There were times when my entire gaming schedule was devoted to Overwatch 6v6 team shootouts. Despite its critics, Overwatch has been an iconic game universally recognized as a ground-breaking innovation in the genre, setting new benchmarks for visual design and gameplay that are still in place today. It has taken much too long to get the long-overdue improvement to Overwatch's PvP that has been promised. Blizzard was working with much effort on Overwatch 2, the sequel to their popular shooter.

With the addition of Battle Pass, the game will become a free-to-play experience with new characters, maps, and modes, as well as redesigning certain current characters and reducing the team size to 5. Although the primary gameplay in Overwatch 2 is enjoyable, most of the game is made up of recycled elements with some monotonous advancement sprinkled in. Many improvements have been added to Blizzard's shooter, although it lacks the Story mode or cooperative play. And now, we have Overwatch 2, a rework of such epic proportions that Blizzard is finally labeling it a sequel.

As the game shifts to a free-to-play model, including elements like a battle pass and seasonal upgrades, it must rework its core systems. Overwatch enters a new chapter by introducing the game's five-vs-five multiplayer mode, which also features significant revisions to the roster of playable heroes. The change from 6v6 to 5v5 is something that we have been aware of for a considerable amount of time now, and it was something that could have been implemented at any point during the game that came before.

Initially, it does not seem like a new game despite the addition of the new Push mode, several maps, and three heroes are similar to the content drops that we used to receive often in the previous game. Instead, it feels like a significant upgrade that was postponed for years as the original game struggled. It seems like the new ping mechanism should have been in place a lot sooner. Blizzard clearly intended to produce a sequel since they withheld material from the original.

Intuitively, this seems to be a bad idea until you start playing. When you consider the fairness of having two heroes for each function and the synergies that are born of that framework, missing one player and hero almost seems like a nightmare. But in reality, Overwatch 2 is a far more organized, less frantic, and significantly more exciting game than its original since teams now consist of a tank, two damage and support heroes each. Compared to the previous game, the new 5v5 format seems to favor tanks.

It was frustrating to fail so many times at killing the tanks in pre-release because of how well they protected themselves. You haven't seen anything yet, but a Roadhog in Overwatch 2 with a pocket Mercy and another support who understands what they're doing will be a difficult opponent for even the most skilled players. Orisa and Junker Queen are similarly impossible to put down since there is only one tank in the group, while they are more resilient and able to take more damage. The burden falls more heavily on the person in your team assigned as the tank, but if they get the hang of the new tanking method, they may become an unstoppable force.

Three new Tank, Damage, and Support characters join the original roster in Overwatch 2. Tanks have undergone the most severe changes after switching to 5v5. Several characters' movesets have been changed. Orisa has replaced her shield with a javelin, which she may use to trap down opponents, harm close-range attackers, and deflect missiles and melee strikes. Even though Reinhardt's shield health has been reduced from 1600 to 1200, he now has access to not one but two Fire Strikes. Doomfist isn't as good a juggler without his uppercut, but his Rocket Punch can throw him anywhere, and his block shields him from direct damage.

Support characters haven't received any moveset changes; therefore, most adjustments are greater healing output or increased self-healing. Zenyatta's orbs are much faster than in Overwatch. Generally speaking, Support heroes don't inspire the same level of enthusiasm. While they have better durability, removing several abilities to slow down flanking attackers means a Support must have an evacuation route accessible at all times. There is less and less chance that your teammates will come to your rescue in a sticky circumstance.

Damage heroes have the most extensive array of characters on the roster. The amount of damage dealt and the amount of health retained seem to have remained generally similar; however, several of their movesets have been modified. Sombra has received both a nerf and buff, and her SMG now does damage considerably faster. At the same time, hacking prohibits opposing heroes from utilizing their abilities for no more than two seconds. Mei's ability to freeze enemies has been replaced with the ability to slow them down instead, while Cassidy's flash has been replaced with a sticky grenade.

Now Bastion is our most game-changing addition, and I'm sure those people will be stepping on their toes knowing that their primary is back. Bastion can now roam about in tank shape and can throw grenades at his enemies. You can now fire a mortar attack at any location on the battlefield, regardless of whether or not you are behind cover. This makes Bastion's ultimate the most challenging ability to play against.

Sojourn, Junker Queen, and Kiriko are the three new characters that do not lack the complexity of new Overwatch characters. Each of these individuals has interactions that vary from the unusual and amusing to the deadly. Sojourn has a reasonably fast dynamic slide, two types of fire, and a tactical ability, and designed to be simple for beginners to pick up and use. On the other side, unlike the tanks we're used to, Junker Queen isn't meant to serve as a training dummy; thus she's a whole different tank altogether. She grants temporary benefits to nearby teammates, such as health and speed boosts, allowing them to launch coordinated and faster attacks.

The same goes for trick shooting or single shots mode, which is similar to the action in Roadhog, but the usefulness depends on the squad and the player's competence. Kiriko can be considered the highest-capped support character ever seen in the game. She can be a very powerful and dangerous character in the proper hands, featuring one of the most outrageous crowd-training ultimates or final assaults I've seen in the game so far.

While the new 5v5 format seems to have had more of an impact on Tanks, the Damage and Support heroes seem to have been modified far less. Heroes in the Support role can now passively heal their friends, while heroes in the Damage role have received an increase in movement speed. While none of these changes is as dramatic as Tanks' progression, they both have noticeable effects on the gameplay. Movement and maneuverability, for instance, have always been crucial in Overwatch, but they are absolutely essential in Overwatch 2. For example, Sojourn exemplifies the ease with which Damage characters can move about the map to perform flanks, drop back, or dives. Although this increased speed might alter how the game is played, most of the previous Damage heroes' kits still function well. Team battles take up much more time and attention in Overwatch 2, while damage dealers are encouraged to outflank and outmaneuver their opponents.

However, limitations apply to first-time gamers who have never bought or played Overwatch. Account levels have also been removed, so before, you needed to be at least Level 25 to participate in ranked games; now, everyone can. To compete in Ranked Matches, players must first win 50 Quick Matches. Playing the game will be required to unlock certain characters, features, and game types. This is in place to assist novice players in feeling less overwhelmed by the vast range of characters and game types available.

Completing matches and racking up victories both speed up the process of unlocking heroes for Overwatch's roster. Heroes will become available for use once a certain number of rounds have been played successfully. Those interested in giving Blizzard's first-person shooter a go will find it annoying that they won't have access to all of the unique characters that Overwatch 2 has to offer. Players may, however, invest real money to swiftly level up via the Battle Pass and fast access all it has to offer, much like in the vast majority of free-to-play games.

Those who didn't start playing the original Overwatch until after October 4 will have a much longer road ahead to unlock all available heroes. According to Blizzard, the whole roster may only be accessed until a total of one hundred matches have been played. This makes sense, considering a victory is worth two games, and you gain experience and levels as you play. Given that there are 32 heroes to unlock, this equates to around one new character being unlocked every three matches on average. As someone who has played Overwatch before and is now moving on to Overwatch 2, the change is immediately noticeable. Player levels and player frames, which display your level and your position in the competitive hierarchy, have been replaced by player cards and titles that may be customized.

The issue of microtransactions is still not being adequately addressed. Obviously, this is one aspect of modern video games that we despise. Overwatch 2 is, to put it bluntly, rife with in-game purchases. When you first start playing Overwatch, you won't have access to as many of the game's cosmetic items until you either pay real money or accomplish a certain number of weekly tasks. However, completing these weekly tasks would get you no more than 60 Overwatch money. Although the prizes don't always equal the effort necessary to get them, you only receive half a Battle Pass tier for winning 100 Competitive Play matches.

Blizzard was forced to improve the loot box system in Overwatch 2 due to player backlash and outright bans in certain countries. It was a wrong decision to make new heroes exclusive to the Battle Pass, mainly when the Battle Pass itself is grindy. Given that they primarily included cosmetic items and many high-quality skins available in-game for free, Overwatch's loot boxes were perhaps the lamest of their kind. Overwatch 2's effort to eliminate predatory loot boxes ended in disaster, making the game's monetization even less player-friendly.

Thankfully, if you like the visual and audio design of the first Overwatch, you should feel right at home in the sequel. The 3D animation is Pixar-esque, and the rich colors and contrast between light and dark make each figure stand out. The visual design keeps you interested even when the gameplay rounds become tedious. A few of the game's characters stand out from the others because of the vibrant color scheme. Although Tracer's bright yellow color helps her stand out, even heroes with sniper rifles cannot remain undetected for long. This compels you to completely immerse yourself in the gameplay. Listening to gunshots and footsteps might assist you to avoid taking harm; thus, the design of the sound is also crucial. The absence of radar means you must rely on these noises to pinpoint your opponents' location. As the battle nears its conclusion, the synthetic notes in the music build to a crescendo, psyching you up for the climax.

Putting its appearance beside, Overwatch 2 isn't just a walk in the park. The new mode, Push, does not seem all that exciting. In the beginning, the excitement of a new mode keeps you going, but after a short while, it deteriorates into an uninteresting mode that makes you feel helpless whenever you're losing. Once you start falling behind in Push, it seems as if there is no way you will ever be able to catch up, in contrast to Escort modes, in which it always feels as though you may pull a victory out of the fire.

It's a very imbalanced mode that doesn't exactly operate as it is now because of how it's been designed. In contrast to the improved adjustments that bring forth a sense of more order and streamlining in Overwatch 2, Push is much more frantic. Assault was a far better game mode, and its replacement, Push, seems like a letdown. We can only hope that Push will improve in the future; nevertheless, it is not exactly a mustard cutter at the moment.

Finally, the sequel to 2016's Overwatch, titled simply Overwatch 2, is entertaining to play through but does not provide any game-changing mechanics. The online hero shooter offered by Blizzard is, for the time being at least, only available as a PvP online game in which you and a team of heroes compete against other player-controlled teams. However, the absence of a PvE option stands out and undermines Blizzard's work in creating its heroes. The addition of several new game elements that have the potential to separate players into distinct classes is yet another significant risk that Overwatch 2 must navigate.

The first user interface shields novice players from the impression of being overwhelmed, but simultaneously, it limits the heroes and game types available to them initially. Similarly, the new battle pass and SMS protection may be too much for casual players to handle, which goes against the game's otherwise approachable free-to-play model. However, the foundation that made Overwatch so unique is in Overwatch 2, a game so full of character, variety, and charm that its rivals can't hold a candle to it. Overwatch 2 is a game that, with some careful tweaks from Blizzard, has the potential to carry on its epic legacy for generations to follow.
 

Azfar Rayan (@AzfarRayan)
Editor, NoobFeed