Overwatch 2 is a first-person shooter developed and published in 2022 by Blizzard Entertainment. It is a sequel and successor to the first title released in 2016 and features more characters, maps, content, and refined gameplay mechanics based on teams of 5 players instead of 6.

Plot

Overwatch 2 takes place one year after Recall and will have an ongoing plot that is focused on a second Omnic (artificially intelligent robots produced by omniums) uprising. We will explore who is behind it and visit many places all over the world.

Gameplay

Basics: For each game, you will play one of the 35 available characters organized into three main classes, including Damage (in charge of offensive efforts), Support (you will heal and buff), or Tank (in charge of the team's protection). Each character has a specific set of skills (divided into active, passive, and ultimate). In this second title, the gameplay mechanics have been adapted for 5v5 teams instead of 6v6 (developers communicated that reducing the number of tank slots by one will speed up gameplay).
PvE: Overwatch 2 will feature PvE story missions set after Overwatch was recalled by Winston. These missions consist of four-player cooperative games against non-playable characters and are available permanently (unlike seasonal basis). In these missions, you will be able to customize abilities and pick up items of various rarities to perform different effects (like heal, damage, create a barrier, and more). In addition, the PvE mode will also introduce a Talents system which brings new unique augmentations on the abilities of your heroes you can use in Hero missions and Story Experience modes of the game.

Battle pass: The Battle Pass feature has been introduced, allowing players to unlock seasonal Heroes and Cosmetics. It is part of the Season feature, which consists of releasing seasonal content every nine weeks, every season having a unique theme and lots of unlockable tiers of cosmetics. By playing the game and completing challenges, you will gain more Battle Pass XP and turn it into rewards such as Skins, Sprays, Emotes, or new Heroes.
New characters: Three new characters have been introduced in the first season, including Sojourn (Damage), Junker Queen (Tank), and Kiriko (Support), and more will join as new seasons start. In addition, damage class heroes' movement speed has been increased, support heroes slowly regenerate, and tank heroes now have a more offensive role.
New maps: The game now features 36 different maps. Some of them can be played in every game mode, while others are unique to specific ones (27 maps you can play in Quick Play and Competitive Play game modes). You will find most of the maps introduced in Overwatch with an upgraded look but also discover new maps, including Circuit Royal, Midtown, Paraiso, Colosseo, Esperanca, and New Queen Street. Also, note that all the maps now include more cover options to compensate for reduced tank-based protection.
New skins: All the characters' skins have been upgraded, and many new ones have been added. In addition, Mythic skins have been introduced as a new tier of rarity for cosmetics; you can customize your Mythic skins in the Hero Gallery to switch up the pattern, design, color, and more.

Graphics

Blizzard has improved many aspects of its rendering engine, including lighting, shadows, fog simulation, and cloth physics, and features new shaders and particle effects. In practice, the game looks better as it features higher texture quality, refined animations, and better lighting, shadows, and particle quality. You will also note the rendering of the characters and models has been genuinely improved.

Moreover, on the most capable platforms, you have full control over graphics quality and will be able to tune many different settings to your liking. On consoles, you can choose among three graphics modes: a 4K resolution mode, a balanced mode to target 60 fps, and a framerate mode supporting 120Hz. In a nutshell, good improvements have been made.

Game modes

The different game modes are divided into several categories, including Unranked (jump into a game against other players of your skill level), Competitive (compete against other players and work your way up the ranks), Arcade (new game modes, new rules), or Custom Games (find that perfect match or create one). All the different game modes are:

Control: This is the basic game mode where two teams of players have to capture a single objective point on the map. Each round starts on a new map, and the victory condition is to win two out of three rounds and reach 100% capture in each of them.
Escort: The attacking team needs to guide a payload to a specific goal and has multiple checkpoints to pass through. The defending one must stop their progress. In Competitive, the two teams alternate every round, and the team which delivers the payload the closest to the goal wins.
Hybrid: This is a mix of Escort and Control. The attacking team and defenders fight alongside to win control of an objective point. When the objective point is taken, the match switch to the Escort mode, and the attacking team must deliver a payload to the goal. In Competitive, the two teams alternate every round, and the team which delivers the payload the closest to the goal wins.
Push: The two teams fight to guide a robot to the other team's base. The robot is active when a team is standing by it, and it will push a barricade toward the opposing team's base. To win, a team must push the robot the furthest toward the other side.
Capture the flag: This is the famous game mode where the two teams must steal the opposing team's flag and return it to their base. To win, one of the teams must capture three flags or be the team to capture the most flags.
Deathmatch: This mode is available in unranked and arcades. Basically, everyone is out for themselves, and the first to get 20 kills wins.
Team Deathmatch: This is the team-based variation of the Deathmatch mode where 4 teams fight against each other. The first team to get 30 kills wins.
Elimination: This is an arcade game where you or your team fight against others. You can play it in small teams or solo. Beware, as you won't get respawned if you get killed, and the first to win three rounds will win the game.
Bounty Hunter: This is an arcade mode where 5 players fight to get 4000 points. Points are earned by killing the current marked target and other players. The one who kills the current target will become the next one with more health and an increased Ultimate Meter.
CTF Blitz: In Control The Flag Blitz, two teams of 5 players must steal the opposing team's flag and return it to their own flag. This is an Arcade mode, so it is much faster. To win, one of the teams must take 6 flags (or the most flags).
Mystery Heroes: This is an unranked mode where you don't choose your heroes. Every time you die, your will play another randomly selected character. This mixes Control, Escort, Hybrid, and Push with normal rules.
No Limits: Two teams of 5 players will fight in Escort, Capture, Push, and Hybrid on random maps. However, there are no limits on hero numbers, so everyone can play the same hero.
Limited Duel: This is an Elimination Arcade mode where two players face each other in a 1v1 duel. Win three rounds, and you will win the match.
Low Gravity: Another funny arcade game mode where everyone is in a low-gravity environment on random maps. It features modes like Control, Push, Hybrid, or Escort with regular rules.

What do the reviews say?

Overwatch 2 has a Metacritic score of 79/100 but has been rated 1.5/10 on average by over 2500 players.

"Overwatch 2 seeks a second chance from the community to be the "eSport of the decade". It has changes in the gameplay, in the competitive integrity, even aesthetic and sound changes but no matter what, it is one of the most exciting and adrenaline-filled shooting video games ever created." (GamersRD)