Dec. 23, 2022
By Esteban Ramirez
Staff Writer
Announced in 2019, Overwatch 2 was long-awaited and released on Oct. 4, 2022. Long after the original Overwatch was released on May 24, 2016, the new hero-based first-person shooter game builds upon its predecessor, bringing with it a rewarding gameplay loop that incentivizes teamwork and communication.
Launch day was filled with blatant issues that continued for about a week after its release, slowly getting more tolerable as Blizzard fixed the problems. Players attempting to open the game and jump into the action were met with long wait times that lasted hours. Player queues of about 50,000 and login errors were abundant as Blizzard faced denial-of-service attacks on its servers. If you had played the original and had not merged your account to carry over all your cosmetics, you had to wait again once you got into the game. Thankfully, these issues were resolved, and these processes are much less lengthy if apparent at all.
The original Overwatch fitted the 6v6 format standard, with two players fitting each role to form a team. In contrast, the sequel is 5v5, with a tank removed from each team. This creates a less crowded screen, making it easier to keep track of one less character. The new version also lets the individual tank characters feel more impactful in gameplay.
The game launched with six new maps, a new game mode called Push and three new heroes. The new maps are visually stunning and give players amazing backdrops to hold rewarding battles. In the new game mode Push, the two teams fight over a robot that pushes their respective barricades. Whichever team can push the barricade along the farthest within the 10-minute timer is victorious. The three new heroes include one from each category: Junker Queen joins the tank role, Kiriko the support and Sojourn the damage.
The game is visually outstanding, with attention to detail across the maps and the hero designs.
For new players, heroes must now be unlocked, either through regular gameplay challenges or the newly adopted battle pass, a tier system that progresses as you play games and earn experience points. This incentivizes logging in and playing the game more to get the chance to play new heroes. The battle pass also incentivizes Blizzard to work harder on the cosmetics that are included within, the biggest one being the new mythic rarity skins.
The game is visually outstanding, with attention to detail across the maps and the hero designs. Each area feels drastically different, taking the gameplay across the globe to different countries and different locales within the story. The gameplay does not lack either, the support role is less static, the tank role now feels more like you are the glue that holds your team together and the damage role feels much more impactful than in the original
The shift to the free-to-play model lets players try the game without needing to pay for access. However, the shift also means new types of monetization, as cosmetics that were once free are now locked behind a hefty paywall.
With the lack of content at the end of the original overwatch’s lifecycle, Overwatch 2 brings new life into the community, which was disappointed with the way the original game had fallen into a drought of content. Activision Blizzard has clearly devoted time and resources to making this game the best it can be.
I would give this game a 9/10. The new monetization is polarizing and overpriced considering that players never had to spend a dime on cosmetics. However, this does little to take away from the rewarding gameplay loop.
There’s no reason not to give Overwatch 2 a try. With a constantly expanding hero roster, you’re almost guaranteed to find a hero that is right for you. Whether you are climbing the competitive mode or playing casually alone or with friends, this series just got better.
Cyber Demon Genji battles the enemy team.
SCREENSHOTS BY ESTEBAN RAMIREZ
