We’re holding off scoring our review until we see how Overwatch 2 performs in the wild and how the experience is impacted by F2P.
For a while, Overwatch absolutely dominated my gaming time. Every day and every night would be spent playing fast-paced, explosive 6v6 team shootouts. My friends and I would stack up and play into the very early hours, trying to rank up and (mostly) loving every minute.
I’d be overtired, struggling to focus at work the next day, stealthily looking up articles online about new heroes and rumours.
However, like all good things, Overwatch eventually lost its lustre and I moved on. Sure, I’d dabble here and there when a new hero came along or when it was released on Switch but by 2019 I was pretty much done with Blizzard’s smash hit FPS. I don’t think I’ve ever even played a round as Echo…
Now though, on the cusp of the release of Overwatch 2, I find myself having those same old cravings. Having spent two weeks pre-release with Overwatch 2, I am well and truly fully addicted all over again. Blizzard has refined the original formula, streamlined everything and made a sequel that’s not only a much better team-based experience, it’s a much better game.
When you consider just how exceptional Overwatch was, that’s no small feat.
Overwatch 2 Review
First things first. For the most part, Overwatch 2 is the same game as Overwatch. It has all of the same heroes (plus some new ones), most of the maps (and some new ones) and the same great team/ability-based gameplay that made it such a success originally. Some of Overwatch’s heroes have been extensively reworked (Doomfist and Orisa), some have been tinkered with and some are exactly as you remember them. The biggest change to the formula is the switch to 5v5 player matches rather than the original 6v6.
At first blush, this seems like a mistake. When you consider the evenness of two heroes per role and the synergies born of that structure, losing one player and hero almost seems disastrous…until you start playing. Now, teams are comprised of one tank, two support and two damage heroes and thanks to the buffs and changes made to the hero types, Overwatch 2 feels more structured, less messy and chaotic and far more engaging.
In this new 5v5 format, tanks seem to have benefitted the most. So many times, while playing pre-release, it seemed as though it was simply impossible to kill some of the tanks, such is their survivability. If you thought Roadhog was tough to kill before, wait until you come up against one in Overwatch 2 with a pocket Mercy and another support who even slightly knows what they’re doing. Orisa and Junker Queen are both also very difficult to put down, but there’s a reason. With only one tank in the mix, they need to be hardier and able to sustain more damage.
It can put more pressure on whoever’s playing the tank role in your squad, but it doesn’t take long to get a feel for the new way of tanking and once it clicks, you can become an absolute monster.
Damage and Support heroes feel like they’ve been changed far less, especially in comparison to Tanks, but they have been tinkered with here and there to help the new 5v5 format shine. Support heroes now heal allies passively and Damage heroes have been given a boost to movement speed. Neither of these is as radical as the evolution of Tanks but they do impact gameplay enough to be noticed. For example, while movement and manoeuvrability have been an important feature since Overwatch’s inception, it’s paramount in Overwatch 2. New hero Sojourn is a prime example of the speed and ease at which Damage heroes can get around the map to flank, fall back or dive.
Most of the existing Damage heroes kits work really well with this new boost in speed too, though it does tend to change the way the game is played. Overwatch 2 is far more focused on team fights, while simultaneously encouraging DPS heroes to outflank and outmaneuver. It’s a tricky balancing act that I never quite got the hang of during the review period but one that I’m incredibly keen to learn.
For me, Support heroes seem to have had the least changes. With the exception of Kiriko, they all seem to play and function just as they did in Overwatch. With only one tank though, you better believe they’re more important than ever. If you don’t have good healers in your squad, I’d say it’s time to get some new friends.
Speaking of Kiriko (and Junker Queen and Sojourn), she represents what appears to be the new direction in heroes going forward with Overwatch 2. Unlike Mercy or Ana, Kiriko is very much a support character who needs to work with another. Kiriko isn’t going to be able to keep a team alive on her own, her healing output just isn’t high enough, but she has other tricks up her sleeve. She’s almost a hybrid hero, walking the line between damage and healing. Similarly, Junker Queen may be a tank first, but all of her abilities apply anti-healing to enemies they damage. She straddles the line between Tank and Support and her Commanding Shout ability cements her Support sensibilities.
Sojourn is less of a hybrid, however, her Disruptor Shot gives her some Support utility. Some of the original Overwatch heroes did have abilities that went beyond their base class — Soldier 76’s Biotic Field and Zarya’s Projected Barrier come to mind — however, most of the time, each hero’s abilities were personal with only some incidental benefit to the team; unless it was an ultimate. Now, in Overwatch 2, Blizzard is showing players that the way forward is even more synergy and teamwork. Kiriko, Junker Queen and Sojourn are just the beginning and I can’t wait to see what’s next.
It all comes back to the removal of one player and hero from each team. Without an additional tank, teams need more utility, more versatility and more ways to attack and counter the enemy. So far, it feels like Blizzard has absolutely nailed the transition as Overwatch 2 manages to capture the magic of the original while forging its own identity and evolving the formula.
Not everything in Overwatch 2 is a slam dunk, however. The new mode, Push, seems to be a bit of a dud. While initially, the thrill of a new mode carries you through, it quickly degenerates into a bland mode that makes you feel hopeless when you’re losing. Unlike Escort modes where it always feels as though you might pull a win out, in Push, once you start losing it feels like you’re never going to be able to come back. It’s a really lopsided mode that doesn’t quite work in its current form. Unlike the refined changes that make Overwatch 2 feel more structured and streamlined, Push is far too chaotic. It’s a real shame that Push has replaced Assault because the latter is far superior. Hopefully, Push improves over time but for now, it’s a bit of a lame duck.
When it comes to the Battle Pass, it’s hard to judge at this early stage. While Overwatch 2 has gone free-to-play, there are plenty of built-in micro-transactions and ways to make cash. It remains to be seen if Blizzard will milk players for all their worth. So far, in my limited experience within the review period, it seems as though players will be able to enjoy Overwatch 2 without having to fork over any cash, however, they will need to pay with their time. This first season will be very telling for Blizzard and Overwatch 2 and depending on how the community responds to the Battle Pass it may see changes in the future.
Finally, for brand-new players to the Overwatch universe, the first-time user experience is a really smart move on Blizzard’s behalf. It might be maligned by players for requiring such a long outlay of time to unlock all the heroes and modes but, Overwatch 2 is so much more reliant on teamwork than Overwatch that it simply makes sense to hold new players’ hands and teach them how the game works.
While I may have drifted away from Overwatch and even thought that Overwatch 2 could and should have been an update, it’s clear the work that’s gone into transforming Overwatch 2 into a fully-fledged game as a service has been worth the effort. The new 5v5 format is exceptional and the changes made to the gameplay overall have propelled Overwatch 2 even further into the stratosphere than the original.
Not everyone is going to be a fan of the changes and I’m certain many fans will be incensed with the way Blizzard has monetised Overwatch 2 but I’m also certain those some fans will be booting up the game on day one and playing until their eyeballs bleed.
Overwatch is back and it’s better than ever.
Overwatch 2 was reviewed on PC with pre-release access provided by Blizzard.
