraid to use Transcendence if your team is dying to normal attacks and abilities . As a support Hero, your number one goal is to keep your team al

Six years later and Blizzard’s slipshod track record demonstrates the limits of this milquetoast, Pixar-ification approach to diversity. Take for example Overwatch’s newest healer, Kiriko, whose origin trailer is a textbook example of how not to design or present a Japanese character. The trailer opens with cringe-inducing references to honor, intergenerational obligations, and long-forgotten mystic arts. It then segues to the Shinto shrine maiden/ninja boldly claiming that she has forged her own path. It ends with Kiriko literally wielding her culture — ofuda and kunai — as weapons. If you’ve consumed any American media from the ‘80s or ‘90s, this should sound very famil

Other studios, most notably Respawn Entertainment, quickly followed suit, realizing the same lessons that movie executives had learned a decade earlier with the Fast and Furious franchise and MCU : Multiculturalism se

Positive representation can also serve as a powerful force for change. D.Va was temporarily a rallying symbol for women’s equality in South Korea , a country that consistently ranks at the bottom for gender equality . For a brief moment, the game managed to bring a group of marginalized people together, which isn’t something every video game can do. In many respects, I suppose I should be grateful that Blizzard didn’t sexualize Kiriko. Those depictions can have more serious consequences than a bruised playground ego. Scholars have pointed out that recent attacks on Asian women, such as the Atlanta spa shootings, are rooted in the persistent sexual objectification of Asian women in popular cult

If you're playing Overwatch 2 on PC, then you probably find yourself slamming the tab key every time you die, to make sure that, despite your elimination, you're still holding "gold damage" over everyone else. However, the medal system, and the match summary menu as a whole, have been entirely overhauled, now displaying zero "glittering priz

The hit hero-shooter Overwatch 2 is now (mostly) free-to-play, bringing plenty of new players along with it. Overwatch 2 maps 2 boasts a roster of nearly 4 0 playable heroes , with more to be added in the future. There are three roles to choose from: Tank, DPS, and Support — each with unique traits and responsibilit

Players coming from games like CS:GO or Call of Duty will likely find Soldier: 76 is the hero that feels most familiar. His abilities are all pretty straightforward to wrap one's head around. His Biotic Rifle , coupled with his Helix Rockets can deal deadly damage, and he's a solid DPS pick that can fit into most team compositi