It can be said that this is a “sense of community” or “competitive spirit”. For me, it’s a reward for knowing that I’m working on something. Every victory, damn it, every second of experience made me better and better. It’s one of the most satisfying things to know that I’m doing my best against the enemy team just to win or completely dominate them. Some games do this quite badly, such as PUBG, but this is not the fault of the gameplay, but the reduction in the number of players. There is nothing more important than going head-to-head with another human and standing out rather than standing up to a robot.
Overwatch is one of my most played games at almost 500 hours. It’s great fun to move up the ranks with friends or lose in a row after convincing yourself that you’re going to play “one more time”. Overwatch gave me a lot that no other game could offer – the low skill level and the high skill ceiling. What I mean? Well, it’s pretty easy to understand because all the characters are suited to a certain style of play, but then again, it’s tricky because there are a lot of nuances to learn before you can really say you’ve done it well.
Overwatch sets the bar, but does Overwatch 2 raise or lower it? Is it worth your time? I mean, it looks like a hell of a microtransaction with better graphics, right?
Let’s start with our hero. The original roster returns along with three new characters from the Tank, Damage, and Support categories. If you’ve read my Overwatch 2 preview (link) then you know that almost every character is played with huge changes. Of course, I will not delve into everything else, we would sit here for hours – let’s take on the most remarkable.
First we have to deal with our big hero – the tank. These are the most drastic changes since the transition from 6 to 6 to 5 to 5, all to increase their survivability. Not only that, but the movements of some characters have changed. Orisa swaps her shield for a dart that can be held in place by enemies or rotated in her hands to damage melee enemies, block projectiles, and attack with melee attacks. Reinhardt’s shield was reduced from 1600 to 1200 health, but received two fire hits instead of one. Having lost his uppercut, Doomfist isn’t as good at juggling as he used to be, but his rocket strikes can now send him in any direction you point, and he has a block move that protects him from frontal damage.
Our next batch of roles comes from our support class. These guys don’t see any change in movement settings (unless we’re talking about Moira who dropped that stupid damage pin in the beta and then her damage orb came back), so most of the Changes are either a better heal or their improved own personality. – healing abilities. Zenyatta players will see the biggest improvement here, with his ball now moving much faster than in Overwatch.
Now, who can forget the biggest roster of characters on the list is Damage. Both damage dealt and survivability are largely unchanged, some of their movement settings have been updated. Sombra should have the craziest nerf and the most powerful buff at the same time. Hackers can now prevent enemy heroes from using their abilities for up to two seconds (although the visual indication of hacked enemies remains the same), but her SMG deals damage much faster. Mei no longer freezes enemy players (just slows them down), Cassidy loses her flare (RIP) and uses sticky grenades instead. Bastion is our strongest player in the replacement department right now and I’m sure players who know their main force is back will be kicking their feet – Bastion can now move in a tank configuration and can throw grenades. However, Bastion’s ultimate will be the worst opponent – now you can land a mortar strike anywhere on the map, with or without cover.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, all the changes a character sees can be put in two brackets: an increase in speed or an increase in damage dealt. Characters like Mei can no longer pause movement, and the Stronghold has been reworked to improve mobility. Overwatch 2 is more competitive than its predecessor and I’m all for it. We can see these changes not only in the hero, but also in the way the game works. In quick play (or unranked), you now play defense and attack rounds, simulating a competitive mode.
Three new characters have also contributed to all these gameplay changes. We have Junkerqueen (tank), Sojourn (damage) and Kiriko (support). The Junkerqueen has to be the most interesting tank on this list right now, and it confirms the importance of the tank’s role and survivability. Invincible on the brink, she’s the new queen of Junkerstown, and she’s likely to have a role in the story of Junkrat and Roadhog. She mainly uses shotguns, complemented by knives. Unlike the shotgun, her knife is pretty amazing – it deals a small amount of bleeding damage when it hits an enemy, and if you manage to stick it in someone, it will be pulled towards you. Get the enemies out of position, have your team crush them into a bunch of dogs, and you cut them like a hot knife through butter. Her ax deals more damage than a knife and can hit multiple enemies at once. Where everything goes crazy is her limit. She swings her ax and fires at an insanely long distance, preventing enemies she hits from healing. Combine this with Zarya’s ultimate and you will negate all healing.
In terms of damage, we have a face returning from beta; lingering. The first thing to note is that I haven’t noticed any drastic balance changes since it premiered in this beta. She has a railgun in her arsenal that recharges after each successful hit, allowing her to fire high-velocity bullets that deal (approximately) up to 250 damage. The charging time of this lens is also very short. Body shots last about three seconds, and head shots last about two seconds. She can also launch area attacks that deal damage over time, which is especially useful for crowd control. As for her ultimate, this has to be the most insane DPS attack in the entire lineup. This gives her secondary ability a heck of a seven, meaning you can even take down the entire enemy team if you’re accurate enough. At least she can’t heal herself I guess.
I think it’s been a long time since we all agreed on new support heroes, so it’s great to see Kiriko join the roster as well. She is a versatile character, able to launch Genji-like projectiles and heal with her other hand. She is a bit difficult to play at first as she heals with the left click and attacks with the right click, so I would recommend replacing her as soon as possible. In terms of healing, she sends out a series of talismans that seek out targeted allies – while they take a while to get to the player, they only provide around 100 healing and take some time to refill. In her current state, she looks more like Moira than a traditional healer. Of course, we can’t forget her ult. She launches her fox spirit forward, and everyone in its path gains increased attack speed, movement speed, and cooldown reduction. This is a very effective ultimate that keeps your team from stagnating, so I’m sure we’ll see her on the court a lot.
Luckily, we’re not moving into Overwatch 2 with just three new characters and balance changes – otherwise I’d call it Overwatch 1.5. Quite a few maps have been added to the list, some existing maps already have day/night options, and we also got new game modes. Some of the new maps are 180+ points compared to OG, mostly due to level design. Maps like the Royal Tour are more claustrophobic than Route 66, simply because there aren’t many (if any) flanking routes. At the Royal Circuit, you fight on the city streets and keep the Formula Lux car from reaching the hotel lobby, which is standard – no problem here – until you go on the attacking side. This card is definitely on the defensive side, as can be seen from the vertical of that side. No matter where you are, you are always fighting a tough battle, and given the lack of a flanking route, it can be difficult for you to get to the first point. Maps like Route 66 and Hollywood do a great job of providing more angles of attack and more shortcuts, which is what we really expect from these types of maps.
It’s not all that bleak, the maps are well-crafted and they’re well-crafted. The new Onslaught game mode really highlights how Overwatch 2′s level design should look like. Take the Colosseum, a map of Rome, as an example. In this mode, you will actually participate in a tug of war with the robots of the map. Each time one side takes control of the robot, it will quickly approach a large obstacle and slowly push it towards the other side’s spawn point. Rome has many flanking routes and many high ground for you to attack or defend. It definitely boosts Overwatch 2′s high speed, and maps like Royal Tour have you hiding behind shields or corners until you manage to level the playing field. Luckily, of the new cards, only Circuit Royal and Paraiso seem to have suffered this fate, while Colosseo, Esperanca and New Queen Street are the top designs.
We still need to address the elephant in the room: microtransactions. At least for the current generation of video games, this is an area that we all really hate. Simply put, Overwatch 2 is full of microtransactions. Original Overwatch cosmetic items can no longer be easily unlocked unless you spend money in the shop to get the desired currency or complete enough weekly challenges. However, these weekly challenges will give you (at the time of writing) a maximum of 60 Overwatch Coins. How much does a legendary skin from the original game cost? 2000. Good luck.
Now the pressure on microtransactions is not limited to cosmetic items – new heroes will initially be unlocked via the battle pass at level 1 (paid battle pass) or level 55 (free). Luckily, they can also be unlocked through the store or special Hero Challenges after their Battle Pass ends, meaning you’ll never get overwhelmed by your competition.
Another thing that annoys me is how expensive the battle pass is going to be. Fortnite does wonders with the battle pass refund system for players; it allows them to be rewarded for continuing to play instead of having to buy battle passes every time a new season starts. At launch, everything in the battle pass is some kind of cosmetic or a new hero that costs 1,000 coins to unlock. Want to do it for free? Then you need to complete a sufficient number of weekly challenges. But wait, how many trials per week are you asking? Well, since you can only get 60 free Overwatch coins per week, it will take you 17 weeks to get enough coins. How many weeks does the fight last? Nine.
The Battle Pass is still very useful. Blizzard is promising around 200 skins per year (compared to Overwatch’s 42 per year), and while some of them may be color variations of the same skin, even what’s currently available looks great. We also have a new skin system tier, Mythos, unlocked at tier 80 of the Battle Pass. Genji has the first and only mythic skin in the lot, and once unlocked, you can change the look of his weapons, tattoos, masks, and even his palette. In addition to skins, there are a variety of calling cards, badges, voice lines, amulets, emotes, sprays, and souvenirs (although it’s not yet stated what their purpose is) to unlock. Unfortunately, as expected, all cosmetic items will be locked behind the battle pass or shop, so expect some FOMO when you see a cosmetic item on the field that you don’t have.
The only real downside to Overwatch 2 is the Battle Pass – the pinnacle of Overwatch in terms of gameplay. The new map and game mode Push is undoubtedly more suited to the higher pace of the game, and the transition from 6v6 to 5v5 is silky smooth. Sure, it might not be for the more casual gamer, but those who enjoy its competitive nature will be pleased to know that Overwatch 2 is exactly what it needs. Its extremely enjoyable gameplay is complemented by new characters, and its design goes hand in hand with metadata changes.
Overwatch 2 is great. 5v5 brought the game to life, Junkerqueen, Sojourn and Kiriko are a breath of fresh air, and the new high-paced game perfectly matches its competitive nature. The new map is a lot of fun to play, albeit with a few tweaks, and the new Push game mode will only improve the core Overwatch 2 experience. The only downside is its closed 9-week battle pass system, which is expensive to buy.
Post time: Nov-02-2022