Overwatch 2 Has Been Disappointing | Opinion
The first game was entertaining, but as the years went by, the game became stale and predictable. Blizzard over-hyped us with the sequel, however, the game feels more of the same.
Overwatch came out in 2016, and a lot of people received it positively. The game was a breath of fresh air despite being yet another FPS. The visual esthetics, and hectic gameplay were the reason many people got hooked up with the game.
We are talking about a $60 game at the time of its release. During that period (2016-onwards), games started to heavily rely on seasonal content. Multiplayer games were fighting for a huge percentage of the gamer base which was entertained on Fortnite.
Fortnite made seasonal passes popular, or mainstream. The game is free-to-play, so titles like Overwatch, Call of Duty, and other $60 shooters had to be wary of implementing such controversial mechanics.
Years passed, and Overwatch became one of the staple names in fast-paced FPS games. Despite the $60 barrier, a lot of people played the game. To give you an idea, there were around sixteen million monthly players on Overwatch by the time the sequel came out.
Blizzard changed Overwatch to a Free-to-Play model
One of the main 'selling' points of Overwatch 2 was the fact that Blizzard was going to make it 'free-to-play'. They realized along the way that season-passes, and loot mechanics were the only way to keep players hooked up.
Gamers are quite vocal when it comes to their wallets. A game can get obliterated if the publishers get too greedy with loot-mechanics and pay-to-win elements. Charging $60 for Overwatch 2 was simply going to kill the game before its release.
The sequel was announced on Blizzcon 2019, and it promised to be the next big thing. New heroes, new maps, new game modes, and a brand-new story mode were the main 'selling' points for Overwatch 2. On top of that, Blizzard said that the game was going to be free.
The announcement was positively received, however, a considerable number of the player based questioned if a sequel was necessary. Doubts started creeping in, and many were pointing out negative things like dividing the player base, unbalancing an already polished game, and many other things that are inherent in new releases.
It's supposed to feel next-gen
The game came out with a lot of issues. Players had to queue in long lines to get access to the servers. The heroes felt unbalanced, and the new game modes were nothing to write home about.
Many players felt that Blizzard was catering to the pro players and that the game started to feel overly complicated.
Overwatch 2 felt like a content update for the original game, rather than a whole different thing. The only reason not to bash the game was that it was free-to-play. Oh, and you could also carry over your hard-earned loot to the sequel. Remember that all your loot from Modern Warfare does not carry over to the sequel. Activision is still charging 2100 COD Points or $19.99 for some of it.
The PlayStation 5 and Xbox One X already had a couple of years in the market when Overwatch 2 came out. It is plenty of time for developers to release a competent game on said platforms.
Despite this, the game still feels like the prequel which came out in 2016. Visuals were not significantly improved, and the gameplay mechanics still feel identical. Other things like loading times, controller feedback, and quality of life things were mostly untouched.
How's the panorama looking like
There are more than twenty million monthly players on Overwatch 2. Blizzard did its homework with the prequel and managed to find a solid player base. Once you find that spot within the market, it is your job to keep them happy.
Overwatch 2 has put Blizzard in quite a comfortable position. Very little is being done to overhaul the game and make it feel like a true next-gen sequel. Perhaps they are wary of changing things too much to the detriment of the players' perception.
Something remarkably similar happened to Modern Warfare 2, the game was highly anticipated, and it was sold as the next massive thing. It was quite the opposite, looks like the game fell into the rut of safety. Activision uses the same Season Pass formula with a few minor tweaks. They still offer cosmetics in their store and the new game modes received little support.
They would rather cater to the already established player base than to risk and try new things. We are supposed to be well within the next generation of consoles and these games feel like more of the same.
What do you think of the current state of Overwatch 2? Did it meet your expectations? Let me know in the comments below.
Happy gaming.
