It’s been just over a month since the release of Overwatch 2 on October 4th, and with that comes many thoughts and opinions on the game and how it stacks up against its predecessor, Overwatch. In terms of accessibility, characters and overall gameplay mechanics, I’m going to dive into the experience playing Overwatch 2, and provide a thoughtful review on whether or not it’s an improvement or a deterioration on the previous game, or perhaps a combination of the two.
To start, I’m going to acknowledge that these are my opinions and mine alone, and nothing that I say in this article is meant to be stated as fact. I spent 6 years playing Overwatch, and I went through the ups and downs with nerfing and buffing beloved characters, the bugs and the patches for those bugs, the toxic community, and the amazing events and characters added into the game over the years. I’ve had both amazing experiences on the game, and horrible experiences on the game, but I maintained my love for it and continued to play all the way through to the release of Overwatch 2. That experience gives me a chance to provide my thoughts on the differences between the two games, the similarities, and my overall feelings about the game.
Overwatch 2 was announced on November 1st, 2019, and ever since the initial announcement, I was excited. For many years playing the first game–although there were many events and many new characters, even new maps being added–the environment and overall structure of the game had become quite stale. I enjoyed my time on it so many years later, but it was refreshing to see all the new things coming our way with this new iteration of the game, taking what Overwatch was and adding on to it in a way that seemed to be positive. There were talks of a single-player story mode, even more new and exciting characters, new interactions and lore, new map types and map modes, and a free-to-play structure that allowed anyone to pick up the game and try it out.
This was all amazing at the time, and although many of these things did come true, there are many downsides that have been incorporated into the game that I believe downgraded from the original. I’m going to discuss these areas, the positives and the negatives, in several categories in order to keep things coherent and consistent: Accessibility, Characters, and Gameplay Mechanics.
Accessibility:
Overwatch was never a free-to-play game; when it was released, it was sold at regular video game prices, which was about $79.99 CAD. In terms of financial accessibility, obviously, this is a major improvement in Overwatch 2 where it’s become a free-to-play game and allows people to play the game without worrying about money upfront. They can simply look for the game, download it to whichever mode they play on, and start playing. However, the downside of the game being free-to-play means that Blizzard (the team behind the game) needs to make money somehow: and here’s where the the paywalls come in. Paywalls really hinder accessibility within the game, and overall, makes it less fun when working towards getting cosmetics for your favourite characters.
A major appeal of the first game was that the cosmetics were essentially free for you as long as you obtained the necessary amount of in-game currency, which you collected by just simply playing the game, or buying packs if you wanted to. In the sequel game, these coins are not as accessible as they used to be to get a simple skin. We aren’t new to this concept, obviously, but the fact that Overwatch 2 has adopted this pathway makes even loyal fans frustrated with the lack of accessibility to many of the cosmetics they would have been able to obtain before simply by grinding and participating in events in the game.
In terms of general accessibility, Overwatch 2 does improve on this front from the previous game, with definite room for improvement. You can now adjust the camera shake levels during gameplay, which is amazing for those that could get motion sickness or deal with other related issues. As well, you can include subtitles while playing, which can help players that are hard of hearing, with additional options for the level of detail. This includes the choice of subtitles for critical gameplay/actions and conversations between characters, or one or the other. In the first game, you could adjust teammate and enemy silhouette colours to address the issues that players might have with colour blindness, which was carried over to the second game. Another amazing feature is that you can now enable text-to-speech, which helps players who are blind or have difficulties reading the text understand the gameplay.
Through all of this, Overwatch 2 did make the necessary adjustments from the previous game. However, there is still much to be done, as these areas are only taking up a few tabs on the main menu of the game, when there should absolutely be more options available. But in time, hopefully the team will expand on the game’s accessibility features.
Overall, with accessibility, there are both positives and negatives. Financially, it included things that I think didn’t need to be there, such as the paywalls, and the previous structure of the game was better received and more inclusive. However, they’ve taken steps to include new, refreshing options for people that are hard of hearing or those that deal with motion sickness or blindness, which is amazing to see. In this area, the game has definitely been improved and can continue to be improved.
Characters:
The characters of Overwatch are a major highlight of the game and the lore behind it. The backstories, interactions and dynamics between the heroes that you can play as add unique and interesting moments that positively impact the experience within the game as well, and is one of my favourite things about Overwatch.
Overwatch 2 has improved on this model from the first game, adding even more interactions, more characters, and more dynamics that we might not have been knowledgeable about before this game. There’s also more interaction in terms of the players themselves, where you can thank others directly for either healing you or helping you in general, and as a result, you get to hear additional voice lines between the characters. Although it’s not a new concept that Overwatch 2 has included more characters in this game, as this was a standard in Overwatch, the amount of detail and the upgraded graphics and looks for the original characters as well as the new ones makes the experience that much better while playing.
One negative aspect about the characters, which ties into gameplay mechanics but mostly focusing on the former, is the fact that the teams during player versus player modes (PvP) are made up of 5 vs. 5 rather than the original 6 vs. 6. This means that tank characters are reduced to one rather than two, and as a result, their health has been increased drastically. Although playing this game for a month means I’ve gotten used to the characters being teamed up this way, I also believe that it has made the game a bit frustrating during team fights, where things can feel less balanced than before. Also, having 5 vs. 5 means the game now lacks tank synergy, as there are no longer two tanks on the team that can work together during team fights to lead the team.
With these things in mind, there are definitely ups and downs in terms of the characters and the teambuilding mechanics in the new game, but overall, I do believe that they’ve been able to improve on the characters and the interactions between them, providing a more entertaining atmosphere in the long run.
Gameplay Mechanics:
Finally, I’m going to touch on gameplay mechanics for Overwatch 2, and why there are several things I enjoy, but several things I wish stayed on the cutting room floor.
To start, one gameplay mechanic that I personally don’t enjoy is the new Push mode and the Push maps. Although the new maps themselves are designed very well, and the concept of the mode is interesting, the Push mode is something that I wish never replaced the old mode, called 2CP, where you would be tasked to capture two points. In the Push mode, players are meant to capture a robotic companion and have them push a barricade along the streets of the map, getting to specific checkpoints and either all the way to the end of the map, or as far as possible. The enemy team can disrupt this and capture the robot themselves, basically making it a back and forth until one side gets to the opposite end of the map, or the timer runs out and whoever made it the furthest with the barricade is the winner of the game.
The Push mode is my least favourite addition, because it can take so long for one side to make it to the other, so the back and forth makes it feel both repetitive and boring after a while. Further, this mode can feel unbalanced between the teams because once one side gets on a roll and completely overtakes you with the barricade and their distance with it, your side might as well give up due to how much fighting it takes to even take it back. It feels even less rewarding when you do take it back, because of the amount of distance you now have to make up for in order to even possibly be the winner. Overall, the mechanics of the Push mode make it less fun than the original mode in the first game. As mentioned before, 2CP was the mode in the first game that was replaced with Push. Although people had complaints about 2CP because of the maps and the way your team could be completely overwhelmed with just one fight where your entire team is killed, overall, it sometimes still felt like even if the odds were stacked against you trying to capture a point or defend a point, you might still have a chance. When I play Push, it doesn’t feel that way, and oftentimes, I just want the game to be over due to the amount of time it takes and how little motivation it gives me to keep fighting when the enemy team has pushed the robot almost to the very end.
In contrast, though, things aren’t all bad. One major improvement from the previous game is the fact that the communication wheel in the game provides way more options for players that weren’t there before. For instance, one of them is thanking players directly for things, but others include being able to tell your team if you’re attacking or defending, if there’s an enemy nearby, if you’re moving forward, and much more. It allows for better communication for the team, and overall, provides a better gameplay experience by giving players the chance to just say more in general.
One last area to cover within gameplay mechanics is the fact that there will eventually be a player vs. everyone mode, or PvE, along with a campaign/single-player storyline for the game at some point. It was teased ages ago as a major feature of the game, and although there isn’t anything concrete right now, it’s estimated to be included in the game in 2023. This was a major point of appeal for me as a player, and although I’m not sure what they have in store for the storylines themselves, it’s definitely a mechanic that would add something unique and interesting to the game after so many years, and I’m hoping they keep with it.
Final Verdict:
In conclusion, I believe that Overwatch 2 has amazing features, but also has features that need improvement or should just be erased entirely from the game. As a successor to Overwatch, it does a good job at balancing what players liked from before, while also adding new and exciting things. But it also has added unnecessary aspects that hinder the new gameplay experience for even the most loyal players.
Going forward, I think that Blizzard should consider switching things up for the game, or at least, think about the aspects of this game that don’t work in order to make the next iteration (if there is one) even better. I believe changing the 5 vs. 5 back to 6 vs. 6 would help balancing issues and team synergy, and I also think taking Push out of the equation wouldn’t hinder the game too much. However, making some tweaks to it could make it even better if they decide to keep it in the game. For one, making the respawn points closer together will make it so players will have a quicker time getting back to the robot in order to keep fighting for it, and the distance will be reduced. Also, maybe the mode could incorporate a faster speed for the robot in order to reduce the time it takes to get it back to your team’s barricade. More could also be added to the accessibility options, such as allowing players to customize the size of the subtitles or including narration options for the menus or gameplay on top of text-to-speech. To sum it all up, these are just a few areas where Blizzard could consider working on in order to improve the game.
Not everything is perfect, that’s for sure. But I am enjoying my time on the game, and I can see that the new characters, new maps, new mechanics, etc. have contributed positively and negatively to the overall Overwatch landscape. I’ll still be playing with my friends for as long as Overwatch 2 is alive.