Overwatch 2 Reviews
Overwatch 2’s switch to a 5v5 format breathes new life into what was once the sharpest shooter around. It just hasn’t quite recaptured all of that glory – yet.
Overwatch 2's core gameplay is an absolute blast, but it mostly consists of content that already existed with annoying progression added to the mix.
An aimless-feeling revamp of 2016's best multiplayer game, slightly coarsened by free-to-play grinding.
Overwatch 2 revitalizes the stagnant hero shooter, but misunderstands what made it great.
Overwatch 2 shines and pops with updated graphics and gorgeous new maps, but its deviation from the source material is impossible to ignore.
Overwatch 2 doesn’t flip the formula the way you might expect a long-awaited, numbered sequel would. But through various clever tweaks, it’s a well-rounded evolution of the experience into which I’ve poured more than a thousand hours since 2016. I may never recreate the magic of those first few years in Overwatch, but Overwatch 2 is a big step towards restoring the faith in the franchise and has me thinking it’s time to pour a few more hundred hours into my favorite team-based shooter.
Enjoying Overwatch 2 is an exercise in cautious optimism — not just in the future direction of its ever-changing lore and world, but in the idea that years of new content will ultimately deliver on the promise of a full sequel.
Overwatch 2 improves upon the core gameplay and characters fans love, but loses some of its predecessor's spirit in the process.
All of these twists and turns in Blizzard’s messaging have no doubt made things harder on the folks making Overwatch 2 as they deal with strife within Activision Blizzard in the midst of its harassment lawsuits, turnover at Blizzard on both a managerial and rank-and-file level, and forcing a once work-from-home staff to move back into the office after establishing their lives elsewhere. I feel for the team because, underneath all the poor planning, there is clearly a lot of talent and love for these characters desperately crawling out of the hole poor business decisions have put them in. I just hope that something, anything comes along that feels like it captures that passion, because I can feel my own dwindling every day Overwatch 2 doesn’t live up to its promise.
But the missions aren’t that long, especially if you’re playing on an easier mode, and their replayability is questionable. Though, its value is subjective—maybe you don’t want to spend $15 when you’ve already spent on skins or previous battle passes, or maybe you’ll buy this set of story missions and decide, whenever the next ones are released, to pass, or maybe you’ll love the missions and want to challenge yourself ot beat them over and over again on increasingly harder difficulties. It’ll be interesting to see how players react to this new PvE content.
A host of important changes will shake up the meta as Blizzard's hero shooter goes free to play, but it all reeks of desperation to stay relevant, and it might not be enough for many players.
Overwatch 2 still has the same enjoyable gameplay loop and incredible character design from Blizzard’s original hero shooter. But this free-to-play update is iterative, rather than groundbreaking.
Overwatch 2 is a lot of things, but a proper sequel to the original Overwatch is not one of them. Although a few new maps and heroes are welcome, and the gameplay itself remains just as enjoyably intense as it always was, there is nothing here that feels innovative or notable enough to justify that '2' in the title. At this stage, Overwatch 2 feels more like a few updates Blizzard could have pushed to the original release. Couple this with the heightened focus on monetization and the absence at launch of the promised co-op story content, and you're left with an experience that feels like it falls short of the potential it had. As a live service free-to-play game, perhaps time will eventually see this new release grow in fresh and unexpected ways to eventually prove itself a worthy sequel, but the game we have at launch feels just 'fine'. At any rate, it costs you nothing but time to try, and it is just about as fun in a match as it always has been. As long as you're not too bothered by what it could have been, we'd recommend giving Overwatch 2 a shot.
Overwatch 2 plays brilliantly. It's a wonderful shooter full of depth, with unique heroes to master, maps to learn, and hours of your life to lose all over again.
At launch, Overwatch 2 is a launchpad for something much, much grander. It’s rough around the edges, but the controlled chaos of the actual gameplay is right up my alley. Given the live service nature of the game, it’s something I’ll likely re-review every so often. Still, Overwatch 2 is in pretty great shape overall.
Overwatch 2 looks better both in terms of graphics and gameplay, but the large amount of gameplay required for unlockable items is entirely unsuitable for the game we fell in love with.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Ultimately, Overwatch 2 feels less like a sequel and more like a refresh, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The new Heroes are neat, as are the refreshed looks of previous Heroes. The new Push mode and other new maps are fun as well. That said, the game pretty much plays the same. If you loved Overwatch, there’s really no reason why you won’t enjoy continuing this journey. If you weren’t a fan, this isn’t going to change your mind. That said, if the first batch of heroes, modes, and maps were any indication, it at least looks like Overwatch 2’s new free-to-play seasonal content rotation is going to keep things interesting for a long time to come.
A breath of fresh air for the Overwatch franchise, with the new game modes, characters, and mechanics all working together superbly well, for a genuinely exciting sequel.
Overwatch 2's enhancements feel great and perfect gameplay in many ways. The free to play format will keep you afloat and will reveal to many a fantastic hero shooter with an impressive charisma, but it is not a sequel. What we saw here should have come sooner and may well be insufficient for some fans.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
I am very pleased with the core gameplay changes and where the game is headed. Game development is a group effort, and although Kaplan is deeply missed, I see these changes as evidence that Team 4 is still capable of magic, and eager to prove it.