Any sports in general, need to have in-depth analysis in order to create a healthy and diverse competition. And one way to effectively delve into strategic analysis of a game is to have a mode that lets players make full advantage of the game. Such mode can be in a form of replays or a sandbox where players can form and develop various strategy and analysis. Now, the question is, is the replay mode of Overwatch on par from the other competitive Esports? Let's find out.
Overwatch Live Replay
Replays are invaluable for competitive players in order to analyze the opponent's strategies in their previous game. It is through watching competitive games that players will know how to improve and level up their game. One pro-player from Dota 2 in particular, Aui_200, even stressed out how replays had an immense impact into the competitive scene specially when formulating new strategies and techniques. According to him, it even help Luminosity/SK Gaming rise to the top tiers in CS:GO today.
Now, for the time-being, Overwatch has yet to fully improve its live replay feature. As of the moment, the game has yet to have any replay tools which one can use in order to maximize his/her experience while watching a replay. Moreover, the game still doesn't have a "general map" intended for spectators where they can freely observe everyone in the map.
Another feature that's lacking in Overwatch is the statistical records of the game. For example, you can't track down all of the damage done by a certain player, heals, etc. This is crucial as you need to know which strategy works best and what doesn't.
Conclusion
From a competitive point-of-view, Overwatch still lacks some crucial features but given that the game is still new, we'll most likely see some new improvements in the future. Blizzard is great when it comes to community discussion and living to their fans' expectations. Hopefully they'll introduce more features into the replays of the game in the near future.
