Story?
Both Overwatch and Battleborn have interesting stories that involve the entirety of their casts. How that story is conveyed to players, though, is completely different. In Battleborn, you have some online reading, character descriptions, and your campaign. The campaign deals with the overall story that is taking place now as you play the game. It’s much less of a ‘bringing players up to speed’ thing, and more of your typical action game narrative. The character backgrounds found in the menus are pretty interesting, though. Connecting different individuals in an attempt to add more life to the world. Also, in typical Gearbox fashion, the plot is littered with jokes to lighten up the mood.
Overwatch lacks a story mode, but that hasn’t stopped Blizzard from delivering a deep story. Over the past few weeks there have been some really great animated shorts that dove into the background of certain characters as well as helped to establish relationships among the heroes. McCree has received a comic, and all of the characters have detailed backgrounds right on the games official site. To help the story shine a bit through gameplay as well, certain characters will respond in special ways to one another when they cross on the battlefield. Reaper and Mercy for example will give hints pertaining to their troubled past.
Both take their own approach to enchanting players with their worlds, one directly, and one through alternate media. While each is well done, there’s just something about those Overwatch shorts that makes you want to keep watching.
