Early Access Review: Overwatch 2

destructoid.com:

At launch, Overwatch was a powerhouse. It was the first new real IP from Blizzard in a long time, and from beta through the first few years, it was widely beloved by many, and even lead to a burgeoning (though late) eSports scene. But then the troubles started.

Overwatch became staler as the team re-used the same events, and slowed with new hero releases. Critical team members left, and Blizzard was turned upside-down by some egregious activities at the company. Many games at Blizzard, Overwatch included, haven’t recovered from everything that happened.

Can Overwatch 2 bring the series back into the forefront? Well, it depends on a few things.

Overwatch 2 (PC [reviewed], PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X)Developer: BlizzardPublisher: BlizzardReleased: October 4, 2022MSRP: Free-to-play (with microtransactions/season pass)

So what’s different? Here are the biggest changes for Overwatch 2:

Thankfully, all of my prior stuff from Overwatch transferred in, even in the pre-release period. All the old cast members now have an additional “Overwatch 2” skin, which was unlocked by default. Although the rollout and complete wipe of the original game isn’t ideal for a number of reasons, at least this part is being done right: and the same goes for cross-progression going into Overwatch 2.

When launching into a game though, I found myself still getting used to the 5v5 format, as well as some new adjustments. A launch patch will be altering several aspects of the game, including a movement/reload buff for damage role players after they get a kill, and all heroes will refund up to 30% ultimate power on hero swap.

I’m sure some folks are going to butt up against it, but to me, most of the alterations felt natural. Many of the