It's been six years since the original Overwatch was released - a bolt from the blue that basically tore up what we knew about multiplayer shooters, with unique characters to choose from and endless synergy to work out. Now, the sequel is here.

In some ways, it's surprising that it took so long for a follow-up to arrive. Owing to development issues at Blizzard, as well, Overwatch 2 has been sliced into portions that will release over time.

Still, its free-to-play PvP portion is out now, and we've sunk a fair few hours into it already. Find out how it fares, below.

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Overwatch 2

Overwatch 2 is an odd package to assess. It still has moments of the highest quality to offer up, but it also feels more like a really big patch for the first game than an all-new title. Its character reworks are interesting but not game changing, while shrinking the team size hasn't been a simple win. It might not be the silver bullet Blizzard would have hoped for, but time will tell.

Pros
  • Still looks crisp and great
  • Interesting character designs
  • Moments of bliss
Cons
  • Fundamentally doesn't feel new
  • Long queue times
  • More punishing than before

Tightening things up

Overwatch 2 can, at times, feel a bit like something Blizzard thought it had to make at a certain point. This is not a revolutionary sequel that rips up the playbook, but more of a careful revision with a couple of major changes.

In all honesty, the sum of Overwatch 2's changes feels like the sort of thing you'd normally read in the seasonal patch notes for something like Destiny 2 or COD: Warzone - or as part of a paid expansion - rather than a new title entirely.

The headline change is that the game has gone from 6v6 in its standard modes to 5v5, shaving away one of its slots for a Tank character (slower-moving, high-health damage sponges). It's a curious change, and, while there are long stretches when it doesn't feel too seismic, its impact is starting to be felt.

For one thing, queuing into a role other than Support now means waits of sometimes 15 minutes for a game, with more people than ever fighting over the arguably more interesting (or at least more action-packed) Damage and Tank roles.

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Activision Blizzard

When you do play as either Damage or Support, you may also notice that Overwatch 2 feels less forgiving than the first game. You can be obliterated more quickly than ever if you get mobbed, and losing a second tank to distract enemies might well be playing a part in this.

The lack of a backup tank also means that if yours does get wiped, getting steamrolled into a team kill can feel more likely than ever, unless your team has the good sense to fall back a little to regroup. That's a problem that any team shooter has to manage, and it's finely balanced in Overwatch, teetering occasionally into frustration.

It's an interesting problem that feels like it's of Overwatch 2's own making, and while new maps and a few new heros are nice to try out, they're far from game-changing. Kiriko, Sojourn and Junker Queen are all welcome additions to the roster, but again hardly justify the "2" in the title.

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Every character from the last game has also been reworked to some degree, but these rarely feel like a massive shift in tactical focus. In fact, in a few cases they feel like they've been nerfed simply because it was easier than balancing the whole cast to be equally powerful, which is a slightly annoying approach.

If that sounds negative, it must all come with a major caveat: with an organised team on your side, Overwatch 2 can still very much serve up matches of the highest order of fun.

Vying for a control point in waves of respawns, plotting traps and moves with your team's powers, and saving your skins at the last second are all possible and indeed come about pretty often if you've got solid team chemistry.

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Activision Blizzard

When these games happen, they're amazing, and a reminder of the potent formula Overwatch initially offered up, one that was revolutionary when it first arrived on the scene. They just don't feel all that distinct from the game we loved in 2016.

A fresh coat of paint

This sentiment also extends to the game's visuals. While they are sprightly and crisp, and on a PS5 or Xbox Series X represent a step up from Overwatch as it exists today, the difference isn't a massive one. Again, this is all incremental stuff.

On the positive side, you get the same lovely, clean environments, distinctive in their colour palettes and with carefully-chosen details littered around to pick up on. It also means the character models are as carefully created as ever, too.

Each playable character has its own look and feel, with vibrant expressions and voice lines to go with them - something that also isn't new but still stands out as among the most memorable work in any team shooter.

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Activision Blizzard

Part of this sense of déjà vu isn't Blizzard's fault, to reiterate. In multiplayer environments, where performance and responsiveness are key, and the visual language should all be in service of players being able to read what's going on and what they can do about it, graphical whizzbangs are hard to justify.

Then again, though, it's worth remembering that Blizzard could have made this an Overwatch update delivered in patches over the last couple of years, and instead has turned it into a sequel. So, sadly, the visual changes don't feel like they do enough.

A new model

Of course, Overwatch 2 is now also free to play, and that means a brand new monetisation model involving battle passes with free and premium tracks full of skins and other cosmetics for you to unlock.

Controversially, once the system is in full swing each new hero that arrives will be locked behind tier 55 of a battle pass, and with a pretty slow grinding speed we'd say that feels like a harsh bar to set for casual players.

If you don't want to pay for any heroes down the line, you'll have to be prepared to play a good chunk of Overwatch 2 moving forward, a commitment that other games typically don't match. If a new gun is added to Warzone, for example, it's never higher up than about rank 30 on the battle pass.

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The pricing of in-store items, and the ease of unlocking currency through challenges and other rewards, all make Overwatch 2 feel more cynical than we'd have liked - it's still in many ways a great free-to-play option, but not one that you feel very rewarded for playing.

The likes of Fortnite are much closer to a system that feels like you're getting rewarded for nothing at a certain point, which is welcome, even if that too is just another form of manipulation.

In short, we're not thrilled by how it feels to play Overwatch 2 in terms of the game's economy, but that will also be something that likely gets fine-tuned in the next year or two.

Verdict

Overwatch 2 is complicated to judge. Currently, it's a great game in most of the ways that count, with fun team compositions to explore and a range of characters that you'll be able to learn about. The issue is that everything good about it feels pretty unchanged from the first Overwatch.

Shrinking the team size could be a non-issue if there are some tweaks to the queueing system, as well as further buffs and nerfs to keep balance, but there's still an absence of really fresh mechanics or improvements. And, while learning a new character like Sojourn is fun, it's not enough to make Overwatch 2 really feel like a whole new game.

With a PvE mode still in the pipeline, it's far from a terrible outlook for Blizzard's team shooter, but whether it can justify its status as a sequel is up in the air - even now it's out.