No, we did not want to write a review with a rating of Overwatch 2: we explain the reasons at the beginning, but we still decided to talk to you about the new Free-to-Play iteration of the Activision Blizzard franchise
And here we are, finally. In the panorama of the “Hero Shooter” of the past few years, one of the most important signatures has always been Activision Blizzard with Overwatch. Then, with the passage of time, the attention has gradually shifted to other shores, such as the highly played Valorant. Overwatch 2’s announcement was initially taken with great enthusiasm by the lovers of the first chapterwhich, however, has gradually been extinguished both because of the great scandals that hit the company, and also because of a troubled development, which also saw a change of Executive Producer when it was not really in the early stages of creation.
A future worth fighting for…?
Let’s start with a premise: this will not be a real Overwatch 2 review. We have decided to tell you about it, considering the importance of the title and its iconicity, but at the bottom of this article you will not find any votes (a bit like we done, at the time, with Genshin Impact). There are two reasons, of which the first is very intuitive: the Game as a Service nature of the game. We admit that we were visibly disappointed by the lack of added content compared to the first chapter, but we don’t feel like destroying the game from this point of view: it’s free-to-play, and we’re still at the beginning.
If we talk about this in more detail in the course of this article, the second reason why you will not find the vote at the end of this “Non-Review” of Overwatch 2, instead, we prefer not to discuss too much. The technical and server problems at launch have still not been completely resolved at the time of writing. And while it is true that there are no more queues of thousands and thousands of people just to enter the game, still we often find ourselves kicked out of a game for reasons unknown to us. And still persists on the Xbox console (platform on which we played and are still playing Overwatch 2) the bug whereby once an achievement is obtained, the account is immediately disconnected. We close it here, which is perhaps better.
From P2P to F2P | Non-Recensione Overwatch 2
Overwatch 2 has completely changed the formula of the first chapter in several ways. In fact, if the first chapter of Blizzard’s Hero Shooter was presented as a Pay-to-Play with the presence of microtransactions and loot boxes, which gave aesthetic objects, emotes and new skins for the characters, Overwatch 2 changes direction and becomes Free -To-Play, embracing the formula of Season Passes that are so fashionable lately.
Season Pass which is, undoubtedly, the main engine of the game, for a single reason: if you don’t spend those much coveted ten euros, the number of rewards you will get by playing therefore completely free is practically nil. And in that sense, it pains us to admit it, but Overwatch’s speakers were definitely more interesting, as they allowed heavily grinding players to get a large number of accessories and aesthetic jokes.
Another small premise before moving on to what actually exists in Overwatch 2: the campaign is missing. Certainly one of the most interesting aspects and one that attracted the attention of the general public was in fact the announcement of this PvE component which to date, however, is still hiding. We hope to receive some new information soon.
Situation Critical | Non-Recensione Overwatch 2
In short, so far only problems, but is this Overwatch 2 really so wrong? Absolutely no. The formula that has always characterized the series, its charisma and game frenzy are still present and damn fun. Indeed, from the point of view of the speed of the games, everything was even more amplified by the transition to 5v5, which reduced the units in the field, removing a Tank. A choice that will surely surprise veteran players initially, but which we assure you will gladly accept after just a few initial starting games.
If from a certain point of view the games are much faster and more frenetic, on the other hand Overwatch 2 has not lost the tactical sense that has always permeated the first chapter, on the contrary. With one less unit, mostly a Tank, the importance of working as a team it has risen to heights unimaginable before. You need strategy, you need dynamism and you need a long eye to play Overwatch 2. Above all, however, you need good team coordination: you can be as good as you want, but if you don’t have good companions to support you it will all be useless.
This new mentality, however, will certainly discourage newcomers to the game, especially when it comes to the Competitive mode. To have complicated everything they also came the new maps, decidedly more architecturally complex even in verticality, as well as for the presence of many ravines and hiding places that increase the situation of Overwatch 2 even more. In short: if you turn badly, you will find yourself more dead than alive in 5 minutes of a total game. To make some situations easier is certainly the new enemy Ping system, which will allow you to indicate them to your companions with the single press of a button (both on PC and on console) assigned.
Old Soldier | Overwatch 2 Non-Review
The game modes are roughly the same, except for the Push mode, in which you have to push a robot from one side of the map to the other for a greater distance than the opponents. The same are also the Heroes, except for the addition of three new characters. The first is Sojourn, a really interesting and excellent DPS for novices, which will allow you to practice shooting Overwatch 2 with little initial difficulty (perhaps even better than Soldier 76?). Interesting too It’s therethe healer of the case, which however can be unlocked by non-owners of the Battle Pass only after reaching level 55 (and then after a lot of grinding). Perhaps the least interesting (but also the one we have played the least, we admit) is Queen of the Junkerthe latest addition to the Tank ranks.
In addition to the three additions among the Heroes of Overwatch 2, Blizzard has also seen fit to revise and touch up three of the old guard. In particular, Doomfist went from being a DPS to the Tank ranks, Idol has almost completely changed skills to become a little more versatile on the movement front, as well as Bastion, which has become decidedly more mobile, but equally fragile from our point of view. No visible change rework for the other Heroes, apart from the new ones completely redesigned models for the release of Overwatch 2which denotes how Blizzard has kept us to understand that we are in front of the sequel … but is it really like that?
Overwatch 1.1 | Non-Recensione Overwatch 2
However you look at it, we fail to consider Overwatch 2 a real … second chapter. In the dozens and dozens of hours we’ve spent on it over the past week, the feeling has always been that of finding ourselves in front of Overwatch after a nice and deep patch. A 2016 title, therefore, even if revised and corrected from some points of view. The news are too few and too little incisive, the modalities are always the same (and even at their release they were not so original and crazy), the heroes as well and the new arrivals are not enough to interest so much.
The same goes for the Free-to-Play formula, which for now hasn’t convinced us in the least due to a Too invasive Premium Battle Pass, almost enough to make us regret the Loot Boxes of the first chapter. All those who want to play completely free will find themselves faced with a scarcity of epochal content, which we hope will be rebalanced over time. We also await news on the Campaign, considering that it is one of the points that most interested us in the presentation of Overwatch 2, as the lore and the game world set up by Activision Blizzard seems to have a lot to say.
We are Overwatch!
In short: this is it. The reasons why we don’t feel like writing an Overwatch 2 rated review to date are pretty much all here. We’ve certainly forgotten something, but we reserve the right to come back to give you some more insight when there is actually something to say. For now, in our opinion, Overwatch 2 has no right to come forward with that new logo and the presumption of calling itself a sequel: it still has a long way to go. In the meantime, let’s start a new game. There are no healers, as always.
Overwatch 2 is currently available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S and Nintendo Switch. Let us know what you think below in the comments, we will continue to keep you updated with all the news, guides and reviews on videogame and tech! And if you are interested in game keys at affordable prices, we recommend that you take a look at the InstantGaming catalog!