Review | Overwatch 2 (PVP)

An Overwatch revival

It’s been a long time coming, but Overwatch 2 is finally here and it’s fantastic. The launch has been terrible, with servers down for days. Now that it’s finally working, and I’ve had a solid 20 hours, I’m a happy, happy kid though. The changes feel great, the new maps and heroes are great, and the move to free-to-play has gone well so far. I loved Overwatch, I put over a thousand hours into the original release, so let’s take a look at what’s changed, what’s new, and what’s still a little damaged.

Are you chicken?

The big question is why call it “2”. As a long-time World of Warcraft player, I find this to be a game-changing expansion in many ways. Activision has long maintained that making some of the worst decisions possible is your choice for any given situation, so Overwatch 2 is it! However, a lot has changed in this game. All but a few heroes have been adjusted in some way, with tanks seeing the biggest changes of all. This is because it’s now a 5v5 PVP title, instead of the 6v6 from the original release and I think that’s a brilliant change. The meta (aka the current best way to play) has been constantly evolving for the series, and for a while, it had become a much slower and boring “shoot the shields” which eventually put me away from playing the game. frequently.

New Tank Changes and Redesigns in the 5v5 Build

This new 5v5 build that sees one tank, two DPS, and two healers is much faster and does higher damage. Each tank has seen a slight or complete redesign. Newcomers to the tank class are Doomfist, who had previously been a DPS, and Junker Queen, who is new to the series. Subtle changes to Doomfist include giving him more health, removing his hook and replacing it with a block, and slightly lowering his damage, it feels well balanced and well thought out. Orissa has gone from being a better defensive slow moving shield user to an offensive threat with her new spear throw, deflect, and ult. It would take a lot of words to break down all the changes,

New Heroes

This review takes place at the launch of Overwatch 2 during its first season of new content. Future seasons in 2023 are scheduled to include the long-awaited co-op PVE content. For Season 1 we have eighty levels of cosmetics and a new character, the support Kiriko. 

She uses Kunai to attack and a cool seek mechanic to heal along with a ridiculously powerful Ultimate that buffs all teammates’ movement and attack speed while standing on it. The third new character of the season is Sojourn, who is a DPS focused on using the charge from her rapid-firing assault rifle to power up her devastating railgun shots. She has rocket legs that move in a similar, albeit much wilder, fashion to Reinhardt’s rocket charge. 

The aforementioned Junker Queen is a large brute with a powerful short-range weapon and an ax that she can throw or slash. Her Ultimate sees her dash forward in a straight line dealing moderate damage, leaving a damage over time debuff, and making all players she hits unable to heal. It’s been over three years since the newest hero, map, or mode in the series was released, and we not only have three fun heroes to start with, but also new maps and a new mode called Push. leaves a damage over time debuff and makes all players it hits unable to heal. It’s been over three years since the newest hero, map, or mode in the series was released, and we not only have three fun heroes to start with, but also new maps and a new mode called Push. leaves a damage over time debuff and makes all players it hits unable to heal. It’s been over three years since the newest hero, map, or mode in the series was released, and we not only have three fun heroes to start with, but also new maps and a new mode called Push.

Maps, modes and more

Along with reworked lighting and assets for the original maps, a huge collection of new maps for various modes were also released with the game’s 2.0 release:

• actual circuit
• Midtown
• Paradise
• Coliseum
• new queen street
• hope

These maps can be the classic Payload or Control maps, but all Assault maps are now relegated to Customs as the mode has been removed from matchmaking entirely. Some of them have the new Push mode, in which each team works so that a robot pushes one target per side. To gain control of the robot, you need to be the only ones within its range, similar to how points and payloads work. It ends up being a long back and forth game with tons of movement on maps that feature multiple paths going back and forth often in my experience and I really enjoyed it.

New Dommy Mommy?

The other big change for the series, and perhaps the one that earns the “2” moniker the most, is the move to free-to-play, which was a huge headache at launch. For returning players, you can merge your account to finally have the same unlocks and stats on all platforms the game is available on. This was completely broken at launch, of course, and led to my first three days of trying to play the game only to be met with error codes, anger, and sadness. Once the weekend rolled around, the issues were resolved and I was met with all my unlocks, stable servers, and a new progression system.

If you’re new to the franchise, you’ll need to play 100 matches to unlock the original roster and reach Battle Pass Rank 55 to unlock the new support, Kiriko. For returning players, all of them should be unlocked immediately, including the three new characters, if you have the Origins edition DLC linked to your account. At $10 US, the battle pass seems to be fair value, offering over 80 different cosmetics. Most of these would have been tied to loot boxes before, but it’s the reality of f2p (free-to-play) games, this system works and people will invest a lot more money into it than apparently any other monetization system. For purchasing the first battle pass, you get Kiriko, a skin for D’va, a weapon charm and 20% more experience throughout the season. As long as the quality and quantity of what’s on offer doesn’t change each season, there are worse ways to spend $10 on a game if you’re enjoying it. One question I have is how the special events will work. Overwatch has had a seasonal event every other month for a while now, and most of the skins attached from the first game are now locked for paid purchases in the store.

Graphics, controls and performance

Graphically, the game looks fantastic and offers modified versions of each character like an “Overwatch 2” skin along with a slick new UI that only took me a few hours to get used to. Three graphics configurations are offered and all of them have small problems. First up is the resolution, which targets a dynamic 4k resolution and 60 frames per second. Next up is the Balanced mode which targets 1440p resolution, 60 frames per second and a base setting higher than 4k. Finally, we have a performance that lowers the resolution even more and goes for 120 fps. Resolution mode was my choice for the footage used in this review, but it does lock up in the UI and drop frames noticeably at times during intense combat. 

The 120hz performance mode would be my normal choice, but it lowers the resolution to the point where it can be hard to make out things in the distance. I found the balanced 1440p setting works best overall for both visual clarity and rock-solid frame rate. I’m on a 1440p monitor, so resolution mode may work best for you, and if you have a halfway decent gaming PC, you can expect incredibly high frame rates at most resolutions. Although that makes me wish for better resolution performance and better resolution performance on console. I found the balanced 1440p setting works best overall for both visual clarity and rock-solid frame rate. I’m on a 1440p monitor, so resolution mode may work best for you, and if you have a halfway decent gaming PC, you can expect incredibly high frame rates at most resolutions. Although that makes me wish for better resolution performance and better resolution performance on console. 

I found the balanced 1440p setting works best overall for both visual clarity and rock-solid frame rate. I’m on a 1440p monitor, so resolution mode may work best for you, and if you have a halfway decent gaming PC, you can expect incredibly high frame rates at most resolutions. Although that makes me wish for better resolution performance and better resolution performance on console. you can expect incredibly high frame rates at most resolutions. Although that makes me wish for better resolution performance and better resolution performance on console. you can expect incredibly high frame rates at most resolutions. Although that makes me wish for better resolution performance and better resolution performance on console.

The controls for aiming feel tighter than the original release in my experience so far on a controller. Using an elite 2 is one of the best-feeling FPS games on the console. Thanks to the replay system after a death, it was obvious that some were using a XIM or other similar devices to use a mouse to aim in the console’s crossplay pool, which has been a scourge for a while now. You can choose to play against PC players if you want (and you should if you’re teaming up with one), but I wouldn’t recommend it as mouse aim is so much better than a controller that it will put you at a huge disadvantage.

The sound is better than ever with reworked sound effects for most if not all weapons and a bevy of new voice lines for each character. The story has moved on, and as a fan of the series who has read all of the comics and lore, it’s been great to hear all the new combinations of pre-game jokes. I did have a few UI bugs where certain actions would become unresponsive until I pressed A on the post-match experience screen, but that was all non-server related issues. Overall, after an incredibly frustrating launch period, the game has felt polished, well-balanced (though not perfectly), and chock full of new content to dive into.

In conclusion

Overwatch 2 is the rebirth of one of my favorite games of the last generation. With great new heroes, beautiful and well-balanced new maps, a new mode in Push that I’ve really enjoyed, and a progression system that feels about the same as most free-to-play titles, it’s an easy recommendation for new and seasoned players alike. they return equally. Throw in an upcoming PVE co-op mode next year and I can easily see myself putting another thousand or two thousand hours into this title for years to come.

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Reviewed in	Xbox Series X (main), PC
Available in	Xbox, Playstation, Switch, PC
Release date	October 4, 2022
Developer	Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher	Blizzard Entertainment
Sort out	T for teenager

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