Overwatch is a first-person shooter with a huge emphasis on multiplayer — how hard could learning the game be?

Actually, figuring out Overwatch controls can be a huge hurdle, especially for those trained on more "traditional" multiplayer modes like those found in Call of Duty or Halo. In Overwatch, figuring out how a single character plays can take quite a bit of time — and that's scratching the surface of what Blizzard's latest has to offer. Between the different maps, abilities, Heroes and Ultimate attacks, it can take a few dozen hours just to learn how everything works.

That's not to say that Overwatch is a bad game — far from it, actually. With so many moving parts, the game's multiplayer mode is one of the deepest in recent memory — but that means there's a lot to learn. It's not as easy as simply picking up the game and playing well ... unfortunately, that might be enough to turn some players off.

Don't worry — if you've been having trouble wrapping your head around Overwatch and its different mechanics, we've got just the guide for you. Here are five basic tips for jumping into Overwatch without getting in over your head:

Start Off Slow

In most other shooters, kills are what win a game. Even if it's not a score-based game (such as Capture the Flag), killing the enemy more than they kill you is usually the key to victory.

That's not the case in Overwatch: it's far more important to stick together and work as a team. Yes, it's tempting to hunt down that Tracer and make sure it doesn't come back, but if that means leaving the objective behind, it's usually not worth it.

Instead, focus on helping your team as a whole. If you're a healer, make sure that everyone is healthy. If you're a tank, make sure you're supporting the smaller, more fragile characters. If you're playing a Defense Hero, don't rush forward — stay behind and make sure the objective is safe.

Again, it can be tough to unlearn what most modern multiplayer games teach — but at the end of the day, learning to keep your team alive and effective is far more important than any sort of post-game kill/death ratio.

Overwatch may seem like a simple game on the surface, but there's quite a bit of depth — of course, the only way you'll learn is by playing, so go ahead and join a match!

For more on Blizzard's latest, make sure to check out our final Overwatch review.