Overwatch 2 Review

As someone who has spent over two years playing Overwatch, the main question that I had at hand was how different the two will be from each other. At the end of the day whether it’s different or not, I had taken a break from the game so it felt nice coming back into the action. I did notice some differences between gameplay and such so that much is different. That being said, there is still room for improvement to be had within the game that can ensure that the longevity of players will last for a long time.

If the sequel to the game interests you at all, you’re probably asking the question of whether or not they should come back to the title. To go even further, there are even people who never played Overwatch before and are throwing their hats into the ring by trying it for the first time. If you ask me, considering that Overwatch 2 is free-to-play, there shouldn’t be a reason not to give it a shot. All aboard the hype train.

Now, these are my initial thoughts based on me being a casual player. I didn’t take into mind certain characters’ damage stats, a gameplay meta, or anything technical like that. Everything has been taken at face value, from visuals, fun factors, cosmetics, and other aspects that I thought were pretty noteworthy. With all that being said let’s get into it.

Starting off, the gameplay itself felt pretty much the same as I remembered it to be. You’ll mainly get one of two game modes. Control where you have to fight over a capture point in a best-of-three format. Whichever team reaches 100% first wins the round. Or Escort, where the attacking team is tasked to escort a payload to a delivery point, while the defending team attempts to prevent them until the time runs out. There are other game modes as well, including the new story mode coming to Overwatch 2, but of course, those modes aren’t playable yet and will come in the future. The flow of combat itself feels more fast-paced than before considering that it follows a 5 v 5 format now. Now players have to prioritize what hero they want/should be in order to be successful.

Regarding the characters and how they play, some of them got reworked such as Doomfist, Mercy, Mei, and several others. Since I’ve been gone for so long, I didn’t really think much of it, however to veteran players these changes probably mean a lot. During my time playing, it almost felt nostalgic and felt like I never left and I gotta say, I did enjoy myself. Three new characters Sojourn, Junker Queen, and Kiriko have also been added and it’s expected that more will join the already hefty roster as time goes on. Characters are constantly being looked at and tweaked by the team at Blizzard as certain ones such as Kiriko have been disabled from ranked until they’ve been adjusted. The whole experience is better with friends so if you wanna get them together now is a better time than any now that the game is F2P. With a game like Overwatch that has a lot of repetition, I did find myself worn out after a couple of matches, especially when playing by myself.

Gameplay aside another selling point is that Overwatch is well-known for its cosmetic items. Recently the team at Blizzard decided that loot boxes will become obsolete and will give players other methods to obtaining skins such as a battle pass. While I have seen mixed feelings over this decision I actually support it to some extent. At least with this method, I don’t have to play Russian Roulette on whether I’m gonna get a skin I like or not. It’s guaranteed this time around. I have high hopes for cosmetics since we’ve already seen what the art team at Blizzard can do. The pricing for them is the only questionable portion as spending $20 for a single skin feels like Blizzard is taking a couple of steps back in trying to satisfy its player base.

Graphically the game looks beautiful and clean with the colors of each map looking vibrant. The models have been updated and show the passing of time between Overwatch and this sequel. It’s a nice touch and I appreciate the time and dedication that went into the designs.

Conclusion

Overall should you play Overwatch 2? The answer is a resounding yes considering that the game is free. While it isn’t something that I would necessarily play for long hours into the night, it’s definitely a game that’s up my alley and it gives me something else to play with friends, which is always my number one favorite aspect in any game that I play. At the end of the day if you don’t like it, you can always uninstall it and move on to something else with no regrets whatsoever.

This game was tested and reviewed on Xbox Series X/S. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.