In October, Overwatch, a title that hasn’t seen any significant changes since 2016, regained its position in the spotlight when it comes to competitive shooter games.

Blizzard Entertainment released Overwatch 2 on Oct. 4, bringing new life to a once prominent series, which has since been eclipsed by games like Valorant and Apex Legends.

Some have criticized the game for lacking content and innovation. In terms of content, Overwatch 1 and 2 are almost identical, having only one new playable character called Kiriko introduced. Some have joked that the 2 in the title should actually stand for “too little “ or “too little too long.”

The graphics are running on the same engine and only have three additional visual settings. The game runs just as smoothly as the first game but during its launch, I experienced a lot of frame hitches and frame drops due to certain particles added with Overwatch 2 not rendering properly.

The playable characters are having a lot of balance issues with making sure “tank classes” aren’t too strong and having to “nerf” a lot of the reworked characters that came with Overwatch 2. In addition to OW2’s release, it also introduced 13 new maps (36 total) and a new game mode called “push.” In the game mode push, you have to guide a robot along a designated track all while protecting it from the opposing team. Another change or addition was the removal of assault, an Overwatch (2016) exclusive mode now. The game has also removed skilled-based matchmaking in quickplay destabilizing the progression of their competitive game mode.

The release of Overwatch 2 has definitely reinvigorated its community and has gained a lot of traction, which is both good and bad. Overwatch came out in 2016 and is well-known among gaming communities. Plenty of new players are flooding in due to the game becoming free to play and widely available on almost any gaming device. On the other hand, its increased popularity and its lack of new and attention-retaining content could end up impacting a lot of the reviews coming from veteran players of the original game. This can cause the opinion or stereotype of the community to become negative very quickly, Therefore it can decrease active player count and monetization.

In the first installation of Overwatch, I stopped playing due to constant issues with their competitive game mode and interest in other titles at the time such as PUBG and Legend Of Zelda BOTW.

In conclusion, Overwatch is currently in its second infancy and its future can change for the worse or better. With new content being promised and a new character being shown by developers (Ramattra) Overwatch still has a lot of spark in it and isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Recently Overwatch 2 had a Halloween update installed and it hauled in some character cosmetics and temporary edits to the maps and main menu screen. Player attendance is still growing and is peaking at numbers close to that of its predecessor Overwatch.

Is it because it’s a better installation? Because it’s free to play? Overhyped?
Only time will tell with such a new title and it’s nostalgic yet disappointing to play Overwatch 2. I hope to see more from the developers soon.