How I learned Battlefield 1 and Overwatch aren’t the same game

As E3 2016 kicked off and the world started to be introduced to this year’s edition of gaming Christmas in June, I learned a very important lesson: Battlefield 1and Overwatchare, in fact, not the same game.

Well, okay, I already knew that, and I’m just saying that I didn’t for dramatic effect. Before you think I’m insane or stupid, however, hear me out on this one.

Since Overwatch‘s release, I’ve become terribly addicted to Blizzard’s attempt at making an online multiplayer, competitive, team-based first-person shooter. Lost in that world, I’ve fallen in love with its roster of characters and found a deep appreciation for its more light-hearted visual style and attitude.

When I sat down with Battlefield 1 to go hands-on with DICE’s next big thing, I needed a few moments to get over just how un-Overwatch the game is. Bright, colorful cities gave way to war-torn, almost depressing countrysides; lively confrontations between opponents turned into fierce, all-out struggles for survival between opposing armies; and the optimistic hope of pulling off a good win for the round turned into panicked prayers that I could just live long enough to be of some good to my side.

I make the comparison between Overwatch and Battlefield 1because I can’t think of the last time I played two games that were so vastly different while also being similar. After playing both games in close time, it really hit home for me just how diverse and special the games industry can be.

There’s been renewed talk recently of violence in gaming. Battlefield 1entered that conversation the moment it was revealed, as questions were asked on if it was even morally right to make a video game about The War to End All Wars. Playing it for myself, it did sink in on an emotional and mental level just how overwhelming and terrifying that war must have been. The Battlefield series has long excelled at making war look and sound almost tooreal, but I’m not sure that’s ever hit home as hard as it does here. I’d never claim that any video game could truly teach someone what it was like to have experienced such a tragic time in human history, but I also walked away from Battlefield 1with newfound appreciation for what everyone on both sides must have gone through.

Of course, Battlefield 1 is still a video game, and playing it was often an awe-inspiring experience. While it was easy to worry initially if World War I would even work for a major first-person shooter, DICE seems to have hit that portion of the game out of the park. Yes, the setting works, and it works beautifully. This is a brutal battle for survival, in which a momentary lack of clarity or mistaken tactic can leave you waiting for your next respawn. On a personal level, I was excited for the idea of a new Battlefieldset so far in the past, and I’m even more excited after having spent some time with it.

Time also gave me a deeper appreciation for Overwatch. These truly are two very different games, and each, in an unexpected way, strengthens the other. Battlefield 1makes me glad that I can have happier, more colorful shooters to go to if things are feeling too bleak, while Overwatchreminds us that we still also crave hyper-realism and violence that can’t hide behind a comical exterior.

And, really, that’s the beauty of video games: We’ve got more choice in what we can play (and how) than ever before. For those who don’t care for a particular genre, game-design style, developer or whatever else, you should embrace those things instead of shunning them, as I’ve come to do on both sides of this particular coin. The more choice we have, the stronger and more full of life the industry as a whole will be. And when the industry is stronger, the things you personally like the most will also benefit.