What Overwatch really needed was the same thing that every live-service game needs: content. While development of Overwatch 2 caused a lengthy drought in the original, Overwatch wasn’t exactly on par with the rest of the live service game market either. A new hero every few months and a rehashed holiday event just weren’t cutting it. There’s a lot of people moaning about the new seasonal model in Overwatch 2, but if they were being honest, most of them would admit Overwatch wasn’t holding their attention. The luster fell off Overwatch after a couple of years, and the quarterly cadence of a new hero or map was not going to keep Overwatch al
The Overwatch 2 battle pass is clean and simple. I’m surprised Blizzard didn’t decide to push the boat out or try something new with its implementation of the mechanic, because what we have here is rather basic and predictable. Some tiers have more than one reward hidden away inside them which is cool, and the variety of Egyptian mythology Cosmetics is quite incredible and makes great use of the extensive hero roster, but what you’re working towards is very clear.
One of the most significant additions coming with Overwatch 2 is its new PvE game type, Hero Missions. And while Blizzard spoke a lot about this new element, there were a few details in the video left on the table — specifically regarding Hero abilities and upgra
Fortunately, the hero gallery is still a breeze to navigate and has been updated with new portraits for each character. Actual models are used this time around instead of stylised drawings, and I’m still not entirely sure which of them I prefer. I’m sure they’ll grow on me.
Revealed at last year’s BlizzCon, Sojourn is the first and only new Hero currently known to join the Overwatch roster with the upcoming sequel. While much of the character’s nature is known, some of her abilities are yet to be officially revea
Overwatch 2 is a very iterative sequel, and thus many of its menus will feel very familiar to those who spent time with its predecessor. Because of this stylistic choice I’m going to work through the highlights and point out all of their biggest draws and flaws before deciding on an overall score for the entire package. Yes, some serious science has gone into this idea.
If you owned the original Overwatch or pick up the Watchpoint Edition of Overwatch 2 you’ll unlock all heroes right away, otherwise free-to-play users will need to play a total of 100 matches to earn the entire roster, and that doesn’t include Kiriko unless you’ve already purchased the premium version of that battle pass. That make sense? I didn’t think so.
It’s the same corporate avarice that led us to Stadia , only Google was far more incompetent with how they sold it. Fortunately, Google has more money than there are gods in the heavens; they can (mostly) pay people back for the company’s mistake . But remember Stadia wasn’t a live game that just didn’t take off. It was an entire platform that didn’t take off. A platform that Google promised would stay online for the foreseeable future. And, like Blizzard, Google could also afford the servers.
The typically more animated young gamers should have no problem hanging with seasoned players in this family-friendly Switch romp when using motion. Purists will be happy to learn that these controls can be deactivated, but given the added immersion, many will be hard-pressed to do
Don’t get me wrong - I don’t mind that there’s an Overwatch 2. Hell, I don’t even give a shit that it’s a free-to-play nightmare that’s going to be dominated by kids with rich parents. I work in show business - the entire world is dominated by kids with rich parents. And I respect that in order to keep their esports racket fresh, Blizzard creates new Overwatch content just like how their professional players create new racial slurs.
The cosmetic menu has also received some cool updates, making it much easier to navigate and understand. Bold text is used to distinguish categories while a single glance at the menu is enough to see exactly what you have equipped at any given time. Seeing all of my unlocks transfer over to Overwatch 2 was also a sad reminder of how much time I’ve poured into this series. My accounts haven’t even combined yet either, so I promise you I have more than 14 D.Va skins to my name. All the voice lines unlocked too, I am dedicated to my girl.
But once the sequel was announced the well started to dry up. We used to get three new heroes every year. In 2020, we only got Echo and she was confirmed to be the last new hero until Overwatch 2 arrives . We also used to get some new maps every year, but we only got Havana in 2019 and Kanezaka this year (and that's a deathmatch-only map so who cares about that.) Even the events have felt half-hearted as they've added nothing but new title screens with some old modes recycled and maybe slightly retooled. The only reason we even get new skins anymore is so Blizzard can still rake in that sweet lootbox mo