How do you make an experience feel fresh and brand-new after six years? This was the challenge that video game developer Blizzard faced. Overwatch 1 was considered one of the best first person shooter videogames of 2016, winning the Game of the Year award that year and was available on Xbox, Playstation, and PC. It would later come to Nintendo Switch in October of 2019. With the recent release of Overwatch 2, it would only serve justice to review it.

One of the biggest selling points of the sequel is that it is completely free to start playing the game, unlike the original. Overwatch 2 is a team shooter game that is all about teamwork. Players must communicate with each other and play off their strengths and weaknesses to win matches. The gameplay consists of four game modes. One of these modes is Control, where your team must control a point against an enemy team. Two others include Escort, where you will escort a vehicle to its destination, and Hybrid, a combination of both Control and Escort into one where you must capture a point and then escort an objective. Finally the newly added mode Push, where both teams must fight over a robot and push a barricade to certain destinations. Several communities have taken a very big liking to Overwatch as a whole with the also famous custom game feature where you can make your own game modes. 

Blizzard, an American video game developer and publisher added three new heroes into the game: Sojourn, Junker Queen, and Kiriko-all positively received by the player base. There have also been some reworks to existing characters such as Bastion and Sombra. Doomfist, a favored character, has been entirely reworked, being more tanky and strong.

Blizzard also added 6 new locations based on real world landmarks like Brazil, Toronto, and New York City. Gameplay has also been streamlined, making it a simpler but much more enjoyable experience. By far the biggest change that Overwatch has had is downsizing each game to five versus five, instead of six versus six. Games are formatted now with one player in the tank role, two in the support role, and two players in the damage class heroes; almost all skepticism about the restructuring of teams have been turned into praise. However, not all changes to the game received a positive response: most notably, the monetization system has been heavily criticized for being just outright greedy. Blizzard no longer follows its popular “loot box” system in which you receive in game items with a completely random chance. Now you can only get cosmetics through paying real world money.

A load of new content has been teased to be releasing December 6th. Players can look forward to the PvE, Player vs Entity, campaign mode that will bring more story to the Overwatch world and flesh out the characters even more so. It is planned to be released next year. 

I find Overwatch 2 to be a very enjoyable experience. I recommend gamers give it a try if they are into fast-paced games with a large amount of character diversity. Overall, I would give this game an 8/10, and for what it’s worth I can confidently say that this is the best free-to-play game right now.