In 2016, Blizzard threw their hats into the first-person shooter arena with Overwatch. The team-based shooter followed the League of Legends formula of having multiple heroes and specific roles. Overwatch was met with tremendous praise and quickly became one of the best of its genre.

Five years later, Blizzard has launched Overwatch 2, and while fans will quickly notice not a lot has changed, that doesn’t mean the game is any less fun than its predecessor. Overwatch 2 doesn’t recreate the wheel but enhances it. With three main match types and a wide range of heroes, Overwatch 2 has extremely high replayability and is one of the best shooters of the year. And possibly the biggest game-changer of them all, the game is now free-to-play.

Knowing Heroes and Roles

Overwatch 2 has a total of 35 heroes in the game that is divided into three roles: Support, Damage, and Tank. All of the heroes from Overwatch return in the sequel, along with three new heroes: Junker Queen, Sojourn, and Kiriko. Unlike other team shooters like Valorant, Overwatch 2 allows you to change heroes during the game. Having the flexibility to change heroes keeps matches lively and unpredictable, which also makes it extremely important to understand most heroes and what their strengths and weaknesses are.

Players can choose between playing with an open queue or a role queue. Operating in an open queue allows you to play any hero and any role. Your team could be all Tanks if you wanted, but that would probably end with a loss. Even in an open queue, you should still try to have a good team composition, and knowing a handful of heroes in each role is a necessity. Role queue forces you to play certain classes but you can adjust which roles you’re assigned beforehand.

Complete the Objective

The majority of game modes from Overwatch return in Overwatch 2, along with a new mode in Push. Push is similar to the other modes with moving the payload but features a giant robot that both teams battle over control. Between the game modes, there are 36 total maps in the game. Now, we know racking up eliminations might seem nice, but the purpose of each match in Overwatch 2 is to complete the objective. Whether that’s sticking with the payload or taking control of the point, achieving the objective is the true goal in the game.

As was the case in the first game, matches in Overwatch 2 are highly susceptible to people quitting but others will join almost immediately. It’s rare to play full matches with uneven numbers, though it could be too late to launch a comeback. If you’re a new player to Overwatch 2, you’ll need to win 50 unraked matches before you can play Competitive. While it’s understandable to lock ranked play behind certain qualifications, winning 50 games is a bit excessive. Some players (including myself) could’ve switched accounts and the Blizzard account recovery system is extremely inept in assistance. If you connect the wrong account to your new platform, you won’t be able to try again for 365 days. By doing so, seasoned players are forced to waste time playing unranked matches just to complete the requirement.

From Loot Box to F2P

Back when it launched, Overwatch could arguably be pointed to as the game that kickstarted the video game industry’s with loot boxes. While some people had issues with how that was handled given how it felt like gambling with the randomized items you can earn, Blizzard did offer event-exclusive skins that players can earn just by playing/

In OW2, Blizzard has completely reworked the game’s economy. Now, the game is free-to-play with everyone, though it comes at a cost. This time around, the game uses the tried-and-true Battle Pass system, that not only offers cosmetics, voice lines and the sort in its free and premium track, but even new heroes are gated in it, with those who own the paid Battle Pass at an advantage given they’ll be able to use the new character for free ASAP instead of having to grind for it. 

Another issue that has reared its ugly head is how new skins in new events are now for-purchase, with no way to earn them just by playing. It’s a trade-off made to maximize profits given the base game is free, but some veteran players might not like it. 

This “issue” depends on whether you care enough for skins and cosmetics or not, and one can argue that going F2P is the better deal than having to pay for the game. 

Verdict

Many returning players won’t find much difference in Overwatch 2 but that’s fine. Why fix what ain’t broken? The biggest change in the game is reducing the team size from six players to five, which has caused better spacing in team fights and far less chaos. The addition of Push gives the game a bit more variety in its game modes with a wide assortment of maps. When you throw in the many Arcade modes and special holiday updates, there’s plenty of replayability in Overwatch 2. While the game may not feel like a full-fledged sequel, Overwatch 2 is still an absolute delight and one of the best shooters out there. 

Final Score: 9/10

Pros:

• 35 different heroes
• Push game mode
• Reduced team size from six to five players
• Many maps
• Excellent gameplay
• F2P!

Cons:

• Difficult connecting the Blizzard account
• Feels more like Overwatch 1.5
• Way harder now to earn good, unique character skins

Overwatch 2 start pack was provided by the publisher. Played on the PS5. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.