
_2016 has come to a close and while the new year ahead has plenty of games for us to look forward to, the beginning of the year is also the perfect time to reflect on the games that made the previous year so exceptional, with 2016 being no exceptional. _
_Earlier this year, DualShockers revealed our 2016 FPS game beginner guide of the Year Awards from both our readers and staff , including the overall GOTY (which was Final Fantasy XV this year for both readers and staff), Biggest Shocker!, and many more. _
_However, now that the awards have been given out and games have been chosen, this week we're diving into the staff's selections for their top Game of the Year pick and favorite game of 2016. In this installment, Features Editor Ryan Meitzler makes the case for Blizzard's vibrant and fast-paced online shooter, Overwatch. You can also catch up on the previous features in our series on Darkest Dungeon , Firewatch , and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End for our Game of the Year titles. _

More than I can remember in recent years, 2016 had me overwhelmed with great games to enjoy all throughout the year. Picking one game out of the dozens I played this year is no easy task, and even more than in the past year or two. 2016's class of games were an embarrassment of riches when it came to diverse genres, awesome gameplay, and truly unique, exciting new experiences.
Early in the year, Firewatch immersed me in one of my absolute favorite stories of the year in the American wilderness, while Far Cry Primal took me back to a more brutal time period. In the spring and summer, DOOM brought me into a roaring rendition of Hell that I will never forget, and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End concluded an epic adventure that came once in a generation. For the fall and early winter, Gears of War 4 brought high-octane action, Dishonored 2 gave me contemplative stealth action, and Watch Dogs 2 provided __ open-world action in a vast, colorful setting of San Francisco.

While I had several experiences to get me through months at a time throughout the year, Overwatch is the title that I kept coming back to all year long. Even in a year where shooters reigned supreme -- between it, DOOM , Titanfall 2 , Battlefield 1 , Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare , and so many others -- Overwatch surpassed not only my expectations of the experience it would offer as a competitive shooter, but genuinely came as a surprise in becoming my favorite gaming experience of the entire year.
Overwatch didn't even really register on my radar until a few months before its release. I'm someone that generally sticks to playing mostly single-player titles: if I do pickup a multiplayer Fps Game Updates, it's usually for only a few months at most before I either move on to something else or gradually lose my interest. However, the videos I'd watched and previews I'd read prior to Overwatch 's release grabbed my curiosity: once I had my hands on the game's open beta right before launch, I was officially hooked and it had my attention.
Competitive multiplayer shooters are not only competitive these days in the sense of proving their ability to offer engaging multiplayer experiences, but even more so for proving that they will have lasting communities built around them to last for at least a few months (or hopefully years).