By Jack Grimme, Contributing Writer
Unfortunately, this review is being written quite a bit later than I had originally intended. That is for two reasons. One, as most people in the gaming world know, Overwatch 2’s release was incredibly rocky. Several distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks made the game literally unplayable for the first several days of launch. People would load up the game and be met with seemingly endless queues and loading screens. And the lucky few who were invited into a lobby were often booted before their first match even concluded. Attempting to play the game felt like a chore that deterred me from hopping on for the launch weekend. The second delay for this review came when I was finally able to put some hours into Blizzard’s newest first-person shooter (FPS). I realized that there were so many surrounding factors that were going to make this a surprisingly challenging review to compose. But now that I have put some time in and have some words to say, I’m going to do my best and give it the old college try.
I always prefer to start with the positives in my reviews. Unfortunately, the primary positive of this game is also its biggest flaw. As a fan of the previous title, I believe Overwatch 2 is a good game. However, there are many questions that I like to consider when determining a final score. Does it add something to the genre or the medium? Does it ambitiously build on the previous titles in the franchise? Does it need to exist? Despite the fact that I have almost exclusively enjoyed my time on the new title, excluding the queue purgatory, I don’t think I can answer any of the aforementioned questions with a definitive yes. If I worked at Blizzard, I would feel embarrassed calling Overwatch 2 a standalone game. It is little more than measly downloadable content. The original release had 21 playable characters and introduced 11 more throughout its life cycle. Overwatch 2 hit steam with three new heroes. It feels like they took out more game modes than they added. And I personally have only had the pleasure of playing one new map. I struggle to see why it wasn’t just a big update. Especially since, for people who already had the original game, it literally was just an update. I will admit there are many gameplay changes that are quite noticeable. Several characters were completely reworked. Some of these changes worked for me, some don’t. However, it still doesn’t justify shoehorning a 2 into the title because the studio updated characters and their abilities all the time!
There is one more huge change that will have a significant impact on the perception of the game. Blizzard decided to shift to a free-to-play model. They made the game available for free on launch day on every platform you can think of. Obviously, there is a catch: everyone’s favorite model, the infamous battle pass. As someone who paid retail price for the original game, I do not mind that they are selling the game for free. In fact, I have been able to use this as a selling point to get more of my friends to team up with me. However, I feel like trading the loot box system for the battle pass takes some fun out of the game. Don’t get me wrong, I know loot boxes are just as, if not more, controversial than battle passes. However, I tend to let it slide when its only for cosmetics and the skins, taunts, and sprays are cool and creative. I genuinely loved earning a loot box after a hard-fought match, and begging to be blessed with an epic skin for my favorite hero. I have no intention of spending money on the battle pass. I understand why they did it. And I am sure they are going to be incredibly happy with the new player base that can access the title thanks to the price tag.
The main idea of this review is, if you like Overwatch you will probably like Overwatch 2. Not because you will see the same level of innovation that shocked the gaming scene in 2016, but simply because they are the same exact game. And if you have never played Overwatch before, this is a great time to give it a whirl because it is free. However, I feel like that doesn’t accurately sum up my feelings for this game. They had an immense amount of potential. These developers know how to make a good game. They may not always make the right decisions; I firmly believe Overwatch will be remembered as one of the most influential FPS games of its time. I just wish they went into this game with the same intention of making something truly memorable.
Score: 7/10
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